Sona C

Could overlooking sex differences be part of the reason for stalling in Alzheimer’s research progress? Fascinating
that it disproportionately affect women who represent 2/3 of patients, and estrogen seems to play a major role. #Alzheimers #Neuro #womenshealth 🧠🧐

tinyurl.com/39xtveas

Our assessment of a person's epigenetic ("biological") age has been centered on DNA methylation. A new report shows that a set of 7 histone markers has comparable accuracy and also uncovers new pathways of aging biology
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Hallmarks of brain aging from a comprehensive single-cell sequencing of 1.2 million cells
Specific cell-type pattern, role of immune response, inflammation, and a potential hypothalamus (near 3rd ventricle) hot spot for aging
www.nature.com/articles/s41... @nature.com @alleninstitute.bsky.social

Many Americans are not adequately represented in #ClinicalTrials, which can lead to poorer health outcomes for underrepresented groups.

Learn about the causes and consequences of this underrepresentation and how to remedy it from an @ISSUESinST.bsky.social podcast: https://buff.ly/4gVhMiX

An opioid with a literal, light-sensitive 'on/off switch' to avoid fatal side effects? Look no further - Azomorphine-3 (AM3)! The most exciting study I've been part of, thus far. With the labs of Seva Katritch, Dirk Trauner @dirktrauner.bsky.social and Josh Levitz.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Housing densities showed significant effects on the lifespan

".…gut microorganisms may play a significant role in regulating the density-dependent aging-related processes...."

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Boosting neuronal activity-driven mitochondrial DNA transcription improves cognition in aged mice Deciphering the complex interplay between neuronal activity and mitochondrial function is pivotal in understanding brain aging, a multifaceted process marked by declines in synaptic function and mitoc...

Neuronal activity can boost mitochondrial transcription. This process is compromised in aging brains, suggesting a potential target for fighting the cognitive decline associated with aging.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Blight or Benefit: How Cellular Neighbors Shape the Aging Brain Researchers at Stanford’s Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience merge spatial transcriptomics and AI to

"We want to understand the role of neural stem cells in providing a beneficial environment for #resilience within the brain.”

#neuroscience #neuroskyence #neurology #Alzheimers #dementia

A cellular basis for mapping behavioural structure - Nature Mice generalize complex task structures by using neurons in the medial frontal cortex that encode progress to task goals and embed behavioural sequences.

Out now in Nature from @behrenstimb.bsky.social and crew:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Understanding this kind of schematic pattern learning and transfer will be key, IMO, to moving towards models of what we might call "higher-order cognition" or "reasoning".

🧠📈 🧪

Spatial transcriptomic clocks reveal cell proximity effects in brain ageing - Nature A spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomics map of the mouse brain at different ages reveals signatures of ageing, rejuvenation and disease, including ageing effects associated with T cells and r...

This is pretty damn cool, new research from stanford reports building an #agingclock of the #brain using #spatialtranscriptomics. Has interesting insights on how things like exercise and disease impact brain cell aging. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Why does the brain need billions of neurons to process 10 bits/second? Why can we only think about one thing at a time?"
www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

From The Unbearable Slowness of Being

‘Tough love’: How RFK Jr.’s views on addiction could bring a new era of U.S. drug policy Shaped by his own addiction, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is embracing ideologically flexible approaches to the opioid epidemic.

Shaped by his own addiction, Kennedy is embracing ideologically flexible approaches to the opioid epidemic.

Specialist courts proposed to break addictions of prolific offenders in England and Wales Exclusive: Pilots of scheme to tackle drug-driven crimes have been encouraging, says head of sentencing review

This seems like positive step - but its frustrating to see such a wrong headed aim to *break* addictions when we should obviously *treat* them as they are illnesses - albeit complex ones.

We don’t aim to break depression, heart failure or cancer

www.theguardian.com/law/2024/dec...

Interesting.. patients on GLP-1 agonists commonly report anhedonia as a side effect of these drugs

Understanding the neural code of stress to control anhedonia - Nature Examination of the neural activity in the basolateral amygdala and ventral CA1 of mice during tasks or rest following exposure to social stress reveals signatures of resilience and susceptibility to s...

Stress can dull our capacity for joy. Why? #Nature

"Anhedonia is something that patients care about the most, and feel like it’s least addressed by current treatments"

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Brain Plasticity's Dark Side: New Insights into Addiction Mechanisms - Neuroscience News Researchers discovered that adaptive myelination, a form of brain plasticity, contributes to drug addiction.

Insight into the #neurobiology of #addiction: Drugs like morphine boost myelination in dopaminergic neurons & the reward circuit, increasing signaling + reinforcing addictive behaviors. Conversely,blocking myelination reduced drug-seeking. Could be interesting for #therapeutics? tinyurl.com/ywznzdzn

BioAge Labs scraps Phase 2 obesity trial just months after IPO BioAge Labs is scrapping a Phase 2 trial testing its anti-obesity drug, a few months after its flashy $198 million initial public offering. The California biotech said after the markets closed on Frid...

2 months after its big IPO, BioAge axed a Phase 2 of its oral drug + Zepbound following safety findings. Its stock cratered 70%

The California startup began as an anti-aging biotech in '15. It then got an Amgen heart failure drug for $1M upfront & repositioned the small molecule for obesity

Novel All-in-One Computational Pipeline Identifies Protein Biomarkers Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease and Predicts 3D Structural Alterations Researchers designed novel computational pipeline designed to identify protein biomarkers associated with complex diseases.

This tool analyzes #biomarkers that can induce 3D structural changes in proteins, providing critical insights into disease mechanisms. The findings could lead to advancements in early detection and treatment strategies for #Alzheimers disease.

#dementia #neuroscience

GSK inks 2nd neuro pact in weeks, this time with Danish biotech Muna in Alzheimer's GSK has penned another neuroscience pact, this time with Danish biotech Muna Therapeutics. | GSK has penned another neuroscience pact, this time with Danish biotech Muna Therapeutics. The two companie...

GSK on fire with deals, especially focused on novel target ID.

Also spurs an interesting question around how much is a novel target opportunity really worth?

www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/gsk-...

Treatment Resistant Depression — A Collective Failure of Imagination What does TRD tell us about the assumptions guiding clinical care?

Treatment Resistant Depression — A Collective Failure of Imagination

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/treatment-...

Eli Lilly says its weight loss drug Zepbound outperformed Wegovy in a study Eli Lilly said its drug Zepbound led to greater weight reduction than rival Novo Nordisk's Wegovy in a head-to-head randomized controlled trial.

Eli Lilly said its weight loss drug Zepbound led to 47% greater weight reduction than rival medicine Wegovy

New schizophrenia drug could treat Alzheimer’s disease Half a dozen drugs are in trials for conditions of the brain, but success is not guaranteed.

New #schizophrenia drug could treat #Alzheimers disease: half a dozen drugs are in trials for conditions of the brain, but success is not guaranteed.

#dementia #mentalhealth #geriatrics #psychiatry #neurology #neuroscience

Managing pain without opioids is on the horizon – if we decide it’s worth it — RApport Thanks to the relentless efforts of scientists at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, there will likely soon be a novel non-opioid pain medicine. How insurance plans, including Medicare, decide to cover this drug...

If Vertex's suzetrigine is approved, it will be the first non-opioid (NaV1.8 inhibitor) for severe pain. Payors face a dilemma: stick w/ protocol of covering cheap but addictive generic opioids, or cover a safer, pricier branded option? #pain #therapeutic #neuro #pharma #biotech tinyurl.com/4byn7s92

Isolation of psychedelic-responsive neurons underlying anxiolytic behavioral states Psychedelics hold promise as alternate treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders. However, the neural mechanisms by which they drive adaptive behavioral effects remain unclear. We isolated the specifi...

Can the therapeutic benefit of psychedelics be unlocked w/o the trip? Only time (& clinical studies) will tell. In mice, scientists managed to identify & reactivate the neural circuits for anxiety relief while bypassing those causing hallucinations. tinyurl.com/3c6v4w3v #neuroscience #therapeutics

Battling Infectious Diseases in the 20th Century: The Impact of Vaccines The number of infected people, measured over 70-some years and across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, generally declined after vaccines were introduced.

graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...