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Skoltech团队研究出EEG信号溯源的简化方案
如果想要对大脑内的神经活动进行研究却又不想使用有创的方式，那么核磁扫描（MRI）将是很多研究人员会首选的一种方式。然而，遗憾的是，MRI虽然有着超高的空间分辨率但其成像过程却非常缓慢。神经元的放电活动往往极其迅速而短暂，因此，MRI在脑功能的实时研究方面具有明显的劣势。而不同于MRI，脑磁图（MEG）的空间和时间分辨率都很高，但运行成本却不便宜。这使得相对廉价又具有极高时间分辨率的EEG脱颖而出。然而，EEG也存在着一定的弊病。在使用EEG设备接收脑电信号时，由于一小块区域的神经元活动就会造成头皮外出现大面积的电信号，因此，研究人员需要耗费大量的时间对其信号来源进行分析。这一长期困扰着科研人员的问题在使用Skoltech大学所研发出的新算法后就能轻松的得到解决。该算法将繁复的溯源计算简化成了柯西问题，能帮助研究人员对EEG数据进行快速而精准的分析。
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斯坦福科学家解码精神分裂症的神经机制
大约在3000人中就有一个人会缺失22号染色体q11.2位置上的一小段基因，而有着这种遗传缺陷的人群其患精神分裂症的风险会比正常人高出30倍，且其中的30%-40%会在人生的早期阶段被查出具有自闭症。为了查明为何这一染色体微缺失情况会显著增加精神类疾病的患病风险，斯坦福的研究团队对使用表皮细胞分化成的神经元进行了观察和研究。结果发现，22q11.2染色体缺失的人群其体外培养的神经细胞相比正常人的神经细胞更容易被激活。这种轻易就能放电的特质会让大脑内宛如一个嘈杂的课堂一样，使信息与信息之间互相产生干扰，严重情况下就会造成幻听、幻视等精神分裂症的典型症状。在抑制DGCR8这一缺失片段上的基因后，正常神经细胞亦出现了静息电位变弱的情况，可见DGCR8基因的缺损才是造成精神分裂症高风险的根本原因。
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健脑类保健品中含有多种未经批准的药物成分
目前，市面上存在着许多声称能提高注意力和记忆力的健脑类保健品。在对这类 “聪明药”和“认知能力增强剂”的成分进行检测后，研究人员发现，取样的10种健脑类保健品中一共含有5种未经美国药物及食品安全局批准的药物成分，且其成分表和所标注的含量也多与检验结果有所出入。不同于处方药，保健品类药物无需得到有效性和安全性方面的认证就可直接上市，而在上市后FDA才会对其进行监管，这便为消费者带去了大量的风险隐患。这些药品中的成分不但未经检验，往往还存在着计量超标的情况，服用后可能会造成各种危害到身体健康的严重副作用。在同其他处方药一同用药时，其危害性将会更大。
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大脑如何平衡情感和理性
具有情感障碍的人群其大脑内的情绪处理区域会进入失控状态，这种情感失衡被发现是由于患者大脑内的情感区域与认知区域的失联所致。为了使理性和感性达到一定的平衡，诸如背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）等认知区域就需要与负责情感表达的25区等脑区进行沟通和交流。然而，由于这两块区域相距较远，就必须要有一个中间区域协助信息的传递——这个区域便是位于前扣带皮层的32区。正常人大脑中的DLPFC区域会与32区最里层的神经元相连，并通过32区将抑制信号传递到25区。而抑郁症患者大脑内的DLPFC区域却长期处于缄默状态，无法对情感表达区域进行适当的抑制，由此便造成了25区的过度活跃。
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TCCI®-affiliated Professor Wins NIH Director’s Pioneer Award
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering is one of four Caltech faculty members to receive grants from the NIH’s High Risk, High Reward Research Program. Zernicka-Goetz, a TCCI®-affiliated faculty member, received a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award which “challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact […]
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New clues about the link between stress and depression
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a protein in the brain that is important both for the function of the mood-regulating substance serotonin and for the release of stress hormones, at least in mice. The findings, which are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may have implications for the development of new drugs for depression […]
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Neuroscientists discover a molecular mechanism that allows memories to form
When the brain forms a memory of a new experience, neurons called engram cells encode the details of the memory and are later reactivated whenever we recall it. A new MIT study reveals that this process is controlled by large-scale remodeling of cells’ chromatin. This remodeling, which allows specific genes involved in storing memories to […]
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Millimetre-precision drug delivery to the brain
Focused ultrasound waves help ETH researchers to deliver drugs to the brain with pinpoint accuracy, in other words only to where their effect is desired. This method is set to enable treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders and tumours with fewer side effects in the future.
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NIH scientists reveal how the brain may fuel intense neural communication
Our thoughts, feelings, and movements are controlled by billions of neurons talking to each other at trillions of specialized communication points called synapses. In an in-depth study of neurons grown in laboratory petri dishes, National Institutes of Health researchers discovered how the chattiest of some synapses find the energy to support intense conversations thought to […]
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Stem cells can help repair spinal cord after injury
Spinal cord injury often leads to permanent functional impairment. In a new study published in the journal Science researchers at Karolinska Institutet show that it is possible to stimulate stem cells in the mouse spinal cord to form large amounts of new oligodendrocytes, cells that are essential to the ability of neurons to transmit signals, […]