Новости за 01.02.2022

A new study revealed a pathological brain activity that precedes the onset of Alzheimer's first symptoms by many years: increased activity in the hippocampus during anesthesia and sleep, resulting from failure in the mechanism that stabilizes the neural network. The researchers believe that the discovery of this abnormal activity during specific brain states may enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, eventually leading to a more effective treatment of a disease that still lacks effective therapies.

Researchers have developed a set of growth charts for the brain. These 'brain charts' provide reference models for brain development and ageing across the entire human lifespan, based on a very large data set. These models can be used to make personalized predictions for each individual relevant to many brain conditions, and therefore have a high clinical potential. The software tools and models are available online.

Researchers found that a monkey's state of attentiveness may be encoded in the shapes and speeds of slow electrical waves that course over the surface of the brain. Like a surfer that avoids smooth water and favors more active waves, the brain uses faster, choppier waves to process information to which it is paying attention. By separating how the brain encodes its state of attention versus stimuli to which it is responding, scientists hope to understand sleep, anesthesia, attention, and disease better.

Healthy-looking ochre sea stars have minimal genetic difference from those displaying symptoms of sea star wasting syndrome, say researchers who examined whether genetic variation was the reason some animals went unaffected during an epidemic of the deadly disease.

Researchers have built a machine learning framework that can define the mathematical equations describing a cell's trajectory from one state to another, such as its development from a stem cell into one of several different types of mature cell. The framework, called dynamo, can also be used to figure out the underlying mechanisms -- the specific cocktail of gene activity -- driving changes in the cell.

Exposure to lead in drinking water from private wells during early childhood is associated with an increased risk of being reported for delinquency during teenage years, according to a new study. Researchers found that children who get their water from private wells before age 6 have higher blood lead levels and also have a 21% higher risk of being reported for any delinquency after age 14.

A hormone produced by the liver called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) suppresses alcohol consumption in primates, finds a new study. Vervet monkeys with a strong preference for ethanol that were given an FGF21 analogue consumed 50% less alcohol. The study also studied the brain circuits involved in mice and found that the protein, known to also reduce sugar intake, acts on different circuits to reduce alcohol and sugar consumption.

Researchers have found that a high Body Mass Index (BMI) of a mother before and during pregnancy is not a major cause of high BMI in their offspring -- indicating that childhood and teen obesity is more likely to be a result of lifestyle factors.

Planets are usually not much older than the stars around which they revolve. Take the Sun: it was born 4.6 billion years ago, and not long after that, Earth came into the world. But astronomers have discovered that a completely different scenario is also possible. Even if they are near death, some types of stars can possibly still form planets. If this is confirmed, theories on planet formation will need to be adjusted.

Researchers have created a complex kidney tissue solely from mouse embryonic stem cells. These organoids could lead the way to better kidney research and, eventually, artificial kidneys for human transplant.

Your gut bacteria need vitamin B12 just as much as you do. Though DNA is usually passed from parent to child, new research shows gut bacteria transfer genes through 'sex' in order to take their vitamins.

Researchers have identified an enzyme in the thymus that is essential for immune T cells to correctly identify threats, safeguarding them from going rogue and attacking healthy tissue in the body.

A new study finds brain function boosted by daily exercise in middle-aged and older adults.

A heart attack or stroke can blindside people who thought they were at low risk. Now, research has found a new model that could improve how we assess heart disease.

Visual landmarks enable an animal to know where it is oriented in relation to its environment. Researchers have identified a new type of neuron in the rat brain, which appears to help facilitate this type of visual and spatial processing.