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Category: neuroscience

Quantifying the compressibility of the human brain

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Quantifying the compressibility of the human brain.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/jGEu50Y6heQ

For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/FjuI50Y6heP.

In the human brain, the allowed patterns of activity are constrained by the correlations between brain regions. Yet it remains unclear which correlations—and how many—are needed to predict large-scale neural activity. Here, we present an information-theoretic framework to identify the most important correlations, which provide the most accurate predictions of neural states. Applying our framework to cortical activity in humans, we find that the vast majority of variance in activity is explained by a small number of correlations. This means that the brain is highly compressible: Only a sparse network of correlations is needed to predict large-scale activity. We find that this compressibility is strikingly consistent across different individuals and cognitive tasks and that, counterintuitively, the most important correlations are not necessarily the strongest.

Flavanols Break the Rules of Nutrition: Scientists Uncover the Surprising Way They Boost the Brain

The health benefits of dietary flavanols appear to come from their ability to trigger responses in the brain and the body’s stress systems. That slightly dry, tightening feeling some foods leave in the mouth is known as astringency, and it comes from naturally occurring plant compounds called pol

Taming Tumor Chaos: Researchers Uncover Key to Improving Glioblastoma Treatment

A groundbreaking study from Brown University Health researchers has identified a crucial factor that may help improve treatment for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive and common forms of adult brain cancer. The findings, published November 10 in Cell Reports, reveal how differences among cells within a single tumor influence the cancer’s response to chemotherapy, and introduce a promising new therapy designed to tip the odds in the patients’ favor.

Glioblastoma is notoriously difficult to treat. One of the key reasons is that no two cells within the tumor behave exactly alike. Even inside one tumor, some cells may respond to treatment while others resist it, allowing the cancer to persist and grow. For decades, scientists have known that tumors are composed of diverse cells, but the biological forces driving these differences, and their impact on treatment, have remained elusive.

“Traditionally, researchers have focused on the overall behavior of a tumor by studying the average response across all the individual cells, using differences between the cells to interpret the average,” said senior author Clark Chen, MD, PhD, professor and director of the brain tumor program, department of neurosurgery at Brown University Health. “Our study fundamentally flipped that approach. Rather than focusing on the average response, we focused on the differences between individual cells within the same tumor, and what we found could change how we treat glioblastoma.”

Bacterial ‘brains’ operate on the brink of order and disorder

The sensory proteins that control the motion of bacteria constantly fluctuate. AMOLF researchers, together with international collaborators from ETH Zurich and University of Utah, found out that these proteins can jointly switch on and off at the same time. The researchers discovered that this protein network operates at the boundary between order and disorder. The findings are published in Nature Physics on January 29.

Bacteria may be simple, single-celled organisms, but they still have a surprisingly sophisticated way of sensing and responding to their environment. Tom Shimizu, group leader at AMOLF and senior author of the study, explains that bacteria use networks of thousands of proteins to judge whether conditions are improving or worsening.

Lab grown mini human brains have been given blood vessels for the first time 🧠

These mini brain organoids resemble the developing cortex — the area of our brains that think, feel and store memories.

This advancement will help us learn more about conditions like dementia, but what if we go too far and they become conscious?

Hear the full story on The world, the universe and us, a news podcast for the insatiably curious, hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet.

Tap link in bio to learn more⁠
https://www.newscientist.com/podcasts/

Using rare sugars to address alcoholism

While investigating the FGF21-oxytocin-dopamine system, a mechanism that regulates sugar appetite, a team of researchers at Kyoto University noticed reports suggesting that the protein FGF21 may regulate alcohol ingestion.

The team’s original aim had been to address sugar appetite in lifestyle-related diseases, but since alcohol is a fermented product of sugar, they speculated that perhaps the body contains a system that recognizes both alcohol and sugar as the same entity.

Alcohol consumption and intervention challenges Excessive alcohol consumption is a major global health issue, and effective countermeasures for prevention and treatment are limited. Patients with alcohol dependence generally have a low adherence to pharmaceuticals, and many avoid drug treatment because it deprives them of the pleasure of drinking.

Name it to tame it: Researcher discovers technique to reduce cigarette cravings

If you name it, you can tame it. That’s a new tool for fighting cigarette cravings, according to assistant research psychologist Golnaz Tabibnia.

Her discovery, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, reveals that a technique she dubbed “cue labeling”—mentally naming the triggers that make you want to smoke—can reduce the subjective experience of craving and the brain activity associated with it.

“Name it to tame it! Putting feelings into words has long been known to calm emotions,” Tabibnia wrote on LinkedIn when announcing the publication. “Our latest paper shows that putting what we crave into words can help calm cravings.”

Forever Chemicals Linked to Multiple Sclerosis in Concerning New Study

People who are exposed to certain forever chemicals may be at greater risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research.

No one knows why that is, but it could help explain why, over the past 30 years, the prevalence of MS has increased by an average of 26 percent globally. In some nations, cases have more than doubled since 1990.

MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system with no known singular cause and no known cure.

Researchers create cells that help the brain keep its cool

Researchers at Lund University have developed a new method to reprogram the brain’s support cells into parvalbumin neurons, the cells that help keep brain activity in balance. These cells are key in conditions like epilepsy, and creating them in the lab has long been a challenge.

By bypassing the stem-cell stage, the team can now generate these neurons faster and more efficiently. The breakthrough opens new possibilities for studying disease mechanisms, and, in the future, for replacing damaged brain cells.

Read about the research here: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/researchers-create-…p-its-cool.

Photo: Hal Gatewood, Unsplash.

Lund University. Parvalbumin cells play a central role in keeping brain activity in equilibrium. They control nervcell signalling, reduce overactivity and make sure that the brain is working to a rhythm. Researchers sometimes describe them as the cells that “make the brain sound right”.When these cells malfunction or decrease in number, the balance of the brain is disrupted. Previous studies suggest that damaged parvalbumin cells may contribute to disorders such as schizophrenia and epilepsy.

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