TL;DR: Tiny brain samples taken during routine shunt surgery let researchers study Alzheimer’s changes in living people. Half the samples had amyloid plaques, tau clustered around them, and brain tau had a half-life of about five weeks. Key Findings 18 living patients: Rice-grain-sized samples taken during shunt surgery for suspected hydrocephalus. Plaques in 9 of …
TL;DR: In rats given the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, which caused memory problems, adding the antipsychotic lurasidone protected memory on maze and object tests. This was a prevention study in male rats, not a treatment for people with “chemo brain.” Key Findings 48 male rats, 4 groups of 12: No drugs, lurasidone only, chemo only, or …
TL;DR: Seizures can sometimes steal a person’s ability to speak or understand language for hours or days without causing convulsions, and they can look just like a stroke. A review of 87 reported patients found that 1 in 5 attacks left lasting language problems, often after treatment was delayed. Key Findings 87 patients, 92 attacks: …
TL;DR: In 149 people with memory problems or dementia, blood levels of some brain markers tracked spinal fluid levels well, but others did not match at all. Two common measures of a leaky blood-brain barrier also did not agree with each other. Key Findings Blood vs spinal fluid varied by marker: NfL matched well (r …
TL;DR: A 35-year-old woman with 20 years of seizures that medicines could not control became seizure-free after surgery removed a small fluid-filled cyst and the nearby part of her brain where seizures started. It is one case, so it cannot prove the cyst caused her epilepsy. Key Findings Seizures since age 15: Up to 2 …
TL;DR: Researchers rebuilt 10-second movie clips that mice had watched, using only recordings from about 8,000 neurons in each mouse’s visual cortex. The blurry, low-resolution results matched the originals fairly well, but this is not mind reading. Key Findings 50 clips rebuilt: Ten 10-second movies from each of 5 mice. Pixel match of 0.57: About …
TL;DR: An iPad app that tracks 52 facial movements told apart people with Parkinson’s from people without it about 4 times in 5 in a 70-person study. Lopsided expressions mattered as much as smaller ones. Key Findings 34 people with Parkinson’s, 36 without: Each made 53 cued faces in front of an iPad. Best model …
TL;DR: Among 100 college students, those more distressed by unusual experiences like odd perceptions or suspicious thoughts made more jerky “catch-up” eye jumps while following a moving dot. The link was modest, and it was strongest when the dot briefly disappeared. Key Findings 100 students, average age 19: Recruited to span low to high distress …
TL;DR: Brain scans of 48 women with borderline personality disorder showed less gray matter in the insula and parts of the frontal lobe than in 54 women without it. Some of those frontal areas were more strongly in sync with other brain regions, and that syncing was linked to symptom severity, self-harm and childhood trauma. …
TL;DR: In a small pilot study, immune cells from people in an untreated schizophrenia episode made more of their energy by burning sugar than cells from healthy people or from patients stable on medication. There was no sign of higher inflammation in the blood. Key Findings 23 people in 4 groups: Healthy volunteers, untreated acutely …
