Reporting/commentary on interesting new research and related news
- Reading stones Part I: What fossil skulls tell us about the brains of the deadby Samer SiwaniAn interview with palaeontologist Hady George, a PhD student in Professor Emily Rayfield’s group at the University of Bristol, who has worked on the endocasts of stem-mammals (George et al., 2024) and dinosaurs including T. rex (Caspar et al., 2024). In this article series I will summarise some of what we know, how we know it, and why it matters with the help of a few experts in the field.
- The psychedelic brain is quietly ordered, not chaotic, according to new studyby Samer SiwaniThe largest single-site psychedelic neuroimaging study to date finds that psilocybin doesn’t simply disorder the brain’s activity. Under the drug, brain dynamics became more structured, not less, and the strength of that structure tracked how intense and meaningful participants found the experience. The apparent “chaos” reported by earlier studies may be an artefact of how the data was analysed.
- Most neurons are Jacks-of-all-trades, not specialistsby Samer SiwaniA prevailing hypothesis in neuroscience is that individual neurons are selective for a function (Hirokawa et al., 2019), specialised for a particular task. However, more and more papers are published invoking differential functions and behavioural effects for the same neuron types. The categorical selectivity may not be the rule, but an exception, according to a recent study.
- What striatal replay reveals about the brain’s hidden architectureby Samer SiwaniA study published in July in Nature Neuroscience by Thompson et al. has revealed that replay and consolidation of procedural memories do occur during sleep; however, the process involves another structure called the striatum (associated with motor/procedural functions), and not the hippocampus.
- Menstrual health: Could mindfulness be a low-risk supplement for PMS?by Samer SiwaniResearchers systematically reviewed existing studies (18) on psychological and biological outcomes of mindfulness-based interventions for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in a total of 1,080 individuals.
- Lab-grown stem cell treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease demonstrates feasibilityby Samer SiwaniSwedish News, In a Phase 1/2 open-label trial out of a collaboration between Lund and Cambridge universities, and conducted in Skåne University Hospital. Researchers evaluated the therapeutic potential of transplanting laboratory-produced dopaminergic progenitor cells into the brains of Parkinson’s patients. Earlier approaches relied on fetal tissue donations, which face significant supply constraints. The progenitor cells… Read more: Lab-grown stem cell treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease demonstrates feasibility
- When 80% of seizures are silent: How edge AI could save newborn brains. An interview with Professor Richardson Leao.by Samer SiwaniImagine a $200 device replacing $10,000/month monitoring solution that can detect the invisible seizures in newborns, using AI-powered neonatal EEG for resource-limited settings. A device that allows for effective neonatal neuroprotection in developing countries and beyond. Neonatal seizures can be a massive problem due to their subclinical symptomatology. They are essentially invisible. Approximately 50-80% of… Read more: When 80% of seizures are silent: How edge AI could save newborn brains. An interview with Professor Richardson Leao.
- Does coffee really ruin your sleep? New Swedish study suggests the effect may be smaller than expectedby Samer SiwaniSwedish News, A Swedish study, published in PLOS ONE, investigated coffee consumption habits of ~30,000 middle-aged individuals and observed whether there was a correlation with sleep and sleepiness. They found that individuals with higher coffee consumption reported sleep quality similar to low coffee consumers, with differences being minimal and potentially negligible. Factors such as BMI… Read more: Does coffee really ruin your sleep? New Swedish study suggests the effect may be smaller than expected
- New study links reward and aggression through brain chemistryby Samer SiwaniNews, Could our urge to fight actually feel rewarding? A study published in Nature Communications suggests yes, and serotonin may hold the key to stopping it. Most of us know that dopamine is involved in reward because of addiction research, and we know that serotonin can regulate emotions, as evidenced by the effects of antidepressants… Read more: New study links reward and aggression through brain chemistry
- Scientists rewire fear: How Transcranial Stimulation Can Turn Danger Into Safetyby Samer SiwaniNews, A recent study out of Dortmund, Germany has found that transcranial stimulation of a brain region in the prefrontal cortex can change the brain’s view of a perceived danger as safe. In this study, researchers recorded brain activity in healthy individuals with an MRI machine, while they underwent a conditioning task. In the task,… Read more: Scientists rewire fear: How Transcranial Stimulation Can Turn Danger Into Safety
- Is your brain older than you? It can now be predicted by AI with 3-year precisionby Samer SiwaniNews, In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers in Egypt trained a deep learning model to predict brain age. They applied a spatial and temporal analysis on MRI datasets to map anatomical features and how they change over time. This model, they report, outperforms others in error margin, achieving a lower Mean Absolute… Read more: Is your brain older than you? It can now be predicted by AI with 3-year precision