Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Marcus A. Henry Award past winners: Where are they now? – Newsday

2014: JOE PERCIVAL,St. Anthonys

Joe Percival has experienced unfathomable turmoil, but hes seemed to have found his true calling.

In November 2013, after captaining the defense for St. Anthonys state championship football team, his mother Valerie was scheduled for brain surgery for the removal of two benign tumors. But she had a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic she was given designed to prevent meningitis, and was in a coma for six months.

Percival found a way to push forward and struck the balance of being a two-sport athlete (football and track), diligent student and an exceptional citizen all the while caring for his mother.

The Melville native was the inaugural recipient of the Marcus A. Henry Award.

It meant so much to me. It was such a turbulent time in my life and there was so much uncertainty, Percival said. I was forced to keep trekking.

Percival played football at Princeton and graduated from in 2019 with a bachelors degree in psychology. He continued his studies last fall, enrolling in a two-year post-baccalaureate program at Hofstra. The 24-year-old is on pace to graduate in May 2021 and plans on attending medical school. He will be applying to Hofstra, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Yale.

I would come back home every single week to take care of her, during my time at Princeton. It was really five years of me going back and forth, taking her to doctors and seeing how they cared for her, Percival said. It motivated me to be one of those people that can help someone elses mom one day.

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PETER KERSICH

Thomas Cutinella was known to his teammates as a selfless, hard-working leader. He put himself before others and always thought of those around him first.

Those were some of the qualities that the Shoreham-Wading River football and lacrosse player embodied that helped him win the 2015 Marcus A. Henry Award.

Cutinella, who died Oct. 1, 2014 after an injury he suffered playing football, never got an opportunity to attend the U.S. Military Academy and ultimately serve his country like he had dreamed.

But his legacy lives on.

He was just such a personable, outgoing and upbeat person, Shoreham-Wading River athletic director Mark Passamonte said. I was relatively new to the job but I had felt like I knew him my whole life.

The football field at SWR was renamed in his honor and there is a life-sized bust of Cutinella that was created as part of an Eagle Scout project.

His family has set up the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation, which raises money for scholarships. The Suffolk football coaches association has awarded the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Leadership award every year since 2014 and Section XI implemented the Tommy Tough standards for football in hopes of changes that will protect the integrity of the game, minimize risk and allow for positive growth.

GENE MORRIS

Livingstone Harriott Jr. has always been something of a Renaissance man.

An academic and athletic standout at Central Islip, he won this award two years before his sister did. Now, Harriotts resume is as jam-packed as ever, and hes graduating from Brown University with a degree in economics.

Harriott played four years of football at Brown, and this season caught 27 passes for 464 yards and three touchdowns. Through football, Harriott gave back to the community as his team frequently spent time working with students at the nearby Vartan Gregorian elementary school.

During his freshman and sophomore years, Harriott was part of Athletes in Action, a Christian fellowship group for athletes at Brown. He also participated in student government, serving as the Chair of Academic Affairs this year, which he said allowed him to be a voice for students.

Harriott said he hopes to apply to law school. He has had a handful of internships in the field, including working with the United States Attorneys office out of the Eastern District last summer.

-LAURA AMATO

Kelsi King continues to let her love of science influence those around her. She has completed her junior year at Duke where she is studying neuroscience,

Ive gotten involved in research and the application of neuroscience outside the medical setting, like how can neuroscience be applied to business, King said. And how I can use research to better understand how we make decisions and how that can affect finance and things like that.

Some of Kings work focused on cognition and aging and how that affects motivation and an individuals decision-making skills and peoples everyday choices.

King, who was a captain in field hockey and lacrosse at Baldwin, plays on the Duke club lacrosse team. She also joined a club at Duke that encourages and works with womeninterested in science.

She is undecided about possible medical school or graduate school.

Id like to keep pursuing something that allows me to stay involved in research, King said. But Im really open to wherever that leads me.

OWEN OBRIEN

Its all adding up for Alexandrea Harriott.

Central Islips valedictorian in 2018, Harriott has studied applied mathematics at Harvard University, with a focus on economics as well as global health and health policy.

Harriott also has worked with the Phillips Brooks House Association, a student-run organization. With the group, Harriott participated in Y2Y Harvard Square, which provides a safe environment for young adults experiencing homelessness. Shes helped with first-weekend cleanups, getting elementary and middle schools in the Boston-area ready for the school year, as well as a mentoring program.

Harriott has served as the treasurer of the Harvard Caribbean Club and, next year, will be the clubs vice president. Shes also a member of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, which she called one of the greatest things I do on campus.

And this year, Harriottjoined the crew team.

I was like, I really want to get back in shape, I want to join a team again, Harriott said. Its such great energy when youre on a team.

LAURA AMATO

Kenneth Wei, a multi-event track and field state high school champion, is studying bioengineering at MIT.

Theres a saying at MIT that getting an education at MIT is like trying to get a drink of water out of a fire hose, Wei said. Thats definitely true here. Everything just comes at you at once.

Wei was a six-time track and field state champion and a three-time All American in his senior indoor and outdoor seasons. During his time at Mount Sinai, he was senior class president, was named an All-County flautist, and interned in the biology department at Brookhaven National Laboratories in Upton.

Wei runs track at MIT, and this year was named All-New England in hurdles. He also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships in the 60-meter hurdles, long jumpand triple jump before the meet was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Its been a lot of fun, Wei said. Ive made a lot of friends and met a lot of people.

JORDAN LAUTERBACH

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Marcus A. Henry Award past winners: Where are they now? - Newsday

Neuroscience

How Early Visual Experience Creates The Binocular World – Technology Networks

NewsMay 19, 2020| Original story from the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

Featured illustration: In the mature visual cortex, similar modular patterns of activity are observed when the same orientation is shown to the left or right eye. In contrast, early in development, markedly different patterns of activity are observed for the same stimulus, resulting in a monocular mismatch that reflects misalignment of the orientation representations from the two eyes. Credit: MPFI

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How Early Visual Experience Creates The Binocular World - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

Study shows impact of childhood adversity on neuropsychological functioning in adulthood – News-Medical.Net

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.May 22 2020

A team of researchers from the University of Southampton, the University of Bath and King's College London, have provided compelling evidence of the impact of adversity in childhood on neuropsychological functioning in adulthood. They also showed that neuropsychological difficulties may explain why early adversity is linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in later life.

Their study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, analysed neuropsychological function in 70 young adults who were exposed to severely depriving conditions in Romanian orphanages during Nicolae Ceausescu's regime and subsequently adopted by British families. The adoptees were compared to 22 British adoptees of similar ages who had not suffered childhood deprivation.

As part of the research, the adoptees were asked to carry out tests to assess their neuropsychological functioning in five areas: controlling their responses (inhibitory control), prospective memory, decision-making, emotional recognition and cognitive ability (IQ). Prospective memory is the ability to remember to do something in the future, such as remembering to go to an appointment or what you need to buy if you don't have a shopping list. ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms were assessed through questionnaires completed by their parents.

The results showed that the Romanian adoptees had lower IQs and performed less well on the other four tests when compared to the adoptees who had not suffered deprivation. The adoptees with the lowest IQs and the greatest problems in prospective memory were more likely to show ADHD symptoms in adulthood than those without neuropsychological difficulties. The researchers found no direct link between ASD symptoms and neuropsychological performance.

The latest research is part of the wider English and Romanian Adoptees study, a collaborative study between the University of Southampton and King's College London which began shortly after the fall of the communist regime in Romania.

Children living in the institutions were subjected to extremely poor hygiene, insufficient food, little affection and no social or cognitive stimulation. The study analyses the mental health and brain development of 165 children who spent time in Romanian institutions and who were adopted by families in the UK when aged between two weeks and 43 months.

The principal investigator of the study is Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, who began the study whilst working at the University of Southampton and is now based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London.

Speaking of the latest research, Professor Sonuga-Barke said: "This study contributes to our changing understanding of the power of the early environment to shape brain development -showing that the effects of institutional deprivation on cognition can still be seen after more than twenty years of positive experience in high functioning and loving adoptive families leads us to acknowledge that there are limits to the brain's recuperative powers."

The study highlights that institutional deprivation can have long-lasting effects on a range of neuropsychological functions that are important in everyday life, such as memory and general intellectual ability. Our findings also emphasize the importance of improving the quality of care for children in institutions."

Dr. Dennis Golm, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Southampton

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Study shows impact of childhood adversity on neuropsychological functioning in adulthood - News-Medical.Net

Neuroscience

The Psychedelic Science of Pain – Newswise

Newswise In the last few years, new research has demonstrated the powerful potential for classical psychedelics, especially psilocybin (the active compound in magic mushrooms), to treat a range of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety and addiction. In 2018, the FDA assigned psilocybin a Breakthrough Therapy Designation. In response, UC San DiegosArthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imaginationorganized a new collaboration with groups across campus, including the Center for Human Frontiers at the Qualcomm Institute and the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry, to launch the Psychedelics and Health Research Initiative (PHRI). Its mission is to study the potential of psilocybin and other related compounds to promote healing and help manage pain.

While much of the new research on psychedelics shows its potentially high efficacy for treating psychological disorders, relatively little research has been done to demonstrate their uses for the treatment of chronic pain conditions.

A recentlypublished review paperby UC San Diego PHRI members Timothy Furnish, associate clinical professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine; Joel Castellanos, pain physician for UC San Diego Health and Adam Halberstadt, associate professor of psychiatry,among others, points to the potential for psychedelics to address chronic pain conditions.

Since pain has both physical and affective/cognitive components, the PHRIs preliminary findings indicate that psychedelics, alone or as part of multi-pronged treatment, can produce significant, meaningful and lasting reductions of chronic pain conditions such as cluster headache, complex regional pain disorder, phantom-limb pain, tinnitus and others. As a non-addictive alternative to opioids, psychedelics represent a revolutionary and much-needed new approach to the treatment of pain.

Neuropathic pain conditions such as phantom limb pain are often difficult to treat, says Furnish. The possibility that psychedelics could reorganize pain pathways in the brain holds out the promise of a much more long-lasting treatment than current medication can offer.

History of psychedelics research on campus

Research on the classical psychedelics, which include LSD, DMT, mescaline and psilocybin, has a long history at UC San Diego. Mark Geyer, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences Emeritus and founding member of the PHRI, has conducted research on the behavioral and neurobiological effects of psychedelics for more than 40 years at UC San Diego. He also helped start the Heffter Research Institute in 1993, dedicated to renewing research into beneficial uses of psychedelicsresearch that had been cut off prematurely during the 1970s.

The research pioneered by the Heffter group has already provided breakthroughs in our understanding of the neurobiology and therapeutic potential of psychedelics, says Geyer. It is clear that further such research will result in currently unimagined treatments for human illness and a deeper understanding of human nature.

Though the roots of this research go back decades at UC San Diego, the seeds of the PHRI began with a 2016 accident in the desert involving UC San Diego researcherAlbert Yu-Min Lin. A Qualcomm Institute research scientist and National Geographic Explorer, Lin lost his lower leg in that accident. Afterwards, he experienced debilitating phantom-limb pain, the sensation of pain seeming to come from the missing limb.

After losing my leg, says Lin, I faced two immediate challenges. The first was rebuilding mobility, which could be done with prosthetics. The second was remapping my mind to let go of extreme pain that seemed to come from a body part that was no longer physically there. Luckily for me, the authority on the topic of phantom pain happened to be a UC San Diego faculty member, V.S. Ramachandran.

Pioneering method, neuroplasticity

While Mirror Visual Feedbackthe method pioneered by Ramachandran, distinguished professor of psychology and neurosciences, for treating phantom-limb painprovided temporary relief, Lin observed that when the mirror was removed the pain came rushing back, as if my mind just wouldn't let it go.

But psilocybin provided the profound relief he sought. A 2018 case study published inNeurocase, co-authored by Ramachandran, Chaipat Chunharas, Zeve Marcus and Furnish, documents Lins experience: a single session with psilocybin resulted in immediate, persistent and profound reduction in what had been debilitating post-trauma pain caused by an amputation.

Freeing myself of the pain gave me back my life, says Lin, who is the director of theCenter for Human Frontiersbased at the Qualcomm Institute.

But the use of psilocybin to treat phantom limb pain has not been researched in a controlled, rigorous way. Some studies in Japan in the 1970s used LSD with phantom-limb sufferers, with small but suggestive results.

Recent studies have shown that exposure to psychedelic drugs promotes neuroplasticity. Based on those existing findings, psilocybin may be effective against phantom limb pain because it causes new functional brain connections and pathways to form in brain regions supporting body self-image and the experience of pain. On the other hand, it could be that the profound psychedelic experience facilitates a restart mechanism if you will, that modulates the feeling of pain, says Fadel Zeidan, PHRI member, associate director for research at the UC San DiegoCenter for Mindfulnessand assistant professor of anesthesiology.

Mindfulness of pain management

There is intriguing overlap with the research of Zeidan, who works to understand the effects of mindfulness meditation as a treatment for pain. His studies show that mindfulness reduces pain through multiple, unique brain processes that are distinct from placebo and other pain-relieving techniques. Recent research demonstrates that psychedelics produce states of mind and brain connectivity that are similar to those of experienced meditators, and that the twopsychedelics and mindfulnessare mutually supportive. Zeidan says that mindfulness meditation practice also promotes a restart button but one that you canpressin a moment-to-moment fashion.

Non-opioid treatments for pain conditionsincluding cluster headache, complex regional pain syndrome, phantom-limb pain, tinnitus and other forms of chronic paincould mean radical improvements for the more than 100 million sufferers in the United States alone, as estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Future studies

According to the research team, these studies will provide a better understanding of how psychedelics can be used to treat pain, the mechanisms of action by which they produce their effects and how these phenomena illuminate new aspects of the healthy functioning of the brain. Such advances will help guide how the healthcare system can adapt to best deliver these radically different modes of intervention, all in the context of UC San Diegos world-class health and neuroscience research communities.

Pain is a very tricky thing, Lin says. It can be entirely consuming to those who bear it. But my experience with pain opened a window into the power within the mind to do extraordinary thingsto shift the perspective of pain, to potentially remap it awayand if that can help others it was all worth it.

PHRIfosters further novel basic and clinical research on the use of psychedelics for the treatment of pain and potentially other syndromes. The interdisciplinary team is currently planning the first pilot study of the potential effect of psilocybin on phantom-limb pain, to be followed by future clinical trials and brain imaging research.

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The Psychedelic Science of Pain - Newswise

Neuroscience

AI used to identify different types of brain injury – Business Weekly

Cambridge University researchers and colleagues from Imperial College London are putting the AI into brAIn. They have developed an AI algorithm that can detect and identify different types of brain injuries.

The researchers have clinically validated and tested the AI on large sets of CT scans and found that it was successfully able to detect, segment, quantify and differentiate different types of brain lesions.

Their results, reported in The Lancet Digital Health, could be useful in large-scale research studies, for developing more personalised treatments for head injuries and, with further validation, could be useful in certain clinical scenarios such as those where radiological expertise is at a premium.

Head injury is a huge public health burden around the world and affects up to 60 million people each year. It is the leading cause of mortality in young adults.

When a patient has had a head injury they are usually sent for a CT scan to check for blood in or around the brain and to help determine whether surgery is required.

Co-senior author Professor David Menon, from Cambridges Department of Medicine, said: CT is an incredibly important diagnostic tool but its rarely used quantitatively. Often, much of the rich information available in a CT scan is missed and as researchers we know that the type, volume and location of a lesion on the brain are important to patient outcomes.

Different types of blood in or around the brain can lead to different patient outcome, and radiologists will often make estimates in order to determine the best course of treatment.

Detailed assessment of a CT scan with annotations can take hours, especially in patients with more severe injuries, said co-first author Dr Virginia Newcombe, also from Cambridges Department of Medicine.

We wanted to design and develop a tool that could automatically identify and quantify the different types of brain lesions so that we could use it in research and explore its possible use in a hospital setting.

The researchers developed a machine learning tool based on an artificial neural network. They trained the tool on more than 600 different CT scans, showing brain lesions of different sizes and types. They then validated the tool on an existing large dataset of CT scans.

The AI was able to classify individual parts of each image and tell whether it was normal or not. This could be useful for future studies in how head injuries progress since the AI may be more consistent than a human at detecting subtle changes over time.

This tool will allow us to answer research questions we couldnt answer before, said Dr Newcombe. We want to use it on large datasets to understand how much imaging can tell us about the prognosis of patients.

Professor Menon added: We hope it will help us identify which lesions get larger and progress and understand why they progress so that we can develop more personalised treatment for patients in future.

While the researchers are currently planning to use the AI for research only, they say that with proper validation it could also be used in certain clinical scenarios, such as in resource-limited areas where there are few radiologists.

They also believe it could have a potential use in emergency rooms, helping to get patients home sooner. Of all the patients who have a head injury, only between 10 and 15 per cent have a lesion that can be seen on a CT scan.

The AI could help identify these patients who need further treatment, so those without a brain lesion can be sent home, although any clinical use of the tool would need to be thoroughly validated.

The ability to analyse large datasets automatically will also enable the researchers to solve important clinical research questions that have previously been difficult to answer, including the determination of relevant features for prognosis which in turn may help target therapies.

The research was supported in part by the European Union, the European Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Academy of Medical Sciences/The Health Foundation and the National Institute for Health Research.

PHOTOGRAPH: Professor David Menon. Picture courtesy Cambridge Neuroscience

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AI used to identify different types of brain injury - Business Weekly

Neuroscience

‘We Won’t Quit’: Cheers To The High School Class of 2020 – KERA News

Your senior year is one for the ages.

Class trips, prom and graduation all help mark the end of one chapter and the start of another.

The pandemic has stolen some of these moments from the Class of 2020, but that hasnt kept seniors from celebrating a milestone year.

Listen to the KERA News story

The Bomb Factory was awash in strobe lights and fog on a recent Saturday night.

Hype men on stage were gassing up dueling DJs, spinning records that would usually make the dance floor irresistiblebut tonight, it was empty.

The Deep Ellum music venue mounted a virtual prom in lieu of the real thing.

Lewisville High School senior Kathryn Foster was watching from home.

I video called all my friends, and we got dressed up in the outfits wed already bought," Foster said. "I was in this big, blue dress that Id bought before we found out we werent going to come back to school.

She had fun, but it wasn't how Foster thought she'd be spending the months before she heads off to Baylor in the fall to study neuroscience.

It was kind of devastating for a lot of us to know that wed never get senior prom," she said. "We couldnt say goodbye to some of our friends who were going away."

It was dawning on seniors everywhere. Their last year was going to be very different from what they were expecting.

Demarre Johnson was enjoying spring break when he learned schools were closing indefinitely.

And we didnt know when we were going back or if we were going back," Johnson said. "Especially as a student athlete in his last year? That one hurt.

The class president at TownviewCenter in Dallas was slated to give a speech at his graduation ceremony.

"My mom was already planning on getting my whole family t-shirts with my face on it and a graduation cap," he said.

Johnson has a full ride to Babson College in Massachusetts, and his family has planned a drive-through graduation party.

You drive your cars through, you decorate your cars, you honk your horn, you scream and shout," he said. "As they leave, theyre going to throw their gifts in my trunk.

Jonah Ortiz isnt letting the shutdown keep him from celebrating either.

I just wear my button-up shirt, some slacks," Ortiz said. "My girlfriend already had her dress. I told her come over, and we can take some pictures. We took some pictures in my front yard, and that was kind of our little prom.

The senior at Sunset High School in Dallas is still figuring out whats next for him.

He might go to Cedar Valley College to become a mechanic, but he also has athletic scholarships to schools in Pennsylvania and Iowa.

"I'm scared," he said. "I'm definitely scared. I don't know what the future holds. I'm going to try my best to become a functioning member of society."

Emilie Garcia feels the same way.

I am terrified," she said. "I dont know what will happen in the fall. If my school does decide to open up, if my parents are going to take a risk by taking me, especially since they are older.

The valedictorian at Carter Riverside High School in Fort Worth plans to study engineering at Emory University.

These final senior year moments hold a special place in her heart.

I lost my brother my freshman year," Garcia said. "He was a senior, and he wasnt able to attend his graduation or his prom. For me, it was like closure. Knowing that I started high school with him, and I wasnt going to end it with him, but at least I was going to experience the events he didnt get to experience.

Garcia said she plans to wear her prom dress on the day of her virtual graduation. Her family will make her favorite dish, mole.

Shell also give a commencement speech.

I touch on the serial position effect, where you remember the first and last thing of a series best and the middle worst," she said. "Even though we will remember senior year forever, I know that the middle part truly enhanced our experience and made us who we are.

Garcia said she won't let the last few months define her journey so far.

Despite the fear and uncertainty they may feel about the future, this is a tough group of seniors.

Weve been through a lot," Johnson said. "We were born right at 9-11. We had to deal with that turmoil. Now, were going through one of the first ever lockdowns in history. I say one thing that the world will know about us is that we wont quit, and this is not the last youve heard of us.

So, lets raise a toast to the Class of 2020. The future is in good hands.

Got a tip? Email Miguel Perez atmperez@kera.org. You can follow him on Twitter @quillindie.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

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Neuroscience

Unlocking the Neuroscience of How Experiencing Traumatic Stress Leads to Aggression – SciTechDaily

By Society for NeuroscienceMay 18, 2020

Strengthened amygdala pathways increase aggression, may be targets for PTSD treatment.

Traumatic stress can cause aggression by strengthening two brain pathways involved in emotion, according to research recently published inJNeurosci. Targeting those pathways via deep brain stimulation may stymie aggression associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The consequences of traumatic stress linger long after the stress ends. People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder often display heightened aggression, caused by unknown changes in the amygdala. An almond-shaped structure nestled deep inside the brain, the amygdala plays an essential role in emotion, social behaviors, and aggression.

Attacking another animal or experiencing traumatic stress strengthens amygdala pathways and leads to aggressive behavior. Credit: Nordman et al., JNeurosci 2020

Nordman et al. examined how different amygdala circuits changed in male mice after traumatic stress. Two connections strengthened, resulting in more attacks on other mice: the circuitry connecting the amygdala to the ventromedial hypothalamus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The former modulates the frequency of attacks, while the latter controls the length of attacks. The research team then used low frequencies of light to stop the pathways from strengthening, preventing an increase in aggressive behavior. Deep brain stimulation may elicit the same effect in humans.

Reference: Potentiation of Divergent Medial Amygdala Pathways Drives Experience-Dependent Aggression Escalation by Jacob Nordman, Xiaoyu Ma, Qinhua Gu, Michael Potegal, He Li, Alexxai V. Kravitz and Zheng Li, 18 May 2020, JNeurosci.DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0370-20.2020

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Unlocking the Neuroscience of How Experiencing Traumatic Stress Leads to Aggression - SciTechDaily

Neuroscience

Neurobiologist Finds Potent Pain-Suppression Center in the Brain – Duke Today

A Duke University research team has found a small area of the brain in mice that can profoundly control the animals sense of pain.

Somewhat unexpectedly, this brain center turns pain off, not on. Its also located in an area where few people would have thought to look for an anti-pain center, the amygdala, which is often considered the home of negative emotions and responses, like the fight or flight response and general anxiety.

People do believe there is a central place to relieve pain, thats why placebos work, said senior author Fan Wang, the Morris N. Broad Distinguished Professor of neurobiology in the School of Medicine. The question is where in the brain is the center that can turn off pain.

Most of the previous studies have focused on which regions are turned ON by pain, Wang said. But there are so many regions processing pain, youd have to turn them all off to stop pain. Whereas this one center can turn off the pain by itself.

The work is a follow-up to earlier research in Wangs lab looking at neurons that are activated, rather than suppressed, by general anesthetics. In a 2019 study, they found that general anesthesia promotes slow-wave sleep by activating the supraoptic nucleus of the brain. But sleep and pain are separate, an important clue that led to the new finding, which appears online May 18 in Nature Neuroscience.

The researchers found that general anesthesia also activates a specific subset of inhibitory neurons in the central amygdala, which they have called the CeAga neurons (CeA stands for central amygdala; ga indicates activation by general anesthesia). Mice have a relatively larger central amygdala than humans, but Wang said she had no reason to think we have a different system for controlling pain.

Using technologies that Wangs lab has pioneered to track the paths of activated neurons in mice, the team found the CeAga was connected to many different areas of the brain, which was a surprise, Wang said.

By giving mice a mild pain stimulus, the researchers could map all of the pain-activated brain regions. They discovered that at least 16 brain centers known to process the sensory or emotional aspects of pain were receiving inhibitory input from the CeAga.

Pain is a complicated brain response, Wang said. It involves sensory discrimination, emotion, and autonomic (involuntary nervous system) responses. Treating pain by dampening all of these brain processes in many areas is very difficult to achieve. But activating a key node that naturally sends inhibitory signals to these pain-processing regions would be more robust.

Using a technology called optogenetics, which uses light to activate a small population of cells in the brain, the researchers found they could turn off the self-caring behaviors a mouse exhibits when it feels uncomfortable by activating the CeAga neurons. Paw-licking or face-wiping behaviors were completely abolished the moment the light was switched on to activate the anti-pain center.

Its so drastic, Wang said. They just instantaneously stop licking and rubbing.

When the scientists dampened the activity of these CeAga neurons, the mice responded as if a temporary insult had become intense or painful again. They also found that low-dose ketamine, an anesthetic drug that allows sensation but blocks pain, activated the CeAga center and wouldnt work without it.

Now the researchers are going to look for drugs that can activate only these cells to suppress pain as potential future pain killers, Wang said.

The other thing were trying to do is to (transcriptome) sequence the hell out of these cells, she said. The researchers are hoping to find the gene for a rare or unique cell surface receptor among these specialized cells that would enable a very specific drug to activate these neurons and relieve pain.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (DP1MH103908, R01 DE029342, R01 NS109947, R01 DE027454), the Holland-Trice Scholar Award, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and a predoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

CITATION: General Anesthetics Activate a Potent Central Pain-Suppression Circuit in The Amygdala, Thuy Hua, Bin Chen, Dongye Lu, Katsuyasu Sakurai, Shengli Zhao, Bao-Xia Han, Jiwoo Kim, Luping Yin, Yong Chen, Jinghao Lu, Fan Wang. Nature Neuroscience, May 18, 2020. DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0632-8

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Neuroscience

The Brain Can "Update" Memories With Incorrect Information – Technology Networks

A new study shows that the brain can update or edit poorly-formed memories with the wrong information, potentially causing confusion, anxiety disorders like PTSD and, in extreme cases, false memories.

The research, published in Current Biology, is one of the first comprehensive characterisations of poorly-formed memories and may offer a framework for science to explore different therapeutic approaches to fear, memory and anxiety disorders. It may also have implications for accuracy of some witness testimony.

Senior author Professor Bryce Vissel, from the UTS Centre for Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine, said his team used novel behavioural, molecular and computational techniques to investigate memories that have not been well-formed, and how the brain deals with them.

He explained, "For memories to be useful, they have to have been well-formed during an event - that is, they have to accurately reflect what actually happened.

"However, in the real world many memories are likely to be inaccurate - especially in situations where the experience was brief, sudden or highly emotional, as can often occur during trauma. Inaccurate memories can also occur when the memory is poorly encoded, potentially as a result of subtle differences in how each person processes memory or because of disease like Alzheimer's or dementia."

Lead author Dr Raphael Zinn said, "Our findings are exciting because they show that memory updating mechanisms that become activated after recall can refine and improve memories.

"Surprisingly, we found that the same process can, in some circumstances, lead to incorrect updating of the memory. We also identify one molecular mechanism, called reconsolidation, which could be mediating this process.

"This suggests we might be able to target such updating mechanisms therapeutically to treat memory and anxiety disorders where memory formation is poor."

The 6-year study shows that the same mechanism that updates poor memories can also severely distort them if it occurs in the wrong situation.

Professor Vissel said these findings could be useful for understanding memory fallibility in everyday life; fear and memory disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and situations where accurate recall is critical, like witness testimony in courtrooms.

"While these findings come from studies in mice, this research is likely to apply across many animals with developed brains, including other mammals and humans. They might also tie in with dementias, where the main memory-related problem is an apparent inability to form accurate new memories.

"Why is memory fallible? Our study suggests that when an individual forms a poor memory, the brain reactivates the memory in a similar situation and then updates it. Sometimes a poorly formed memory can be wrongly reactivated in a similar, but irrelevant, situation. The brain may then update the memory from that irrelevant situation, causing the memory to become incorrect - rather than creating a new and entirely different memory of the new situation."

Reference: Zinn, R., Leake, J., Krasne, F. B., Corbit, L. H., Fanselow, M. S., & Vissel, B. (2020). Maladaptive Properties of Context-Impoverished Memories. Current Biology, S0960982220305546.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.040

This article has been republished from the followingmaterials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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The Brain Can "Update" Memories With Incorrect Information - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

ProMIS Neurosciences and BC Neuroimmunology expand collaboration to develop and commercialize proprietary diagnostic assays – GlobeNewswire

TORONTO and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. (TSX: PMN) (OTCQB: ARFXF), a company with unique, core technology to predict novel targets on the molecular surface of complex proteins, announced today that, in addition to its ongoing program to develop a high-throughput and accurate test for detection of antibodies to the causative agent of COVID-19, it has expanded its collaboration with BC Neuroimmunology (BCNI) to include development of highly sensitive and specific assays to support accurate screening and diagnosis of Alzheimers disease (AD).

Both BCNI and ProMIS Neurosciences have years of experience utilizing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology, and believe that recent, significant advances in throughput and stability are likely to make SPR a broadly used and cost-effective diagnostic platform. SPR is expected to offer greater accuracy, flexibility and adaptability compared to ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), the prevailing standard.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has created a need for the rapid expansion of accurate serology testing for the presence of antibodies to the virus causing COVID-19. It is widely acknowledged that such a test for COVID-19 immunity is essential to understanding patterns of immunity in the community and supporting an effective surveillance program. As recently announced, the collaboration between ProMIS and BCNI is making significant progress towards the development of an SPR-based antibody assay, aiming to achieve 100% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity for the virus causing COVID-19.

The expanded collaboration between BCNI and ProMIS is designed to address the anticipated launches of disease-modifying treatments in the Alzheimers/dementia area, which will necessitate the broad availability of appropriate and accurate diagnostic assays. SPR will be used in this context to develop sensitive blood-based AD diagnostic tests quickly and cost-effectively.

Dr. Hans Frykman, Chief Executive Officer of BCNI and a globally recognized neuro-immunologist stated: We firmly believe that SPR will displace tests based on ELISA, a decades-old technology, due to its superior accuracy and flexibility. At BCNI, we are developing high-throughput SPR tests in conjunction with ProMIS whose unique peptide antigens are anticipated to be a critical component for development and commercialization of top-quality assays targeting infectious disease, such as COVID-19, and neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimers.

Commenting on the expanded collaboration with BCNI, Eugene Williams, ProMIS executive chairman, stated: It has been very clear to us since the launch of ProMIS that diagnostics represent an important application of our unique technology platform. We have announced significant progress on development of an SPR-based antibody test for COVID-19 and believe high quality assays in this space are necessary to help safely get the economy back on track. In the field of neuroscience, the anticipated launch of aducanumab and BAN2401 for treatment of Alzheimers disease will create a dramatic increase in demand for dementia screening and diagnostics. We intend to help address this very important unmet need by capitalizing on our existing portfolio of antibodies and antigens and applying these existing assets to BCNIs outstanding expertise in the development of high performance diagnostic tests.

About ProMIS Neurosciences

ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. is a development stage biotechnology company whose unique core technology is the ability to rationally predict the site and shape (conformation) of novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes on the molecular surface of proteins. In the infectious disease setting, these disease-specific epitopes represent peptide antigens that can be used as an essential component to create accurate and sensitive serological assays to detect the presence of antibodies that arise in response to a specific infection, such as COVID-19. These peptide antigens can also be used to create potential therapeutic antibodies to treat active infection, as well as serve as the basis for development of vaccines. ProMIS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ProMIS is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PMN, and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol ARFXF.

Visit us at http://www.promisneurosciences.com or follow us onTwitter and LinkedIn. To learn more about COVID-19 antibody testing, listen at ProMIS Neurosciences website.

For media inquiries, please contact:Shanti Skiffingtonshanti.skiffington@gmail.comTel. 617 921-0808

For Investor Relations please contact:Alpine Equity AdvisorsNicholas Rigopulos, Presidentnick@alpineequityadv.comTel. 617 901-0785

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release contains certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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ProMIS Neurosciences and BC Neuroimmunology expand collaboration to develop and commercialize proprietary diagnostic assays - GlobeNewswire