Do You Have a Saggy Brain?

Credit: Newcastle UniversityNew research from Newcastle University, UK, in collaboration with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, investigated the way the human brain folds and how this ‘cortical folding’ changes with age. Losing the youthful firmness and elasticity in our skin is one of the first outward signs of ageing. Now it seems it’s not just our skin that starts to sag - but our brains too.Linking the change in brain folding to the tension on the cerebral cortex - the outer layer of neural tissue in our brains - the team found that as we age, the tension on the cortex appears to decrease. This effect was more pronounced in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.Publishing their findings today in the academic journal PNAS, the team say this new research sheds light on the underlying mechanisms which affect brain folding and could be used in the future to help diagnose brain diseases.Lead author Dr Yujiang Wang (pictured) of Newcastle University, explains: “One of the key features of a mammalian brain is the grooves and folds all over the surface – a bit like a walnut - but until now no-one has been able to measure this folding in a consistent way.“By mapping the brain folding of over 1,000 people, we have shown that our brains fold according to a simple universal law. We also show that a parameter of the law, which is...

Read More........→December 24, 2020

Research Strongly Suggests COVID-19 Virus Enters the Brain

 A study published in Nature Neuroscience shows how spike protein crosses the blood-brain barrier.The S1 protein likely causes the brain to release inflammatory products causing a storm in the brain, researchers said.More and more evidence is coming out that people with COVID-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue.And researchers are discovering why. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, like many viruses before it, is bad news for the brain. In a study published Dec.16 in Nature Neuroscience, researchers found that the spike protein, often depicted as the red arms of the virus, can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice.This strongly suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, can enter the brain.The spike protein, often called the S1 protein, dictates which cells the virus can enter. Usually, the virus does the same thing as its binding protein, said lead author William A. Banks, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Healthcare System physician and researcher. Banks said binding proteins like S1 usually by themselves cause damage as they detach from the virus and cause inflammation.“The S1 protein likely causes the brain to release cytokines and inflammatory products,” he said.In science circles, the intense inflammation caused by...

Read More........→December 21, 2020