Check out some of the papers that were recently published by DMCBH members:
Journal: Behavioural brain research
In this study, researchers explored how different groups of neurons in the hippocampus contribute to working memory in rats. The focus was on granule cells in the dentate gyrus, some of which are formed early in life and others that continue to be generated during adulthood. To investigate the roles of these populations, researchers used two experimental approaches: one that stopped the production of new neurons in adult rats, and another that temporarily reduced the activity of neurons born shortly after birth. They found that preventing the formation of adult-born neurons did not affect performance on a short-term memory task, while suppressing early-born neurons led to clear impairments. These findings suggest that neurons generated early in life play a more critical role in supporting working memory in this context, highlighting important functional differences between neuron populations based on when they are formed.
Sam Fereshtehnejad: Skin-Based α-Synuclein Deposits Detection Across the Prodromal Continuum of Synucleinopathies: Updated Evidence and Perspectives
Journal: Biomolecules
Parkinson’s disease develops gradually over many years, with changes in the body occurring long before symptoms appear. This review highlights growing evidence that abnormal buildup of the protein alpha-synuclein can be detected in the skin, offering a simple and minimally invasive way to identify early signs of the disease. Studies show that these skin-based markers may be present even in people at high risk who do not yet have symptoms, and could appear before significant brain damage occurs. While more research is needed, these findings suggest that skin tests could help with earlier diagnosis, predicting who may develop Parkinson’s, and improving how new treatments are tested.
Mypinder Sekhon: Illuminating Reperfusion Physiology in Humans
Journal: Resuscitation
Brain injury after cardiac arrest is a major cause of death and long-term problems, including memory issues and mental health conditions, yet effective treatments are still limited. This editorial explains that the damage happens in stages: first when the brain is deprived of oxygen, and then when blood flow returns and triggers additional injury through processes like inflammation and cellular stress. To better understand these early stages, the authors highlight a new study that used a clever human model: patients undergoing a heart valve procedure where blood flow to the brain briefly drops and then returns, mimicking what happens during cardiac arrest. This allowed researchers to safely study brain responses in real time, something that’s usually difficult to do in humans. While the study has some limitations, such as the types of biological markers measured and the short duration of reduced blood flow, it represents an important step forward. Overall, the work opens the door to better understanding how brain injury develops after cardiac arrest and could help guide future treatments.
Journal: Brain Imaging and Behavior
This study shows that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not a single, uniform condition but can be divided into four subtypes based on symptoms and brain scans. Using MRI and a computer model to track how damage spreads in the brain, researchers found that each subtype appears to start and progress in slightly different brain regions. For most groups, early damage was linked to an area involved in movement (the putamen), but the pathways connecting different brain regions varied between subtypes. In people with ALS combined with dementia, the patterns of brain changes were even more distinct. Overall, the findings suggest that ALS may develop differently depending on the subtype, which could help explain why symptoms and progression vary between patients and may eventually guide more personalized approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
Jessica Rosin: CSF1R+ macrophage and osteoclast depletion impairs neural crest proliferation and craniofacial morphogenesis
Journal: Development
This study looked at how certain immune-related cells help shape a baby’s skull and face during development. Researchers blocked a key signal needed for two types of cells—macrophages (immune cells) and osteoclasts (cells that help shape bone)—and found that this led to major changes in skull and facial formation. While nerves and muscles developed normally, the skull became misshapen and several facial structures, like the jaw, palate, and tiny ear bones, did not form properly. The treatment also disrupted important cell signals and slowed the growth of other cells involved in building the face. Overall, the findings show that these immune and bone-related cells play a crucial role in normal facial development before birth.
Mahmoud Pouladi: Generation of an isogenic human induced pluripotent stem cell line harbouring a CLDN11 mutation associated with hypomyelinating leukodystrophy
Journal: Stem cell research
Researchers are studying a rare genetic condition called hypomyelinating leukodystrophy 22, which affects how the brain forms myelin, the protective coating around nerve fibers. This condition has been linked to changes in a gene called CLDN11. In this work, scientists identified a new mutation in this gene and created specialized human stem cell models carrying the mutation so they could study its effects more closely. These lab-grown cells allow researchers to better understand how this genetic change disrupts normal brain development and may help guide future research into treatments.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Roger Tam: Probing cognitive reserve with resting state functional connectivity in subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment
Journal: Journal of Alzheimer’s disease reports
This study looked at how brain damage and brain connectivity together affect thinking skills in people with subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment, a condition linked to small blood vessel disease and increased risk of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers focused on “white matter hyperintensities” (areas of brain damage seen on MRI) and how well different brain networks communicate at rest. They found that greater brain damage was linked to worse performance on tasks that require mental flexibility, but this effect depended on how strongly certain brain networks were connected. In some cases, stronger or more efficient connectivity appeared to help people maintain better thinking abilities despite the damage—a concept known as cognitive reserve. Overall, the findings suggest that the brain may compensate for physical damage by relying on network connections, which could help explain why some people cope better than others.
Journal: The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
This study looked at how symptoms after a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), such as a concussion, are connected to everyday functioning problems in people treated either in regular primary care or in specialized brain injury clinics. By analyzing reports from over 1,000 adults, researchers found that certain cognitive and emotional symptoms—especially slower thinking, difficulty concentrating, frustration, and mood changes—played a central role in linking postconcussion symptoms to real-life disability. Problems like managing household tasks were also strongly connected to these symptom networks. Overall, the results suggest that cognitive and emotional difficulties act as key “bridge points” between concussion symptoms and day-to-day challenges, and targeting these areas early may help improve recovery after mTBI.
Mahmoud Pouladi: Mis-spliced FMR1 transcripts in human fragile X syndrome neural progenitors and neurons
Journal: Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders
This study looked at Fragile X syndrome, a condition caused by changes in the FMR1 gene that usually leads to a lack of an important brain protein needed for normal development. Researchers found that in some cases, the gene is still active and produces RNA, but the RNA is incorrectly processed (“mis-spliced”), which prevents the final protein from being made properly. Using human stem cell–derived brain cells, they showed that this faulty RNA processing is common in Fragile X neurons and may help explain why the protein is missing even when the gene is not completely turned off. Overall, the results suggest that errors in how the gene’s instructions are edited may be an additional reason why Fragile X syndrome develops, offering new directions for potential treatments.
Jason Snyder, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez: Electroconvulsive Shock Induces Greater Plasticity of Dentate Gyrus Neurons Born in Adulthood Than Those Born in Development
Journal: The European journal of neuroscience
This study examined how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a highly effective treatment for severe depression, affects brain cells involved in learning and memory. Using mice, researchers found that the treatment strongly increased the survival and growth of new neurons in the dentate gyrus, a brain region important for memory and emotion. These newly formed neurons grew more connections and integrated more into brain circuits after treatment. In contrast, neurons formed earlier in life were affected differently: they showed subtle changes in their connections rather than the same growth response. Overall, the findings suggest that ECT mainly boosts plasticity (flexibility and growth) in newer brain cells, which may help explain its antidepressant effects as well as its impact on memory.
Journal: European stroke journal
This study looked at how much hidden brain damage continues to develop after a stroke, even beyond what is seen on early MRI scans. Researchers followed stroke patients who had already received emergency treatment and compared brain scans taken shortly after the stroke and again three months later. They found that the brain continued to shrink over time in areas affected by the stroke, including both grey and white matter, as well as deep brain structures involved in memory and movement. This ongoing loss of brain tissue was linked to worse recovery and lower independence at 90 days. The study also showed that the size of the initial stroke and later brain shrinkage were strong predictors of outcome, while the tested drug did not significantly change brain loss. Overall, the findings suggest that measuring long-term brain volume changes could be a useful way to better understand stroke injury and evaluate future treatments.
Fidel Vila-Rodriguez: Utilizing stimulation-evoked hemodynamic activity to predict antidepressant response to intermittent theta-burst stimulation in adults with major depression
Journal: Journal of affective disorders
This study explored whether brain responses measured during a type of non-invasive brain stimulation could help predict who will benefit from treatment for major depressive disorder. Researchers used a technique called theta burst stimulation along with brain imaging to measure activity in the prefrontal cortex before patients began four weeks of treatment. They found that these early brain responses could accurately distinguish people who would improve from those who would not, suggesting the method may help predict treatment success. The brain measurements were moderately consistent when repeated, although not perfectly stable. Overall, the results suggest that brain activity patterns during stimulation may be a useful tool for personalizing depression treatment in the future.
Mark Cembrowski, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez: Integrated clinical and postmortem profiling in schizophrenia reveals a cognitive subtype linked to cerebrovascular disease
Journal: Translational psychiatry
This study examined why many older adults with schizophrenia develop memory and thinking problems. Researchers compared cognitive test results with detailed brain autopsy findings to see whether conditions like Alzheimer’s disease or blood vessel damage in the brain could explain the impairment. They found that most participants had some level of cognitive decline, but surprisingly, in many cases there was no clear brain disease that fully explained it. While Alzheimer’s-related changes were about as common as in the general population, damage to blood vessels in the brain was much more frequent and was linked to worse cognitive performance in some individuals. Overall, the results suggest that vascular (blood vessel–related) brain damage may play an important role in cognitive problems for at least some people with schizophrenia, and that improving cardiovascular health could potentially help protect thinking abilities in this group.
Helen Tremlett: Impact of cancer on multiple sclerosis-related healthcare and disease-modifying drug use: A multinational cohort study
Journal: Multiple sclerosis: clinical and laboratory research
This study looked at how a cancer diagnosis affects care for people living with multiple sclerosis, especially their use of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), which help slow the disease. Using large population datasets from France and Canada, researchers compared people with MS who developed cancer to similar MS patients without cancer. They found that after a cancer diagnosis, patients were much less likely to continue or use MS medications, particularly if they were receiving chemotherapy. However, the number of visits to neurologists and MS-related hospitalizations did not change much. Overall, the findings suggest that cancer mainly affects MS treatment use, rather than overall neurological care or hospital needs.
Raymond Lam: The association between body mass index and treatment outcomes in major depressive disorder: a CAN-BIND-1 study
Journal: Journal of psychiatric research
This study examined whether body weight influences how well people with major depressive disorder respond to antidepressant treatment. Researchers analyzed data from a clinical trial where participants were treated with the antidepressant escitalopram, and some later received an additional medication (aripiprazole) if they did not improve. They looked at whether body mass index (BMI), being overweight, activity levels, or reward-related behavior affected treatment success. The results showed no clear link between weight or these related factors and whether patients improved or went into remission. Overall, the study suggests that body weight alone does not appear to predict antidepressant treatment response, although the relationship may still be complex and needs further research.
Journal: Neural Regeneration Research
Most Alzheimer’s research has focused on two main disease features: amyloid and tau protein buildup. This review argues that other brain chemical systems may be just as important, especially those involving somatostatin and dopamine, which help regulate brain activity and are affected early in Alzheimer’s disease. When somatostatin levels drop, the brain becomes less able to clear harmful amyloid proteins and maintain normal neural balance. Similarly, loss of dopamine can disrupt memory processes, learning, and brain communication, while also making it harder for the brain to clear toxic proteins. The review suggests that these two systems interact and may influence each other in ways that affect disease progression. Early research in models shows that boosting somatostatin or dopamine signaling may reduce brain damage and help preserve cognitive function, pointing to potential new treatment approaches that go beyond the traditional amyloid-focused strategies.
Wilfred Jefferies: Lipid-anchored melanotransferrin mediates transferrin-independent iron uptake and ferritin storage in mammals
Journal: Cell death discovery
This study looks at how cells take in iron when it is not carried by its usual transport protein. Normally, the body uses a system involving transferrin to move iron, but evidence shows that even without it, iron can still reach important organs through alternative pathways. Researchers focused on a protein called melanotransferrin (MFI2), which can exist on the cell surface or be released in a soluble form. They discovered a new mechanism in which this protein helps cells take up iron by bringing it inside through a specific internal “entry route” and then delivering it to storage sites inside the cell. This process was shown in cancer cells, but the protein is also found in the brain and has been linked to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and melanoma. Overall, the findings identify a previously unknown way cells absorb and manage iron, which could help explain how iron balance is maintained in both health and disease.
Noah Silverberg: Measuring and appraising placebo effects in clinical trials: contemporary challenges and approaches in psychiatry
Journal: Lancet Psychiatry
This review discusses the “placebo effect,” where people can improve after receiving an inactive treatment simply because they expect to get better, which is a major challenge in medical research. Although placebo effects are well studied in clinical trials, the authors note that they are still not fully understood or carefully analyzed in many areas of medicine. The paper focuses on how placebo responses affect clinical trials, especially in psychiatry. It highlights three key challenges: difficulty separating drug effects from expectations in psychedelic studies, unusually strong placebo responses in brain-based treatments like devices or procedures, and the fact that placebo effects may overlap with the same brain mechanisms targeted by psychiatric treatments. Overall, the review argues that placebo effects are not just “noise” in experiments but a complex phenomenon that needs to be better understood to improve how mental health treatments are tested and interpreted.
Helen Tremlett: Identifying strategies to characterize the diversity of the MS population in Canada: a nominal group study
Journal: Frontiers in Neurology
This study looked at how to better understand the diversity of people living with multiple sclerosis in Canada, since factors like age, background, and other demographic details can affect health outcomes but are not well tracked. Experts worked together to identify the best ways to fill these information gaps. They agreed that the most promising approaches include creating a standardized form used across clinics, using health administrative databases in new ways, and linking different data sources together. Overall, the study highlights practical strategies to better capture who is affected by MS in Canada, which could help improve care and research.
Mypinder Sekhon, Ryan Hoiland: Effect of immunomodulation on post-cardiac arrest brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Journal: Resuscitation
This review looked at whether drugs that reduce inflammation in the body can improve survival or brain recovery after someone has been resuscitated from a cardiac arrest. Researchers analyzed results from 11 clinical trials involving over 2,600 patients, where most treatments included anti-inflammatory drugs like corticosteroids. Overall, these treatments did not significantly improve survival or lead to better brain outcomes compared to standard care. There was a small sign that some inflammation markers in the blood might decrease temporarily, but this did not translate into clear clinical benefits. The study concludes that, based on current evidence, immunomodulatory (anti-inflammatory) treatments do not meaningfully improve outcomes after cardiac arrest, and more consistent and better-designed trials are needed.
Catharine Winstanley: Audiovisual cues must be predictable and win-paired to drive risky choice
Journal: eLife
This study examined why certain sounds and visual effects in gambling-like situations can make both rats and humans more likely to take risky choices, a behavior linked to addiction. Using a rat gambling task, researchers tested different ways of pairing cues (like lights or sounds) with wins and losses. They found that when cues were consistently linked to winning, rats became more likely to choose risky options that were ultimately worse for them. However, if cues were random or only paired with losses, this effect disappeared or even improved decision-making. The results suggest that it’s not just excitement or stimulation that drives risky behavior, but specifically learning that cues predict rewards. Overall, this helps explain how strong sensory feedback in gambling and gaming environments may encourage addictive, risky decision-making.
Adele Diamond: Schooling Trajectories and the Development of Brain Dynamics: A Comparative Study of Montessori and Traditional Education
Journal: Advanced Science
This study examined whether different school environments are linked to differences in children’s thinking skills and brain activity. Researchers compared students aged 4–15 in Montessori schools, which emphasize self-directed and hands-on learning, with students in traditional classrooms that rely more on teacher-led instruction. They found that children in Montessori schools performed better on language, math, and creative thinking tasks. Brain scans also showed different patterns of activity over development: Montessori students showed changes in brain dynamics associated with more flexible and adaptive processing, while traditional school students showed different or reduced changes in these patterns over time. The differences were seen in brain systems involved in attention, movement, and higher-level thinking. The study suggests that educational approaches may influence how children’s brains develop and function, although more long-term research is needed to understand these effects fully.
Jason Snyder: The Dentate Gyrus Grows Throughout Life Despite Turnover of Developmentally-Born Neurons
Journal: Hippocampus
This study looked at how the brain’s memory region, the hippocampus, changes in adulthood as new neurons are added over time. Scientists focused on the dentate gyrus, where new brain cells continue to form even in adult rats. They found that a large number of new neurons are indeed added during adulthood, suggesting ongoing brain growth. However, the overall increase in total neurons was smaller than expected because some older, developmentally formed neurons die off at the same time. In other words, the brain is both adding and losing cells, leading to a balance rather than continuous growth. These findings suggest that brain plasticity in adulthood depends not just on making new neurons, but also on the turnover of existing ones, which may be important for memory and brain health.
Roger Tam, Teresa Liu-Ambrose, Liisa Galea: Integrating actigraphy with demographic data enhances cognitive performance prediction: a multimodal UK biobank analysis using machine learning
Journal: International journal of medical informatics
This large study examined whether data from wrist-worn activity trackers can help predict cognitive performance in adults. Using information from over 40,000 people in the UK Biobank, researchers tested whether movement and sleep–wake patterns could improve predictions of performance on a thinking and processing speed test. They found that basic demographic factors like age, education, and income were moderately helpful, but adding raw activity data from the wearables significantly improved the ability to predict cognitive performance. Certain daily activity patterns, especially in the morning and evening, were most informative. However, more complex sleep–wake rhythm measures did not add extra value. The results suggest that simple wearable data can meaningfully improve large-scale assessments of brain health, though performance differences between men and women indicate that models may need to be tailored for different groups.
Rebecca Feldman, Erin MacMillan: Design of Differential Single-Block and Multi-Block Presaturated Ultrashort Echo Time Pulse Sequences for Fast and Flexible Short-T2 Imaging
Journal: Magnetic resonance in medicine
This study developed new MRI scanning methods designed to more quickly and efficiently capture signals from very fast-decaying tissues, such as bone. Traditional imaging techniques for these “short-T2” signals are slow and often require scanning large areas even when only part of the region is needed. The researchers created two improved methods that allow multiple image slices to be captured at the same time, reducing scan time while maintaining detail. They tested these techniques in both simulations and healthy volunteers and successfully produced high-resolution images of the skull in just a few minutes. Overall, the new approaches make it faster and more flexible to image hard-to-capture tissues like bone using MRI, which could improve clinical scanning efficiency.
