Check out some of the papers that were recently published by DMCBH members:
Jan Lünemann: De-Escalating and Discontinuing Immunotherapies in Patients With NMOSD and MOGAD
Journal: Neurology
New antibody tests and targeted treatments have greatly improved care for conditions such as aquaporin-4 antibody neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4-Ab NMOSD) and MOG-antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), reducing relapses and improving long-term outcomes. However, researchers are now studying whether treatment can eventually be reduced or stopped safely. For AQP4-Ab NMOSD, stopping treatment is generally not recommended because relapses can be severe, while some people with MOGAD who have remained well for several years may be able to reduce or stop treatment, particularly if antibodies are no longer detectable. Decisions may also be influenced by side effects, infections, other health conditions or pregnancy. Overall, treatment changes need to be individualized and closely monitored, and more research is needed to determine when reducing or stopping treatment is safe.
Mypinder Sekhon: Assessing global cerebral hemodynamics after cardiac arrest
Journal: Resuscitation
This editorial highlights the importance of a recent study examining post-cardiac arrest brain injury (PCABI) using a pig model. The study used MRI and blood tests to show that cardiac arrest can lead to reduced blood flow to the brain, increased resistance in brain blood vessels and injury in specific brain regions. The editorial emphasizes the value of advanced MRI in capturing the widespread and uneven nature of PCABI, as well as the study’s use of clinical imaging and intensive care approaches that may facilitate translation to human research. It also notes limitations, including the use of only female animals and a model of shockable cardiac arrest, which may not reflect all types of cardiac arrest. Overall, the editorial describes the study as an important contribution to understanding the complex, evolving nature of PCABI.
Teresa Liu-Ambrose: Resistance training and depressive symptoms in subcortical vascular cognitive impairment: secondary results of a randomised clinical trial
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine
In this study, researchers examined how exercise may reduce depressive symptoms for people with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). They examined the effects of progressive resistance training (PRT) using machines or weights compared with a control group doing stretches and light exercises on depressive symptoms among adults with CSVD and subcortical vascular cognitive impairment (SVCI). After 12 months, adults with SVCI doing PRT had fewer depressive symptoms than the control group. Researchers emphasize that PRT should be considered for adults with mild to moderate SVCI to mitigate depressive symptoms.
Jan Lünemann: Role of complement and complement-targeted therapeutics in neurological diseases
Journal: Nature Reviews Neurology
Complement is a group of immune proteins that helps protect the body from infection and clear away damaged cells. When improperly activated, it can contribute to autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases affecting the brain, nerves and muscles. Several complement-targeting drugs are already approved for neurological conditions, and new treatments are being studied for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer disease and ALS. Because complement also supports healthy brain function, researchers are working to identify biomarkers to develop more personalized treatments that target specific parts of the system while minimizing risks such as infection.
Helen Tremlett: Disease-modifying therapy uptake in a pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis population, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: Journal of Neuroimmunology
As disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) undergo pediatric clinical trials, the treatment of pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS) is evolving. Most DMTs are off label in children, resulting in difficulties accessing the treatment and variability in treatment patterns. This study examines clinical and administrative datasets to identify POMS and DMT uptake from dispensed prescriptions. Results indicated that 18% of POMS cases filled a DMT prescription under 18 years of age. Moderate-efficacy therapies were the common initial DMT dispensed, but over two-thirds of POMS cases eventually received a follow-up of high-efficacy therapy.
Todd Woodward: Functional brain networks involved in fluid intelligence in bipolar disorder
Journal: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
In this study, researchers collected fMRI data during Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM), a cognitive focused multiple-choice test, to investigate networks involving fluid intelligence, the ability to solve problems and think abstractly without prior knowledge, in people with bipolar disorder. Four brain networks were extracted and studied using a multidimensional analysis that provides network anatomical and temporal information about task-induced signal changes involving blood oxygen levels in the brain. Results indicated that the group with bipolar disorder patients and the control group did not differ in RSPM task performance or network activity.
Journal: European Journal of Neurology
New targeted treatments have expanded options for people with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), but their effectiveness can vary between patients. In this expert review, 18 neurologists from Germany and Austria combined clinical evidence with their real-world experience to provide practical guidance on using two newer types of treatments: complement C5 inhibitors (C5-I) and neonatal Fc receptor inhibitors (FcRn-I). Their recommendations address when to start treatment, when to switch between therapies and how to combine or transition to other immune treatments. The goal is to help clinicians tailor treatment decisions to individual patients, including children and young people with myasthenia gravis.
Mahmoud Pouladi: Convergent and Divergent Molecular Pathways in FMR1-, TSC2- and FMR1/TSC2 Knockout Neurons
Journal: Molecular Neurobiology
Fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex are genetic conditions that can increase the likelihood of autism. Researchers used human stem cell-derived neurons to study how changes in the genes involved in these conditions affect brain cells, both individually and together. They found that the combined genetic changes disrupted pathways involved in protein production, communication between neurons and brain cell activity, with the neurons becoming unusually active. Unlike previous studies in mice, the combined changes did not appear to compensate for each other, instead showing abnormalities similar to those seen with tuberous sclerosis alone. These findings provide new insight into how different genetic changes may interact to contribute to autism-related brain differences.
Michael Hayden: Loss of interruption in the HTT CAG repeat is associated with somatic expansion and loss of medium spiny neurons in Huntington’s disease
Journal: Neuron
Huntington’s disease causes the gradual loss of brain cells called medium spiny neurons (MSNs), which can develop expansions of the CAG repeat sequence of the Huntingtin (HTT) gene linked to the disease. This study found that these large DNA expansions build up as the disease progresses and are associated with greater loss of MSNs. People with a genetic variant that promotes CAG expansion had about five times more MSNs with very large expansions and fewer MSNs in an affected brain region. The findings suggest that these DNA repeat expansions may help drive the onset and progression of Huntington’s disease, and that changes that promote expansion in specific brain cells can accelerate disease-related damage.
Journal: Journal of Neurophysiology
Researchers used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine how stroke affects the timing and communication of brain cells involved in movement. In 20 people with chronic stroke, they found differences in the timing of movement-related brain signals between the stroke-affected and non-affected sides of the brain, particularly when TMS was delivered in different directions. Larger differences between the two sides were associated with poorer upper-limb motor function. The findings suggest that changes in the timing of communication between brain cells may provide a useful measure for understanding and tracking motor function after stroke.
Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine
This study assessed the effect of exercise-only intervention and exercise combined with other lifestyle interventions on executive functioning, memory and processing speed of older adults living without dementia. Researchers conducted a systemic review of studies and found that exercise on its own was linked to improvements in executive function, memory and processing speed. Combining exercise with other activities, most commonly cognitive training, also improved memory and provided additional benefits for executive function and processing speed compared with exercise alone. Overall, the findings support regular exercise as a way to help maintain cognitive health as we age, while more research is needed to understand which combinations of activities provide the greatest benefits.
Naznin Virji-Babul: Establishing the behavioral feasibility of a structured story-generation paradigm for neurophysiological research
Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
Researchers developed a new way to study creativity as it happens over time, rather than measuring it at a single moment. Sixty university students created short stories by combining three unrelated images, which allowed researchers to capture a more natural, ongoing creative process that could eventually be studied alongside brain activity. Two large language models (LLMs) provided creativity scores that showed moderate agreement with each other and with human ratings. The stories also produced a wide range of creativity scores, suggesting the task can capture meaningful differences in creative thinking. However, scores did not closely match results from other established creativity tests. The findings provide early evidence that this storytelling task could be useful for studying the brain activity involved in creativity, with future research planned to examine the associated neural patterns and how LLM ratings compare with human assessments.
Sriram Subramaniam: Diminished sialoside binding in novel H5N1 influenza hemagglutinin variants identified in a human patient
Journal: Nature Communications
Researchers studied the H5N1 influenza virus from a severe 2024 case in a British Columbia adolescent. They found that changes in the virus’s hemagglutinin (HA) protein substantially reduced its ability to bind to the types of receptors normally used by influenza viruses to enter cells. Despite this reduced binding, the virus was still able to cause cell fusion, although less efficiently than other H5 viruses. The patient’s immune system also produced a strong antibody response to the virus. The findings suggest that the virus population in this case was more genetically diverse than expected, with several variants showing unusually weak receptor binding, highlighting the complexity of severe H5N1 infections.
