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According to new research in a mouse model, systemic immune exhaustion could underlie the association between obesity and risk of developing Alzheimer disease.
This Review highlights how two discoveries — expression of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7nAChRs) by astrocytes and a correlation between astrocytic α7nAChR overexpression and amyloid-β pathology — are bridging the gap between the cholinergic and amyloid cascade hypotheses of Alzheimer disease pathogenesis.
An artificial intelligence-based tool can turn low-resolution clinical MRI scans into high-resolution 3D objects suitable for research studies. The new approach opens up the possibility of secondary analysis of large clinical MRI datasets to answer disease-relevant questions, although further work to automate scan annotation will be required.
New research reports changes in serum blood–brain barrier (BBB) markers after bilateral tonic–clonic seizures, corroborating earlier observations in animal models.
A growing understanding of the neurobiology of psychosis offers hope for an improvement in the standard of care; this includes the development of individualized, precision therapeutics. However, the path to precision psychiatry is long, and progress would be accelerated by greater collaboration with the fields of neurology and neuroscience.
Prediction tools offer great promise for clinicians in the prevention and treatment of psychosis, but none has been routinely implemented. Greater methodological rigour in the development and evaluation of these tools, along with consideration of a range of performance criteria, is necessary to maximize their potential for improving clinical decision making.
In this Review, the authors discuss recent efforts to predict disease onset, treatment response and disease outcome in individuals with psychosis. They cover genetic, biological, clinical and environmental predictive factors and assess whether the variation in outcomes is attributable to differences in the pathophysiology of psychosis.
A new study, drawing on data from national biobanks, adds to the growing evidence that exposure to common viral pathogens increases the risk of Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. These findings might provide insights into the initiating factors that lead to neurodegeneration.
A new study reports upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and neurotrophic factors in the cerebrospinal fluid of individuals with a severe form of spinal muscular atrophy.
Chronic neuropathic pain is a leading cause of disability that remains therapeutically challenging. Here, Fiore et al. review the immune mechanisms that contribute to the resolution of chronic neuropathic pain. Contributions of the gut microbiome and specialized pro-resolving mediators are also discussed, along with potential therapeutic strategies.
Wilson et al. review our current knowledge of the extracellular proteostasis system that protects the brain from the pathological consequences of extracellular protein aggregation. They discuss growing evidence that impairment of this system contributes to neuronal death in neurodegenerative diseases.
In this Perspective, Edwards and colleagues present their opinion that functional neurological disorder is categorically different from feigning and malingering. They discuss clinical, epidemiological and experimental evidence in support of this view.
This article reviews key pathogenic mechanisms underlying the development of CNS autoimmunity, focusing on the role of autoantibodies that target neuronal and/or glial cell-surface antigens. The authors consider novel therapeutic approaches based on knowledge of the immunopathogenesis of autoimmune CNS disorders.
In this Review, the authors provide an overview of the evidence indicating that multiple sclerosis is a rare complication of infection with the Epstein–Barr virus and discuss the mechanisms that could underlie this association.
