BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Cognition

ALS Patient Gets a New Chance for Communication

While many of us heard about the existence of ALS through the ice-bucket challenge two summers ago, the intricacies and details of the disease are not as well known. A diagnosis of A.L.S. (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is devastating for the patient and his/her family. As the disease progresses, the patient will slowly lose their ability to use their muscles, until eventually, they can no longer control their own body movements.

A patient with this disease often would have little hope for improvement. Recently, Hanneke De Bruijne, a doctor of internal medicine from the Netherlands who received a diagnosis of ALS in 2008, received just that: a glimmer of hope. In this article from the NY Times, Steph Yin explains the exciting technology giving this particular patient  a new way to communicate. With a brain-computer interface surgically implanted into her brain, she can utilize electrical signals to type out words on a computer screen in front of her. Incredible, right?

Taken by Dr. Frank Gaillard.

Taken by Dr. Frank Gaillard.

Nick Ramsey, one of the researchers and a professor of cognitive neuroscience, has deemed this tool a “remote control in the brain.” Using the system, De Bruijne was able to type two to three words a minute, allowing her to use it in her daily life with remarkable success.

What makes the system so ingenious is that while De Bruijne suffers from locked-in syndrome as a result of her ALS diagnosis, her brain still fires electrical signals when she feels the desire to move. The brain implant computer system capitalizes on this, allowing her to spell out her desires with a “brain click” (thinking about the hand gesture that would click that button).

While there are risks with this surgery, like any invasive procedure, the development of this new software brings hope for many ALS patients who may suffer from even more extreme locked-in syndrome, without even the ability to move their eyes. Utilizing the brain signals that still function fully allows a patient to retain control over some aspect of their life and will hopefully be able to bring light to other patients as this approach is tested further.

Other relevant articles:

The ALSA organization

2014 breakthrough for ALS

2016 Groundbreaking study signals news hope for ALS Patients

Probiotics: The Real Brain Food

While it is nearly common knowledge that probiotics give partial protection against certain colds, allergies, infectious diarrheas, and other health issues, scientists were not able to prove until recently that probiotics can potentially improve cognition. This is possible since there is communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain via the nervous system, the immune system, and hormones.

Scientists have seen that in mice, probiotics have caused an improvement in learning and memory. Researchers from Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, and Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, completed a double-blind experiment where 52 men and women with Alzheimers (between 60 and 95 years old) either received milk enriched with four probiotic bacteria, or untreated milk. As predicted by several researchers, by the end of the 12 week period, those who received the milk with Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. fermentum, and Bifidobacterium Bifidum displayed an improvement in cognition. To determine these results of the study, the scientists asked the participants of the study to complete tasks such as giving the current date, repeating a phrase, and counting backwards from 100 by sevens. Those who received the probiotics earned a “score” on these tasks ranging from 8.7 to 10.6 on the scale out of 30, whereas the participants who did not receive the probiotics scored slightly lower ranging from 8.5 to 8.0. Despite the seemingly minute difference, these results provide scientists with an insight as to the fact that probiotics can improve human cognition.

alzheimers_disease_brain_comparison

In the near future, scientists hope to test these results based on longevity of their intake to test whether or not the effects of probiotics grows throughout prolonged treatment. The patients who received the probiotics also demonstrated lower levels of triglyceride, Very Loy Density Lipoprotein (VLDL), high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hs-CRP) in the blood of the Alzheimer patients, and a reduction in two common measures of insulin resistance and the activity of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. These results also signify that this change in metabolic adjustments might be a way that the probiotics impacts other cognitive and neurological disorders.

Further Reading:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314044.php

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/731021/yoghurt-Alzheimers-symptoms-improve

Herbal Essences

An exciting new study at the St. Louis University Medical School, has gave way to a new theory regarding the prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. The geriatric researcher, Dr. Susan Farr Ph.D, disclosed at Neuroscience 2013, that extracts of spearmint and rosemary can “reduce deficits caused by mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease,”.

The research was conducted on an animal model, so there is no conclusive human evidence yet. But Dr. Farr’s results seem promising in that her tests using an “antioxidant-based ingredient” made from spearmint extract and two different concentrations of a similar antioxidant made from rosemary extract on mice that have age-related cognitive decline.

Farr found that the higher dose rosemary extract compound had the most impact in increasing memory and learning in three tested behaviors. The lower concentration rosemary extract improved memory in two of the behavioral tests, as did the compound made from spearmint extract.

Her research also found that the introduction of these extracts to the subjects’ systems decreased oxidative stress, a “hallmark of age-related decline” in the cerebrum, the learning and memory center of the brain.

As Dr. Farr continues her promising research, are you going to find yourself chewing more spearmint gum?

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