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Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2023The hippocampus is critical for recollecting and imagining experiences. This is believed to involve voluntarily drawing from hippocampal memory representations of...
The hippocampus is critical for recollecting and imagining experiences. This is believed to involve voluntarily drawing from hippocampal memory representations of people, events, and places, including maplike representations of familiar environments. However, whether representations in such "cognitive maps" can be volitionally accessed is unknown. We developed a brain-machine interface to test whether rats can do so by controlling their hippocampal activity in a flexible, goal-directed, and model-based manner. We found that rats can efficiently navigate or direct objects to arbitrary goal locations within a virtual reality arena solely by activating and sustaining appropriate hippocampal representations of remote places. This provides insight into the mechanisms underlying episodic memory recall, mental simulation and planning, and imagination and opens up possibilities for high-level neural prosthetics that use hippocampal representations.
Topics: Animals; Rats; Brain-Computer Interfaces; Hippocampus; Imagination; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Volition; Spatial Navigation; Brain Mapping
PubMed: 37917713
DOI: 10.1126/science.adh5206 -
European Journal of Clinical... Apr 2024Mitochondrial dysfunction is a major hallmark of ageing and related chronic disorders. Controlled removal of damaged mitochondria by the autophagic machinery, a process... (Review)
Review
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a major hallmark of ageing and related chronic disorders. Controlled removal of damaged mitochondria by the autophagic machinery, a process known as mitophagy, is vital for mitochondrial homeostasis and cell survival. The central role of mitochondria in cellular metabolism places mitochondrial removal at the interface of key metabolic pathways affecting the biosynthesis or catabolism of acetyl-coenzyme A, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, polyamines, as well as fatty acids and amino acids. Molecular switches that integrate the metabolic status of the cell, like AMP-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase A, mechanistic target of rapamycin and sirtuins, have also emerged as important regulators of mitophagy. In this review, we discuss how metabolic regulation intersects with mitophagy. We place special emphasis on the metabolic regulatory circuits that may be therapeutically targeted to delay ageing and mitochondria-associated chronic diseases. Moreover, we identify outstanding knowledge gaps, such as the ill-defined distinction between basal and damage-induced mitophagy, which must be resolved to boost progress in this area.
Topics: Humans; Mitophagy; Mitochondria; Autophagy; Homeostasis
PubMed: 38041247
DOI: 10.1111/eci.14138 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) Oct 2023More people in more places are researching the world's most dangerous pathogens. This work helps prepare against future pandemics, but it's not without danger. Pathogens...
More people in more places are researching the world's most dangerous pathogens. This work helps prepare against future pandemics, but it's not without danger. Pathogens could escape from research facilities, so it is vital for countries to assess potential hazards and have procedures in place to manage the risks. This doesn't happen enough.
Topics: Humans; Forecasting; Pandemics; Biosecurity
PubMed: 37856605
DOI: 10.1126/science.adl3600