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Molecular Psychiatry Jul 2024The concept of cognitive reserve was born to account for the disjunction between the objective extent of brain damage in pathology and its clinical and intellectual... (Review)
Review
The concept of cognitive reserve was born to account for the disjunction between the objective extent of brain damage in pathology and its clinical and intellectual outcome. The cognitive reserve comprises structural (brain reserve) and functional (brain maintenance, resilience, compensation) aspects of the nervous tissue reflecting exposome-driven life-long plasticity, which defines the ability of the brain to withstand aging and pathology. The mechanistic background of this concept was primarily focused on adaptive changes in neurones and neuronal networks. We present arguments favoring the more inclusive view, positing that neuroglia are fundamental for defining the cognitive reserve through homeostatic, neuroprotective, and neurodegenerative mechanisms. Neuroglia are critical for the life-long shaping of synaptically connected neuronal circuits as well as the brain connectome thus defining cognitive reserve. Neuroglial homeostatic and protective physiological responses define brain maintenance and resilience, while neuroglia regenerative capabilities are critical for brain compensation in pathology. Targeting neuroglia may represent an untrodden path for prolonging cognitive longevity.
PubMed: 38956370
DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02644-z -
Communications Biology Jul 2024Efficiency of evidence accumulation (EEA), an individual's ability to selectively gather goal-relevant information to make adaptive choices, is thought to be a key...
Efficiency of evidence accumulation (EEA), an individual's ability to selectively gather goal-relevant information to make adaptive choices, is thought to be a key neurocomputational mechanism associated with cognitive functioning and transdiagnostic risk for psychopathology. However, the neural basis of individual differences in EEA is poorly understood, especially regarding the role of largescale brain network dynamics. We leverage data from 5198 participants from the Human Connectome Project and Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study to demonstrate a strong association between EEA and flexible adaptation to cognitive demand in the "task-positive" frontoparietal and dorsal attention networks. Notably, individuals with higher EEA displayed divergent task-positive network activation across n-back task conditions: higher activation under high cognitive demand (2-back) and lower activation under low demand (0-back). These findings suggest that brain networks' flexible adaptation to cognitive demands is a key neural underpinning of EEA.
Topics: Humans; Brain; Male; Female; Cognition; Adolescent; Connectome; Nerve Net; Young Adult; Adult; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Adaptation, Physiological
PubMed: 38956310
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06506-w -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024Wildlife harbour a diverse range of microorganisms that affect their health and development. Marsupials are born immunologically naïve and physiologically...
Wildlife harbour a diverse range of microorganisms that affect their health and development. Marsupials are born immunologically naïve and physiologically underdeveloped, with primary development occurring inside a pouch. Secretion of immunological compounds and antimicrobial peptides in the epithelial lining of the female's pouch, pouch young skin, and through the milk, are thought to boost the neonate's immune system and potentially alter the pouch skin microbiome. Here, using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we characterised the Tasmanian devil pouch skin microbiome from 25 lactating and 30 non-lactating wild females to describe and compare across these reproductive stages. We found that the lactating pouch skin microbiome had significantly lower amplicon sequence variant richness and diversity than non-lactating pouches, however there was no overall dissimilarity in community structure between lactating and non-lactating pouches. The top five phyla were found to be consistent between both reproductive stages, with over 85% of the microbiome being comprised of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, and Bacteroidota. The most abundant taxa remained consistent across all taxonomic ranks between lactating and non-lactating pouch types. This suggests that any potential immunological compounds or antimicrobial peptide secretions did not significantly influence the main community members. Of the more than 16,000 total identified amplicon sequence variants, 25 were recognised as differentially abundant between lactating and non-lactating pouches. It is proposed that the secretion of antimicrobial peptides in the pouch act to modulate these microbial communities. This study identifies candidate bacterial clades on which to test the activity of Tasmanian devil antimicrobial peptides and their role in pouch young protection, which in turn may lead to future therapeutic development for human diseases.
Topics: Animals; Female; Microbiota; Lactation; Marsupialia; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Skin; Bacteria
PubMed: 38956276
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-66097-8 -
Identifying behaviour-related and physiological risk factors for suicide attempts in the UK Biobank.Nature Human Behaviour Jul 2024Suicide is a global public health challenge, yet considerable uncertainty remains regarding the associations of both behaviour-related and physiological factors with...
Suicide is a global public health challenge, yet considerable uncertainty remains regarding the associations of both behaviour-related and physiological factors with suicide attempts (SA). Here we first estimated polygenic risk scores (PRS) for SA in 334,706 UK Biobank participants and conducted phenome-wide association analyses considering 2,291 factors. We identified 246 (63.07%) behaviour-related and 200 (10.41%, encompassing neuroimaging, blood and metabolic biomarkers, and proteins) physiological factors significantly associated with SA-PRS, with robust associations observed in lifestyle factors and mental health. Further case-control analyses involving 3,558 SA cases and 149,976 controls mirrored behaviour-related associations observed with SA-PRS. Moreover, Mendelian randomization analyses supported a potential causal effect of liability to 58 factors on SA, such as age at first intercourse, neuroticism, smoking, overall health rating and depression. Notably, machine-learning classification models based on behaviour-related factors exhibited high discriminative accuracy in distinguishing those with and without SA (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.909 ± 0.006). This study provides comprehensive insights into diverse risk factors for SA, shedding light on potential avenues for targeted prevention and intervention strategies.
PubMed: 38956227
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01903-x -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024The use of novel active ingredients for the functional modification of chitosan nanoformulations has attracted global attention. In this study, chitosan has been...
The use of novel active ingredients for the functional modification of chitosan nanoformulations has attracted global attention. In this study, chitosan has been functionalized via histidine to craft novel chitosan-histidine nanoformulation (C-H NF) using ionic gelation method. C-H NF exhibited elite physico-biochemical properties, influencing physiological and biochemical dynamics in Tomato. These elite properties include homogenous-sized nanoparticles (314.4 nm), lower PDI (0.218), viscosity (1.43 Cps), higher zeta potential (11.2 mV), nanoparticle concentration/ml (3.53 × 10), conductivity (0.046 mS/cm), encapsulation efficiency (53%), loading capacity (24%) and yield (32.17%). FTIR spectroscopy revealed histidine interaction with C-H NF, while SEM and TEM exposed its porous structure. Application of C-H NF to Tomato seedling and potted plants through seed treatment and foliar spray positively impacts growth parameters, antioxidant-defense enzyme activities, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and chlorophyll and nitrogen content. We claim that the histidine-functionalized chitosan nanoformulation enhances physico-biochemical properties, highlighting its potential to elevate biochemical and physiological processes of Tomato plant.
Topics: Solanum lycopersicum; Chitosan; Histidine; Nanoparticles; Reactive Oxygen Species; Antioxidants; Chlorophyll; Seedlings; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
PubMed: 38956171
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64268-1 -
Nature Neuroscience Jul 2024Direct neuronal reprogramming is a promising approach to regenerate neurons from local glial cells. However, mechanisms of epigenome remodeling and co-factors...
Direct neuronal reprogramming is a promising approach to regenerate neurons from local glial cells. However, mechanisms of epigenome remodeling and co-factors facilitating this process are unclear. In this study, we combined single-cell multiomics with genome-wide profiling of three-dimensional nuclear architecture and DNA methylation in mouse astrocyte-to-neuron reprogramming mediated by Neurogenin2 (Ngn2) and its phosphorylation-resistant form (PmutNgn2), respectively. We show that Ngn2 drives multilayered chromatin remodeling at dynamic enhancer-gene interaction sites. PmutNgn2 leads to higher reprogramming efficiency and enhances epigenetic remodeling associated with neuronal maturation. However, the differences in binding sites or downstream gene activation cannot fully explain this effect. Instead, we identified Yy1, a transcriptional co-factor recruited by direct interaction with Ngn2 to its target sites. Upon deletion of Yy1, activation of neuronal enhancers, genes and ultimately reprogramming are impaired without affecting Ngn2 binding. Thus, our work highlights the key role of interactors of proneural factors in direct neuronal reprogramming.
PubMed: 38956165
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01677-5 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024Rapid urbanization increases psychological stress among pedestrians, potentially heightening mental health disorders. This study examines the role of street walls'...
Rapid urbanization increases psychological stress among pedestrians, potentially heightening mental health disorders. This study examines the role of street walls' visual and textural characteristics in stress recovery, using Qingdao as a case study. Virtual reality is employed to simulate five distinct street walls: yellow mortar, brown stone, red brick, green plant, and white mortar. The stress recovery effectiveness of these walls was evaluated through psychological and physiological indicators from 48 young college students. Results indicated that street walls with warm tones, particularly brown stone, significantly aid stress recovery. Psychologically, Restorative Components Scale was highest for brown stone at 1.13. Physiologically, it was linked with notable reductions in diastolic and pulse pressure (decreases of 2.95 mmHg and 2.27 mmHg, respectively), and enhanced parasympathetic activity, as evidenced by the fastest decrease in low frequency/high frequency ratio (LF/HF), and increases in pNN50 and RR (0.14-2.01% and 1.57-11.81 ms, respectively). For urban design, the incorporation of warm-toned materials and natural elements like stone is recommended for their superior restorative benefits.
Topics: Humans; Male; Young Adult; Female; Stress, Psychological; Adult; Urbanization
PubMed: 38956147
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64618-z -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024The behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion were examined in women randomized to four conditions, varying in levels of attractiveness and friendliness....
The behavioral and neural responses to social exclusion were examined in women randomized to four conditions, varying in levels of attractiveness and friendliness. Informed by evolutionary theory, we predicted that being socially excluded by attractive unfriendly women would be more distressing than being excluded by unattractive women, irrespective of their friendliness level. Our results contradicted most of our predictions but provide important insights into women's responses to interpersonal conflict. Accounting for rejection sensitivity, P300 event-related potential amplitudes were largest when women were excluded by unattractive unfriendly women. This may be due to an expectancy violation or an annoyance with being excluded by women low on social desirability. An examination of anger rumination rates by condition suggests the latter. Only attractive women's attractiveness ratings were lowered in the unfriendly condition, indicating they were specifically punished for their exclusionary behavior. Women were more likely to select attractive women to compete against with one exception-they selected the Black attractive opponent less often than the White attractive opponent when presented as unfriendly. Finally, consistent with studies on retaliation in relation to social exclusion, women tended to rate competitors who rejected them as being more rude, more competitive, less attractive, less nice, and less happy than non-competitors. The ubiquity of social exclusion and its pointed emotional and physiological impact on women demands more research on this topic.
Topics: Humans; Female; Young Adult; Beauty; Adult; Psychological Distance; Social Desirability; Friends; Event-Related Potentials, P300; Adolescent; Face
PubMed: 38956123
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65833-4 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2024Living cells have spontaneous ultraweak photon emission derived from metabolic reactions associated with physiological conditions. The ORCA-Quest CMOS camera (Hamamatsu...
Living cells have spontaneous ultraweak photon emission derived from metabolic reactions associated with physiological conditions. The ORCA-Quest CMOS camera (Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) is a highly sensitive and essential tool for photon detection; its use with a microscope incubator (Olympus) enables the detection of photons emitted by embryos with the exclusion of harmful visible light. With the application of the second law of thermodynamics, the low-entropy energy absorbed and used by embryos can be distinguished from the higher-entropy energy released and detectable in their environment. To evaluate higher-entropy energy data from embryos, we developed a unique algorithm for the calculation of the entropy-weighted spectral fractal dimension, which demonstrates the self-similar structure of the energy (photons) released by embryos. Analyses based on this structure enabled the distinction of living and degenerated mouse embryos, and of frozen and fresh embryos and the background. This novel detection of ultra-weak photon emission from mouse embryos can provide the basis for the development of a photon emission embryo control system. The ultraweak photon emission fingerprints of embryos may be used for the selection of viable specimens in an ideal dark environment.
Topics: Photons; Animals; Algorithms; Embryo, Mammalian; Mice; Female
PubMed: 38956113
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61100-8 -
Nature Communications Jul 2024Vitamin C plays important roles as a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions and as an antioxidant against oxidative stress. As some mammals including humans cannot...
Vitamin C plays important roles as a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions and as an antioxidant against oxidative stress. As some mammals including humans cannot synthesize vitamin C de novo from glucose, its uptake from dietary sources is essential, and is mediated by the sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 1 (SVCT1). Despite its physiological significance in maintaining vitamin C homeostasis, the structural basis of the substrate transport mechanism remained unclear. Here, we report the cryo-EM structures of human SVCT1 in different states at 2.5-3.5 Å resolutions. The binding manner of vitamin C together with two sodium ions reveals the counter ion-dependent substrate recognition mechanism. Furthermore, comparisons of the inward-open and occluded structures support a transport mechanism combining elevator and distinct rotational motions. Our results demonstrate the molecular mechanism of vitamin C transport with its underlying conformational cycle, potentially leading to future industrial and medical applications.
Topics: Humans; Sodium-Coupled Vitamin C Transporters; Ascorbic Acid; Cryoelectron Microscopy; Biological Transport; Sodium; Models, Molecular; Protein Multimerization; Protein Binding; HEK293 Cells; Protein Conformation
PubMed: 38956111
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49899-2