brain

Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Brain Illnesses

IRP Study Finds Brain Imaging Technique Could Aid Clinical Trials

young girl next to MRI images

We all crave instant gratification, but unfortunately, most things worth doing take time. This certainly applies to evaluating treatments for many illnesses, as observable changes in patients’ symptoms can take weeks or months to appear. Fortunately, new NIH research has revealed that a particular way of non-invasively peering into the brain could help accelerate the development of treatments for a variety of rare neurological diseases.

The (Future) Doctor Is In

Medical Students Enjoy a Year at NIH

NIH MRSP participant Quashawn Chadwick

Every physician spends years in school getting trained to provide healthcare to patients with a wide array of health conditions, but not all of them know much about how the tools they use and the treatments they offer make it from the lab to the clinic. For the past year, 42 medical students took time off from their studies to fill in that gap first-hand by working in IRP labs as part of NIH’s Medical Research Scholars Program. As their stints at NIH wind down, each of them will return to medical school with valuable scientific training that will surely enhance their ability to help patients in the future. Keep reading to see how the MRSP has given a leg up to three of these bright future doctors.

A Brain Signal Biomarker for Cerebral Palsy Treatments

Study Points to Potential Way to Improve Physical Therapy Interventions for Movement Disorder

boy with cerebral palsy receiving physical therapy

It’s easy to take everyday activities like walking and typing for granted, but for people with cerebral palsy, any movement can be a struggle. Intensive physical therapy, starting at a young age, has long helped those individuals move more easily. Now, recent IRP research could provide a way to track how those and other treatments affect communication within the brain during movement, providing a tool that could help researchers more quickly evaluate which treatments work and which don’t.

Startling Snapshots of Science

Vibrant Images Push Forward Environmental Health Research

cell junctions in tracheal epithelial cells from a TLR5 knockout mouse

Scientists and artists obviously don’t spend their days doing the same thing, but that doesn’t mean the former can’t sometimes inadvertently be the latter. Take for example the 14 IRP research fellows who submitted images to the most recent edition of the Fellows Scientific Image Competition at NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The competition, held every few years, shows that biomedical science can not only save lives, but also look good doing it.

“We are excited to showcase the work of our trainees using visual media, which reminds us there is art in science and showcases the important research we’re all engaged in at NIEHS,” says NIEHS Scientific Director Darryl Zeldin, M.D., who initiated the competition.

Heavy Drinking Linked to Smell and Taste Alterations

IRP Research Utilizes National Study’s Data to Explore Under-Examined Phenomenon

woman tasting soup

From the spicy Bloody Mary and sweet piña colada to salty margaritas and bitter cheap beers, alcoholic drinks span the entire spectrum of tastes. It’s not a far leap, then, to think that the sense of taste can influence alcohol consumption habits, and vice-versa. A recent IRP study dove into this question, ultimately discovering a number of ways that smell and taste perception differ in people with high-risk drinking habits.

Translating Genetic Findings Into Dementia Treatments

Tracing the Path From Bench to Bedside

brain behind DNA molecule

When IRP graduate student Pilar Alvarez Jerez looked at the results of a recent experiment, she noticed that when a particular genetic variant is present in a gene called GBA1, it causes a change in the gene's activity. The GBA1 variant, which is associated with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, was discovered last year in people of African ancestry by researchers at NIH’s Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias (CARD). It appears to suppress the gene’s ability to make a functional version of an enzyme that helps brain cells recycle their proteins.

“This was an interesting finding, but it still didn’t answer how the variant was functioning to lower enzyme activity,” Pilar says.

Inside the NIH Brain Bank

IRP Group Supports Neuropsychiatric Research

gloved hands holding a brain

More than half of Americans are registered organ donors, signed up to gift organs like kidneys and livers to patients in need of a transplant when they die. However, far fewer people have signed up to donate their brains to biomedical research upon their deaths. At NIH, the Human Brain Collection Core (HBCC) acts as a steadfast steward of this precious and scarce scientific resource, giving the brains of deceased donors a second life as a key driver of life-changing neuropsychiatric research.

Nearly 60 million adults in the U.S. suffer from a psychiatric disorder, and examining the brains of these individuals is indispensable for determining the molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases. Consequently, the HBCC provides invaluable assistance to scientists seeking to improve our understanding and treatment of such conditions. In recognition of World Mental Health Day today, let’s take a glimpse into how the Core is accelerating investigations into the mass of gray and white matter that makes each of us who we are. 

Illuminating the Brain’s Hidden Secrets

New Molecules for PET Scans Shed Light on Psychiatric Disorders

PET scans of the brain

For most kids, witnessing a classmate get teased for strange behavior or learning struggles is an unfortunate but common part of life. Growing up, IRP senior investigator Robert Innis, M.D., Ph.D., viewed the situation differently when he observed it during a high school geometry class.

“Some of my classmates were criticizing one student like he was a bad person,” he remembers. “I kept thinking, ‘You can’t blame him. It’s the chemistry in his brain that causes him to act that way. Don’t think you’re so high and mighty. It’s just your chemistry!’”

That interest in brain chemistry and how it relates to normal and abnormal behavior laid the foundation for Dr. Innis’s research in neuropsychiatry and brain imaging. As we observe World Brain Day on July 22, we took the opportunity to talk with Dr. Innis about his research, which uses a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to measure the levels of various proteins in people’s brains and learn about their function in both healthy states and neuropsychiatric diseases.

Jekyll-and-Hyde Gene Has Dual Influences on Dementia Risk

IRP’s Priyanka Narayan Explores How the ApoE Gene Affects Fat Management in the Brain

two DNA molecules overlaid on top of a brain

Just as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde exhibited the extremes of good and bad qualities in a single man, IRP Stadtman Investigator Priyanka Narayan, Ph.D., is showing how a single gene can both protect against and raise the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. As we observe Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month this June, we talked with Dr. Narayan about her work.

“Our research focuses on understanding fundamental cell biology in brain cells and how genetic factors affecting that biology can predispose individuals to Alzheimer's disease,” Dr. Narayan says. “More recently, we’ve become interested in protective factors that make people more resistant to getting Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of neurodegenerative diseases as well.”

Gender Differences in Emotional Responses May Start in the Womb

Research Suggests Hormonal Exposures In-Utero Influence Mental Health

illustration of connections in the brains of a man and a woman

Over the past few decades, broad stereotypes about how men and women behave have given way to a more nuanced understanding of the many factors that contribute to sex differences. While culture and environment undoubtedly play a huge role, it’s becoming increasingly clear that biological influences shape male and female brains differently starting at the very beginning of life. Recent IRP research sheds additional light on this age-old question by revealing that women exposed to higher levels of certain hormones in-utero had emotional responses to the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic that more closely matched those of men.