NeuroSci最新文献

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) has been linked to improvements in psychological wellbeing through cholinergic mechanisms. However, this study investigated whether individual differences in eye blink rate (EBR) and blink variability (EBV), which are proxies of dopaminergic activity and attentional control, influence the cognitive and mood-enhancing properties of a rosemary-containing drink. Forty-eight healthy adults completed a three-stimulus odd-ball cognitive task under rosemary or control conditions, while vertical electrooculograms were recorded. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were also measured using the P3a component at the Cz scalp electrode as an additional index of dopaminergic activity. Subjective mood and arousal (alert, contented, calm) were collected pre- and post-task using Bond-Lader visual analogue scales. Reaction times during the task were modelled with ex-Gaussian parameters (μ, σ, τ). Rosemary ingestion led to increased alertness and contentedness following the task. Cognitive effects were moderated by blink metrics, with significant interactions between rosemary and blink metrics for mean reaction time μ and response variability σ. Rosemary also increased P3a amplitudes, indicative of dopaminergic contribution. The effects of rosemary on cognition and mood were moderated by individual blink profiles, indicating that baseline neurocognitive state plays a role. Although cholinergic accounts are well established, this study highlights the use of proxies of dopamine to investigate broader neurotransmitter involvement in rosemary's enhancing properties.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains an unmet medical challenge, as there are no effective therapies that alter the disease's progression. While approaches have targeted molecules like acetylcholine (ACh) and glutamate, these strategies have provided only limited benefits and do not address the complex molecular mechanisms underlying AD development. This review suggests that β-alanine (3-aminopropanoic acid) is an underexplored neurotransmitter that could serve as a potential AD drug target. Existing evidence indicates that β-alanine modulates GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission, thereby affecting neuronal hyperexcitability. Additionally, studies suggest that β-alanine has antioxidant effects, reducing oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). We propose that β-alanine might bind to Aβ/tau proteins, possibly targeting the six-amino acid sequences EVHHQK/DDKKAK, which are involved in protein aggregation. β-Alanine may also influence the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines from microglia, potentially reducing neuroinflammation. We also hypothesize that β-alanine may help regulate metal dyshomeostasis, which leads to ROS production. Taurine, structurally like β-alanine, appears to influence comparable mechanisms. Although structural similarity doesn't ensure therapeutic effectiveness, this evidence supports considering β-alanine as a treatment for AD. Furthermore, β-alanine and its analogues face challenges, including crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and optimizing structure-activity relationships (SAR). This review includes articles through September 2025, sourced from four databases.

Background: Patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors often experience fatigue and sleep disturbances, significantly impacting their quality of life. Exercise has been shown to improve these symptoms in various cancer populations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of different types of exercise on fatigue and sleep in less-investigated CNS tumor patients.

Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL. Eligible randomized and non-randomized studies evaluating exercise interventions in patients diagnosed with primary brain tumors were systematically reviewed, primarily using a narrative synthesis approach. Cancer-related fatigue and sleep-related outcomes were extracted as variables of interest. Where possible [≥2 Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) available for glioma patients], meta-analyses were conducted to assess the overall effects of physical therapy on the above-mentioned outcomes.

Results: A total of 15 relevant intervention studies were identified, either RCTs or other types of studies, such as prospective feasibility cohort studies and case studies. A total of 448 participants were enrolled, with the majority diagnosed with glioma. There were single reports on pituitary adenoma after surgery and meningioma patients. In glioma patients, the overall effect of various modality exercise interventions on fatigue was non-significant, reflecting the heterogeneous characteristics of studies with diverse outcomes. However, meta-analysis focusing on combined exercise interventions (aerobic and resistance training) showed a positive effect on reducing fatigue in these patients [Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) = 0.866, p = 0.03]. Fatigue in glioma patients may also improve through yoga and Pilates. Aerobic but not strength exercise seems to improve sleep in glioma patients (SMD = 1.14, p = 0.02). Sleep quality may also improve through yoga and combined exercise.

Conclusions: Certain types of exercise appear to effectively reduce fatigue and improve sleep in patients with CNS tumors. Future, well-controlled, multi-arm, larger-scale studies are necessary to resolve discrepancies, as well as to explore long-term outcomes and define factors influencing individualized exercise responses.

Hand representation maps of the primate primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (SI) cortices exhibit plasticity, with their spatial extent modifiable through training. While activation and map enlargement during tapping tasks are well documented, the directionality of information flow between these regions remains unclear. We applied Information Imbalance Gain Causality (IIG) to examine the propagation and temporal dynamic of BOLD activity among Area 4 (precentral gyrus), Area 3a (fundus of the central sulcus), and SI areas (postcentral gyrus). Data were collected from both hemispheres of nine participants performing alternating right-left hand finger tapping inside a 1.5T fMRI scan. The results revealed strong information flow from both the precentral and postcentral gyri toward the sulcus during tapping task, with weaker bidirectional exchange between the gyri. When not engaged in tapping, both gyri communicated with each other and the sulcus. During active tapping, flow bypassed the sulcus, favoring a more direct postcentral to precentral way. Overtime, postcentral to sulcus influence strengthened during non task periods, but diminished during tapping. These findings suggest that M1, Area 3a, and SI areas form a dynamic network that supports rapid learning processing, where Area 3a of the sulcus may contribute to maintaining representational plasticity during complex tapping tasks.

Objectives: This pilot study examined telerehabilitation, which has emerged as a crucial modality in light of recent global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the effectiveness of a mobile health telerehabilitation intervention developed for older adults with frailty.

Methods: Six participants received a telerehabilitation intervention (Rehab Studio) that included exercise training videos. The participants were aged ≥65 years, had no history of dementia or psychiatric disorders, and had mild-to-moderate care needs. For 1 month, the participants received 1 h live online rehabilitation sessions with real-time communication with rehabilitation specialists (physical therapists and occupational therapists: PTs/OTs). The quality of life (QoL) (EuroQol 5 dimensions 5-level [EQ-5D-5L] questionnaire) and self-rated health scores were recorded before and after the intervention, and the data were analyzed using paired t-tests to determine whether the service was effective.

Results: Significant differences were found in the total EQ-5D-5L and self-rated health scores (p < 0.05). The mean EQ-5D-5L score increased from 0.63 ± 0.13 before the intervention to 0.77 ± 0.14 after the intervention (p = 0.010), while the mean self-rated health score increased from 66.0 ± 18.0 to 83.3 ± 10.3, respectively (p = 0.019).

Conclusions: This study revealed that the mobile health telerehabilitation intervention is safe and can improve QoL for older adults with frailty. However, the effectiveness of the intervention needs to be further investigated in patients with poor performance in daily living activities. Telerehabilitation could help to reduce the burden of nursing care in aging societies with declining birthrates. However, given the extremely small sample size (N = 6), these p-values should be interpreted with considerable caution. Statistical significance in such a small sample does not provide strong evidence for population-level effects, and our findings should be regarded as hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common peripheral nerve entrapment disorder, with a lifetime prevalence estimated at approximately 10%. This narrative review explores the historical evolution, current management strategies, and emerging trends in CTS diagnosis and treatment. Early recognition of CTS led to the development of conservative interventions, including splinting, corticosteroid injections, and physical therapy, aimed at alleviating median nerve compression and associated symptoms. The advent of open carpal tunnel release established surgery as the definitive treatment for moderate-to-severe CTS, with subsequent refinements-such as mini-open and endoscopic techniques-focused on minimizing tissue trauma and expediting recovery. Comparative studies demonstrate similar long-term efficacy between surgical modalities, though endoscopic approaches often provide faster short-term recovery. Advances in diagnostic imaging, including high-resolution ultrasound, have improved early detection and dynamic assessment of median nerve compression. Emerging therapies, such as regenerative biologics, neuromobilization, and minimally invasive surgical innovations, offer promising adjuncts to current care. Despite substantial progress, further research is needed to clarify optimal patient selection, refine minimally invasive techniques, and explore regenerative interventions. This review underscores the importance of individualized, evidence-based, and patient-centered approaches to CTS management, integrating both established and emerging strategies to optimize functional outcomes and quality of life.

Background: Currently, there is a considerable number of studies addressing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for the treatment of different stroke-related outcomes. We aimed to promote a broad view of the outcomes studied and what are the opportune outcomes to be studied involving this therapeutic strategy for the treatment of post-stroke complications.

Methods: This is a scoping review that followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Two investigators conducted independent searches on PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase till July 2025. Randomized clinical trials and preclinical studies using invasive or non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation conducted with a population diagnosed with stroke were included.

Results: Forty-one experimental studies and sixteen clinical trials were included. The outcomes found were neuroprotection; motor, functional, and cognitive rehabilitation; dysphagia; comparison of different stimulation intensities; safety, efficacy, and feasibility of the non-invasive approach; comparison between transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) and transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS); and comparison between two models of ischemia (permanent and transient). Preclinical studies mostly investigated molecular elements involved in neuroprotection, neuroinflammation, and cellular apoptosis, while clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of this technique used for rehabilitation and its comparison or combination with other techniques remain scarce.

Conclusions: Most studies investigating the effects of VNS on different post-stroke outcomes are experimental studies. Clinical studies are still scarce and with limited analysis of outcomes.

Neonatal seizures are common complications in neonatal intensive care units. They have been noticed to be more common in preterm infants, but they can also affect term infants. Levetiracetam is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug that has been studied to manage seizures, yet limited data are available on its use in neonatal seizures. Objectives: Study the effect of levetiracetam on neonatal seizures in terms of maintaining seizure freedom after the initiation of levetiracetam and investigating its safety profile in the neonate population. Method: Retrospective cohort study comparing two groups of patients identified through accessing their medical profiles after searching the following keywords: phenobarbital, levetiracetam, and neonatal seizures amongst all NICU admissions in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, from the period between December 2016 and January 2020. Forty-eight patients were included based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The selected sample was further subclassified into 28 neonates who received phenobarbital and 20 who received levetiracetam. Results: Seizure control was significantly observed in neonates with onset <24 h and those born at <37 weeks GA. In the first arm, 22 out of 28 neonates achieved seizure freedom while using phenobarbital; in the second arm, 11 out of 20 neonates achieved seizure control on levetiracetam after failing with phenobarbital. While seizure control was better achieved by phenobarbital, it was found that almost 57% of the first arm developed side effects on phenobarbital; however, only 10% of the neonates on levetiracetam developed side effects. While PB remains effective for acute suppression, LEV demonstrated a superior safety profile with no serious adverse events and a high rate of successful seizure management as an add-on therapy (83% control in combined cohorts). Conclusions: The study concluded that using levetiracetam could result in improved outcomes. LEV is a safe and effective alternative or adjunct to PB. Its use may mitigate the neurotoxic risks associated with GABAergic drugs, though continuous EEG monitoring is essential to ensure electrical seizure cessation and avoid electroclinical dissociation. The number of patients who received levetiracetam initially is not considered a representative sample to reach a conclusion on the use of levetiracetam as an effective monotherapy.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington's disease represent a major challenge in neuroscience due to their complex, multifactorial nature and the absence of curative treatments. These disorders share common molecular mechanisms, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, proteostasis collapse, calcium dyshomeostasis, chronic neuroinflammation, and the prion-like propagation of misfolded proteins. Together, these processes trigger a cascade of cellular damage that culminates in synaptic dysfunction and programmed neuronal death. This review integrates current evidence on the sequential stages of neurodegeneration, emphasizing the convergence of oxidative, inflammatory, and proteotoxic pathways that drive neuronal vulnerability. Moreover, it explores emerging therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring cellular homeostasis, such as Nrf2 activation, modulation of the unfolded protein response (UPR), enhancement of autophagy, immunotherapy against pathological proteins, and gene therapy approaches. The dynamic interplay among mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and glial cells is highlighted as a central element in disease progression. Understanding these interconnected mechanisms provides a foundation for developing multi-targeted interventions capable of halting or delaying neuronal loss and improving clinical outcomes in neurodegenerative disorders. This work provides an integrative and introductory overview of the convergent mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration rather than an exhaustive mechanistic analysis.

In non-vasculitic immune-mediated neuropathies, imaging studies demonstrate an enlargement not only of clinically involved but also of clinically intact nerves. The present study aimed to present a pattern of nerve swelling and its relation to nerve function. In a group of patients with dysimmune motor and sensorimotor mononeuropathies, nerve cross-sectional areas (CSAs) were measured using ultrasonography (US) and compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitudes using electrodiagnostic (EDx) studies. Nerve CSAs were compared in (1) clinically involved, (2) swollen and clinically uninvolved, and (3) non-swollen (clinically uninvolved) nerves. Patients' non-swollen nerves were also compared to those of controls. In swollen nerves, the correlation between nerve CSA and CMAP amplitude was calculated. Twenty-two patients (12 men) and 50 controls (28 men) were included in the study. Clinically involved nerves were thicker than swollen segments of clinically intact nerves (p < 0.001). The patients' non-swollen (clinically uninvolved) nerves were thicker than the controls'. In swollen nerves, CSA was strongly negatively correlated with CMAP amplitude (r = -0.54, p < 0.001). In patients with immune-mediated mononeuropathies, nerve swelling correlates with clinical and EDx findings. Patients' clinically uninvolved nerves were also swollen, but to a lesser degree.