Alzheimer's Test - Fighting Dementia - Robotic Arms - Microglia & Interneurons

[Breedlove, S]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/02/three-minute-test-helps-identify-people-at-greater-risk-of-alzheimers-trial-finds

Three-minute test helps identify people at greater risk of Alzheimer’s

Ian Sample Science editor

A three-minute brainwave test can detect memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s disease long before people are typically diagnosed, raising hopes that the approach could help identify those most likely to benefit from new drugs for the condition.

In a small trial, the test flagged specific memory issues in people with mild cognitive impairment, highlighting who was at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Trials in larger groups are under way.

The Fastball test is a form of electroencephalogram (EEG) that uses small sensors on the scalp to record the brain’s electrical activity while people watch a stream of images on a screen. The test detects memory problems by analysing the brain’s automatic responses to images the person sees before the test.

“This shows us that our new passive measure of memory, which we’ve built specifically for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, can be sensitive to those individuals at very high risk but who are not yet diagnosed,” said Dr George Stothart, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Bath, where the test was developed.

The trial, run with the University of Bristol, involved 54 healthy adults and 52 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). People with MCI have problems with memory, thinking or language, but these are not usually severe enough to prevent them doing their daily activities.

Before the test, volunteers were shown eight images and told to name them, but not specifically to remember them or look out for them in the test. The researchers then recorded the participants’ brain activity as they watched hundreds of images flash up on a screen. Each image appeared for a third of a second and every fifth picture was one of the eight they had seen before.

© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited
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https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/02/nx-s1-5522371/alzheimers-risk-apoe4-genes-scientists-treatment-advocacy

 These scientists found Alzheimer's in their genes. Here's what they did next

Jon Hamilton

People who inherit two copies of a gene variant called APOE4 have a 60% chance of developing Alzheimer's by age 85.

Only about 2% to 3% of people in the U.S. have this genetic profile, and most of them don't know it because they've never sought genetic testing.

But three scientists are among those who did get tested, and learned that they are in the high-risk group. Now, each is making an effort to protect not only their own brain, but the brains of others with the genotype known as APOE4-4.

"I just felt like the end of the world," says June, who asked to use only her first name out of fear that making her genetic status public could affect her job or health insurance.

June was 57 when she found out. As someone with a doctorate in biochemistry, she quickly understood what the results meant.
New tests of blood and spinal fluid could help doctors quickly identify patients who would most benefit from treatment.

"People with our genotype are almost destined to get the disease," she says. "We tend to get symptoms 7 to 10 years earlier than the general population, which means that I had about seven years left before I may get the disease."

At first, June spent sleepless nights online, reading academic papers about Alzheimer's and genetics. She even looked into physician-assisted suicide in an effort to make sure she would not become a burden to her adult son.

    © 2025 npr


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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02789-z

AI-powered brain device allows paralysed man to control robotic arm

    Rachel Fieldhouse 

A man with partial paralysis was able to operate a robotic arm when he used a non-invasive brain device partially controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), a study reports1. The AI-enabled device also allowed the man to perform screen-based tasks four times better than when he used the device on its own.

Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) capture electrical signals from the brain, then analyse them to determine what the person wants to do and translate the signals into commands. Some BCIs are surgically implanted and record signals directly from the brain, which typically makes them more accurate than non-invasive devices that are attached to the scalp.

Jonathan Kao, who studies AI and BCIs at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his colleagues wanted to improve the performance of non-invasive BCIs. The results of their work are published in Nature Machine Intelligence this week.

First, the team tested its BCI by tasking four people — one with paralysis and three without — with moving a computer cursor to a particular spot on a screen. All four were able to complete the task the majority of the time.

When the authors added an AI co-pilot to the device, the participants completed the task more quickly and had a higher success rate. The device with the co-pilot doesn’t need to decode as much brain activity because the AI can infer what the user wants to do, says Kao. “These co-pilots are essentially collaborating with the BCI user and trying to infer the goals that the BCI user is wishing to achieve, and then helps to complete those actions,” he adds.

The researchers also trained an AI co-pilot to control a robotic arm. The participants were required to use the robotic arm to pick up coloured blocks and move them to marked spots on a table. The person with paralysis could not complete the task using the conventional, non-invasive BCI, but was successful 93% of the time using the BCI with an AI co-pilot. Those without paralysis also completed the task more quickly when using the co-pilot.

© 2025 Springer Nature Limited

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https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/microglia-nurture-young-interneurons/

Microglia nurture young interneurons

By Lauren Schenkman

Microglia safeguard the proliferation and survival of young GABAergic interneurons by secreting insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), according to a new study of human brain tissue and organoids. The finding points to the potential origin of the brain signaling imbalance implicated in autism and other conditions.

Microglia contribute to brain development, past findings show, but their exact function has been unclear. Some experiments showed that these cells prune neural circuits, but later work called that idea into question.

The new research “identifies microglia as really an important source of IGF, and one that sets the supply of GABAergic interneurons in the developing brain,” says Damon Page, principal investigator at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Page was not involved in this work but led an earlier investigation that showed IGF-1 prevents microcephaly in a mouse model of autism when administered during a critical window soon after birth.

This new study “extends back that window into the embryonic period,” he says, with implications for understanding both typical development and conditions such as autism. The study was published 6 August in Nature.

The investigators used staining techniques to pinpoint microglia in the medial ganglionic eminence, where interneurons form, in human brain tissue samples at various developmental stages. At early developmental stages, microglia were sprinkled throughout brain matter, but later on these cells arranged themselves around clusters of GABAergic neuroblasts, with their processes extending into the clusters. Microglia also aligned themselves with radial glia, the precursors to many brain cells.

Based on existing data, IGF-1 emerged as the chemical most likely to mediate microglia’s effects on developing cell types, and in organoid models of the developing human brain, the cells secreted IGF-1, they found.

© 2025 Simons Foundation
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https://undark.org/2025/09/01/weight-loss-drugs-holistic/

 How to Help People Stay on Their Weight-Loss Drugs

By Joshua Cohen

Roughly 40 percent of adult Americans are considered obese, and weight-loss drugs have come to play a central role in medical treatment over the past few years. As of the spring of 2024, one in eight U.S. adults had taken drugs including Wegovy, Zepbound, or Ozempic, among others, for weight loss. These products belong to a class of drugs known as glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, or GLP-1s, which can be remarkably effective, but when patients go off GLP-1s, weight rebound occurs. And as it turns out, a relatively large portion of patients discontinue these medications within one year.

Prime Therapeutics, a company that manages prescription drug coverage benefits for insurers, employers, and government programs, has been documenting this phenomenon. In 2023, the company published research indicating that merely 32 percent of patients remained on their GLP-1 at the end of one year. A follow-up analysis found that by year two, only 15 percent remained on the drug. And in a new review, the company found that only 8 percent of patients remained on the drugs after three years.

The main reason for discontinuation — cited by almost half of patients in a large-scale survey — is concern about the medications’ side effects. People may quit their medication after experiencing common side effects, such as uncomfortable gastrointestinal issues. They may also quit out of fear of more serious ones, like certain cancers — although research suggests GLP-1s are associated with a lower risk for many types of cancer. Additionally, some GLP-1 users may also be at risk of nutrient deficiency and muscle or bone loss without a proper diet and exercise regimen.

Health and nutrition experts suggest that optimizing the benefits conferred by GLP-1s requires lifestyle interventions aimed at modifying patient behavior. GLP-1 medicines work for weight loss by curbing hunger and slowing digestion, but they don’t replace the need for improved diet and increased physical activity. Rather, these prescription pharmaceuticals and other non-GLP-1 obesity drugs work together with nutrition and exercise to promote optimal health. In an email to Undark, Jody Dushay, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote that “nutrition and exercise hugely benefit overall health” and increase the positive effects of the medications.
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