Quality of Life Improvements Through Movement in Patients with Dementia

By Abby Vogeley

To prevent contagion during the global pandemic, social activities imperative to the lives of many have shuttered to a resounding halt. However, for IMPROVment, an improvisational dance program for those with dementia and their caregivers, the accessibility to community and movement is still possible with a modified online platform.

“You become a community and it is really hard to not be with them,” says Christina Soriano, creator of IMPROVment and an associate professor of dance at Wake Forest University. “But we’ve tried to share some of the online class offerings we’ve had.”

Through temporarily substituting weekly classes virtually, participants living with dementia, or syndromes causing a decline in the ability to process thought, are able to still have the social interaction and increased movement that is predicted by researchers Christina Soriano and Dr. Christina Hugenschmidt to improve quality of life.

This research conducted by Soriano and Dr. Christina Hugenschmidt,  the assistant professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, started in 2017 under the IMOVE study after a preliminary trial of the dance program saw an improvement in participant’s movement and reported quality of life. For the past three years, the IMPROVment method has been used to study the significant impact that the combined improvisational movements and social setting of these classes has on motor skills and social skills in those struggling with dementia. 

 Though dementia, which includes diseases such as Alzheimer’s, is known for its impact on memory loss, secondary symptoms, such as movement and social abilities, are also at jeopardy due to the total deterioration of the brain.

“There’s atrophy throughout the brain,” says Dr. Hugenschmidt. “So basically any function that the brain is undertaking is being affected.”

This atrophy, or destruction of the brain, is unpredictable in which areas it targets. Within patients with memory loss, a decrease of brain matter has been seen in the hippocampus, the location in the brain that is most associated with memory. However, the disease does not only target areas that impact memory, but many other functions, including movement.

“Another thing that is affected is motor function, which again people often don’t realize,” says Dr. Hugenschmidt. “[Those with dementia] are more likely to be injured by a fall, and they have changes in gait and balance that can be detected up to 12 years before the onset of cognitive decline.”

Through Dr. Hugenschmidt and Professor Soriano’s study, the benefits of improvisational movement classes on these two secondary symptoms, movement and quality of life, have been gauged through physical tests for balance, neurologically through brain scans, and through self-reported changes in quality of life.

In the preliminary data collected, it was seen through fMRIs, or images that look at the structure of the brain, that there were improved neural connections within the somatomotor cortex, an area associated with coordination and movement. This change has been hypothesized to contribute to the improvement in balance and movement seen among participants.

“A lot of them have said that they move a lot more when they are home,” says Kamryn King, a Wake Forest senior and an IMPROVment teacher. “They know stretches to do when they’re stiff.”

These secondary symptoms, despite being less acknowledged by the public, can have serious impacts on the wellbeing of those suffering from dementia.

“Memory is the least of it,” says Sharon Marshall, wife and caregiver of her husband, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. “Quality of life really takes a nosedive.”

Those with dementia have been reported to struggle more with social interactions partially because of a lack of confidence, a component believed to lead to a decrease in quality of life. Dr. Hugenschmidt and Professor Soriano believe this may be improved through the IMPROVment method.

“Social contact and social engagement is very important for older adults,” says Dr. Hugenschmidt. “It could be possible for people to benefit from just coming in and doing improvisational dance together, having a good time, and forming social bonds.”

Social engagement has been associated with activating the Default Mode Network (DMN), a pathway within the brain. In the preliminary trial, fMRI scans showed better connections between areas in the DMN and was correlated with higher scores on quality of life reports.

Although the final data from the IMOVE study has yet to be reported, King is optimistic about the positive effects the dance classes have made on the participants and continues to see this effect on the online classes.

“They have so much more energy, and they’re so much more engaged,” says King. “I think having these classes gives them a sense of purpose and makes them feel like they’re actually impacting other people.”

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Christina Hugenschmidt, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine

Christina Soriano, Director of Dance and Associate Professor of Dance at Wake Forest University

Kamryn King, Senior Wake Forest University Student and IMPROVment Teacher

Sharon Marshall, Wife and Alzhiemer’s Patient Caregiver

https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/clinical-trials/improvisational-movement-people-memory-loss-and-their-caregivers-imove

http://www.improvment.us/participate-in-a-study-2

https://school.wakehealth.edu/Faculty/H/Christina-Hugenschmidt

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03333837

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/

Click to access Understanding%20and%20supporting.pdf

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/symptoms-and-diagnosis/how-dementia-progresses/mental-and-physical-activities

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821835/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3134578/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6206840/

Click to access EJ682599.pdf

Christina Soriano: The Impact of Improvisational Dance on Parkinson’s

https://www.smartpatients.com/trials/NCT03333837

The Value of Female Animal Models Within Drug Abuse Research

With cocaine usage steadily increasing throughout the country, the need for research to better understand why some demographics are more vulnerable to drug abuse has also risen. By labs such as Dr. Michael Nader’s team at Wake Forest School of Medicine, it has been seen that a wide range of variables, including gender, may have an influence on the likelihood of addiction after exposure.

“There’s data to suggest that even though males abuse drugs at a higher rate than females, females are more vulnerable, and they will progress to addiction faster,” says Ben Johnson, a research associate at Dr. Nader’s lab. 

 However, finding women to study the changes that occur within the brain before and after cocaine addiction is rather difficult. Instead, data is collected using models with similar brains, bodies, and social behaviors. The source of this data?

Monkeys. Research animal models, such as those used in Dr. Nader’s lab, can inform us about drug abuse behaviors in humans due to their similar brains, social behaviors, and hormone production.

“Their social hierarchies are an excellent model of the human condition, and they of course have a complex behavioral repertoire you can study,” says Dr. Nader. These behaviors, if need be, can include introducing monkeys to cocaine.

Through increasing the amount of dopamine moving throughout the brain, cocaine is able to produce addictive levels of rewarding and pleasurable feelings. This increase, however, does not come without a price; Usage has been seen to alter the availability of D2 receptors, or places that are activated by dopamine. 

In Dr. Nader’s study, male monkeys were analyzed to determine whether their social status would effect changes in D2 receptor availability and vulnerability to cocaine. It was seen that the dominant, more popular males had a greater increase in D2 receptors available. When given the choice between cocaine or food, the lower-ranked males were more prone to choose cocaine. When running the same analysis with females, it would be intuitive to think that the dominant females would respond in the same way as the dominant males.

 However, this wasn’t the case. Although the dominant female monkeys, like the dominant males, had an increase in D2 receptor availability, they were much more vulnerable to cocaine use than the lower-ranked monkeys. 

“It’s the exact opposite. The dominant female monkeys acquired cocaine at significantly lower doses, the exact opposite of what we saw in the males,” Dr. Nader said.  “In terms of [determining] vulnerability, the strategies are different.”

Despite a conclusion suggesting differences in vulnerabilities between genders, there is little drug abuse research conducted on female animal models. Within neuroscience research, a study found that approximately 5 males animals are used for every female animal. In the studies that reported gender, only 20% studied both sexes.

“[These studies] are basically saying, ‘I’m going to study 50% [of the population] and call it good’,” says Johnson. 

Encouragement to include female animals within neuroscience research is relatively new; it wasn’t until 2014 that the National Institute of Health (NIH) announced a policy that required labs to report their plans to eventually have both genders included within their studies. This, among several other policies, was adopted with hopes to encourage animal models that may better represent all genders.

Despite policy amendments, underlying complications have delayed the inclusion of female animals in studies. As stated by Dr. Wayne Pratt, a psychology professor at Wake Forest, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, “Women are complicated.” 

 Potential disturbances due to menstruation and the impact that the varying levels of hormones may have on the data has limited the amount of research conducted in the past. For labs such as Dr. Pratt’s research that looks at dopamine and its reward system, these complications add another variable that might decrease the accuracy of the results.

“To really study females well and understand their behavior, one would need to test females at all the stages of their estrous [hormone] cycle,” says Dr. Pratt. “An experiment that might take 8 male rats to complete might require many more females to capture their behavioral patterns across multiple stages of estrous.”

There is hope by some, such as Nina Norman, a research technician at Dr. Nader’s lab, that more research will be conducted despite the additional time and resources that may be needed when studying female models. Results like Dr. Nader’s that highlights the sex differences in vulnerability to cocaine addiction may provide this encouragement.

 “The more we talk about [research on female models], the more we try to emphasize its importance,” says Norman. “And the more we show data behind sex differences in general, the more powerful it becomes.”



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Hand Sanitizer’s Role in Combating COVID-19

Three months ago, I never would have imagined that the 1-ounce hand sanitizer at the bottom of my backpack would be considered a scarcity. However, after the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in the United States, many Americans went into survival mode, panic-buying products that would prevent contagion.

“People have been stockpiling,” says Dr. Pat Lord, a virologist and teaching professor of Biology at Wake Forest University.

By the end of March, hand sanitizer sales had skyrocketed 239% from a year earlier. Many price gougers upcharged products online, including a man who purchased 17,700 bottles in hopes of reselling and returning a profit. Prices for isopropyl alcohol, the active ingredient in most hand sanitizers, have more than tripled since early March. The product’s availability in stores seems nonexistent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims that hand washing may be more effective in ensuring that dirt and germs are removed compared to sanitizers. However, people are still searching for more. Due to stockpiling and increasing demands, there is a critically low supply of hand sanitizers available for lines of work without access to soap and water on a regular basis.

 “Most viruses are ‘killed’ by either soap or hand sanitizer, and SARS-CoV2 would be no exception,” says Dr. Sarah Mcdonald, a virologist and associate professor of Biology at Wake Forest University. “They prevent spread because they destroy virus particles that are on your hands…which could end up in your mouth or nose…or could end up on surfaces and picked up by others.”

In order to stop the virus from attaching to human cells, soap can dissolve the protective oily coating around the virus. Without its outer layer, the virus, SARS-CoV2, is no longer able to attach and spread. Although hand sanitizer, with its active ingredient being alcohol, can be effective, it can only do so at higher concentrations.

“With handwashing, you’re rinsing [the virus] down the drain versus trying to make sure that you’ve got enough [hand sanitizer] on your hands to inactivate the virus,” says Dr. Lord. “That’s why they say it has to have a really high alcohol content to be effective.”

However, for many industries, such as those working on-site, access to hand sanitizer is crucial to complete their jobs safely.

“A lot of our customers aren’t getting hand sanitizers,” says Jeff Neeley, owner of B&L Neeley Inc., a cleaning supplies manufacturer for the food industry. “They couldn’t get it at the stores or from their janitorial supplies–It just didn’t exist.”

In order to combat these rising demands, a temporary policy was released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 23rd that allows businesses to produce alcohol-based sanitizers under a carefully laid out procedure. Because of this, companies that once were producing perfumes, spirits, and cleaning supplies are now able to produce.

Among these businesses includes B&L Neeley Inc. based in the Bay Area.  Because the same active ingredients, isopropyl alcohol and ethanol, can be used in both surface sanitizers and those for hands, Neeley was able to convert his production towards helping with the shortage.

 “It’s kind of like Ford Motor Company transitioning their production facility over to tanks during World War Two,” says Neeley. “This is what we have to do just to be able to survive.”

In a study published this Tuesday by Emerging Infectious Diseases, it was confirmed that the alcohol-based hand sanitizers recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) are effective at killing the virus. Two of these approved formulas, one with an isopropyl alcohol base, and one with an ethanol base, have been used by Neeley’s company.

However, it is not just businesses in the chemical industry producing hand sanitizers. Many recipes for homemade sanitizers have surfaced on the internet.

“I like to do little projects here and there, and I thought it would be fun, but also useful,” Says Dan Donnelly, a local resident of the Bay Area.

With a small supply of ethanol, aloe vera, and essential oils, Donnelly was able to produce ten bottles of his own concoction, distributing them out to those with compromised immune systems. However, experts at the FDA fear that these homemade sanitizers may not have the 60% or higher alcohol content recommended by public health officials to be effective.

“As you read the FDA letter, it supports the purpose of us producing… so that we can prevent all of the homebrews that are going to start popping up,” says Neeley.

Although more businesses are producing, shortages of isopropyl alcohol and plastic bottles used for hand sanitizers have started. However, companies will continue to produce for as long as possible for communities in need.

 “It’s just us pitching in, like all of the nurses that are willing to get on a plane and fly to New York to help out,” says Neeley. “It’s just us doing our part.”

Word Count Count: 810

Reporting Index:

Jeff Neeley, Owner of B&L Neeley Inc.

Dan Donnelly, Local Bay Area Resident

Sarah McDonald Phd., Virologist and Associate Professor of Biology at Wake Forest University

Pat Lord PhD., Virologist and Teaching Professor of Biology at Wake Forest University

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/studies-hand-sanitizers-kill-covid-19-virus-e-consults-appropriate

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-provides-guidance-production-alcohol-based-hand-sanitizer-help-boost?utm_campaign=032020_PR_FDA%20provides%20guidance%20on%20production%20of%20alcohol-based%20hand%20sanitizer&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/hand-sanitizer-is-going-to-be-hard-to-find-for-a-long-long-time

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/distilleries-hand-sanitizer-coronavirus-hundreds

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/business/hand-sanitizer-sales/index.html

https://www.fda.gov/media/136289/download

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/considerations-companies-interested-manufacturing-hand-sanitizer-to-fight-against

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-companies-helping-meet-shortages-of-ventilators-gowns-masks-hand-sanitizer-healthcare

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/qa-consumers-hand-sanitizers-and-covid-19

https://www.healthline.com/health/does-hand-sanitizer-expire#takeaway

https://www.blneeley.com/services

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pandemic-sparks-price-surge-for-alcohol-used-in-hand-sanitizer-11585915202

An Uphill Battle for the Rainforest

An Uphill Battle for the Rainforest

Migration isn’t just for animals now.

Trees in the Andes rainforest in Peru are on the move as average global temperatures continue to rise, according to a study published in Nature.

This tree migration, or shift upward in the distribution of species living within the forest isn’t novel. As shown through pollen research, this movement upwards has been traced back thousands of years. What is new and of concern, however, is the inability for these species to migrate quickly enough to survive increasing temperatures caused by climate change.

The result? A decrease in biodiversity, or the variety of life on Earth, in rainforests brimming with unique plants and animals.

“If the climate keeps changing at the pace it is,” says Dr. Miles Silman, a biologist at Wake Forest University, “it looks like many of these plants won’t be able to keep up and they’ll be left behind.” 

Silman, a biology professor and director of the Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability, has spent the past several years analyzing this reaction to increasing temperatures in the Andes Mountains in Peru with other leading experts, including Wake alumni Dr. Kenneth Feeley of Florida International University of Miami and Dr. William Farfan-Rios of Washington University at St. Louis.

Due to the limited range of temperatures suitable for trees in the rainforest, species are moving upward to seek cooler climates. On average, these tree species climb upward 2.5 meters a year.

However, this increase doesn’t mean an overall shift upward of the whole population. Rather, it is a product of the destruction of slower moving individuals.

“What we find is that there are very few trees that are actually increasing the range,” says Silman. “Most of the trees are actually dying on the lower end of the range.”

Unfortunately, a recent study analyzing a larger scope of South American rainforests shows that even species able to migrate quickly aren’t necessarily in the clear either. Due to drastic changes in environmental conditions, many species are unable to migrate as far upwards as once possible due to human disturbances. 

“We’ve effectively made the mountains shorter than they should be,” says Feeley.

This shrinkage in land available is partially due to clearing space for agriculture and cattle, leaving species unable to climb past unsuitable grasslands. Because of this, there is little room for species to survive in increasing temperatures.

 “[The mountain] is like a cone,” Feeley says. “You go higher up, and there’s less land available. As [tree species] have less, the population size is going to shrink. They’re going to be more at risk of extinction.”

With the threat of mass extinctions of plant species unable to migrate, biodiversity within the rainforest is at risk. The impact of decreased biodiversity stretches well beyond the Peruvian rainforest and its surrounding areas. 

Ecoservices, or services provided to humans by the environment, are abundantly supplied by rainforests like those found in Peru. Functions such as storing carbon, releasing oxygen, and impacting global weather, may all be impacted by the decrease in biodiversity that will be seen if the current trajectory of climate change continues.

“We all depend on the ecoservices of those forests,” says Farfan. “Even if we are in the United States, we still depend on the Andes and Amazon [rainforests] for water circling or air circling because all of the components are tied together globally.”

As a result, experts like Silman, Farfan, and Feeley continue to research and analyze the rainforest, hoping to expand our understanding of the consequences of increasing temperatures.

“We’re trying to understand why some species move faster than others,” says Feeley, “and trying to expand the scope of our studies to gain a deeper knowledge.”

Word Count: 617

Reporting Index:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02444.x

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/303/5659/827.abstract

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0715-9

https://www.sustainability-times.com/environmental-protection/trees-in-the-andes-are-moving-uphill-to-escape-warming/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/9/rain-forest-plants-race-to-outrun-global-warming/

https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/peru-trees-move

The Deathly WRLD of Opioids

An accidental drug overdose has been the confirmed cause of rapper Juice WRLD’s tragic death on December 8th. Medical examiners reported that toxic amounts of oxycodone and codeine, both prescription opioids, had been consumed. 

Just six days prior, the rapper had celebrated his 21st birthday. 

This is not the first of highly acclaimed young artists to have passed away recently from accidental opioid overdose: Mac Miller, Lexii Alijai, Lil Peep. All performers within their 20s, these deaths have been acknowledged and mourned. 

However, these make up only a fraction of opioid overdoses occurring annually in the United States. According to the National Health Center for Statistics, 67.8% of fatal drug overdoses in 2018 involved opioids, averaging to about 120 deaths per day. 

With college-aged students as the largest population using opioids for nonmedical purposes according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there is heightened concern in the face of the opioid epidemic plaguing the country.

“We see a very sharp uptick in consumption of opioids during the transition from 18 to 24 year of age,” says Dr. Volkow, a psychiatrist and director of the NIDA.

Opioids, from prescribed painkillers to illegal substances like heroin, have carried a history of abuse since the 1990s; between 1999 and 2008, the amount of opioid overdoses quadrupled according to a study. 

With the ability to mask pain, amplify feelings of euphoria, and calm the mind, these addictive drugs don’t simply alter the perceived reality of its user, but the brain itself.

When a person takes opioids, a large amount of the chemical dopamine floods to an area of the brain associated with reward. Normally, dopamine is transmitted when something intrinsically pleasurable happens, whether that be watching a funny movie, petting a dog, or eating dessert. But as drug use increases, the brain requires more and more activation to release as much dopamine.

Suddenly, the dosage originally consumed is not enough to experience those same euphoric feelings. As the use of opioids increases, so does the need to increase the dosage. Consequently, those previously pleasurable experiences no longer feel as rewarding. 

“Imagine what it must be like if everyday actions, like reading books or going to the movies or meeting friends,” says Volkow,  “no longer activate the reward system and only the consumption of drugs excites you.”

This increased opioid use in turn may result in administering amounts higher than the body can process, resulting in accidental deaths. 

Limiting access to opioids, specifically to the age group most susceptible to initiating abuse, is crucial.

“The younger you start, the greater is the addiction risk,” says Volkow.

Unfortunately, many young people, including Juice WRLD, have fallen victim to the deteriorating effects opioids have on both the body and mind. Just a year prior to his death, his song “Legends,” written as a tribute to Lil Peep, contained a harrowing foreshadowing. 

“They tell me I’ma be a legend/ I don’t want that title now/ ‘Cause all the legends seem to die out.” 

Word Count: 499

Reporting Index:

Click to access db356-h.pdf

https://www.addictioncenter.com/news/2020/02/juice-wrld-cause-death-oxycodone-codeine-overdose/

https://www.medicinenet.com/oxycodone_vs_codeine/article.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17525040

https://wakeforest.instructure.com/courses/10127/files/261713?module_item_id=31943

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743519304554?via%3Dihub

https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/abuse-prescription-rx-drugs-affects-young-adults-most

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993682/

It’s Not Just the Trees: Biodiversity at Danger

A hunch-backed, chisel-toothed rodent weighing in at a measly 13 pounds is in a committed, mutual relationship with towering Brazil nut trees populating the Amazon rainforests. Both are dependent on the existence of each other. Both are in danger.

Similarly, so are we.

Within the past decade, 8.4 million football-field-sized areas of rainforest  have been cleared for timber and agricultural use. The removal of forests, or deforestation, does not only impact the trees removed, but affects the predicted 30% of all known species living within the rainforest; unlike trees, there is no way to replant the numerous endangered species required for them to thrive.

 According to a Global Assessment Report issued by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2019, around one million species “already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken to reduce the intensity of drivers of biodiversity loss.”

Biodiversity, or all of the different kinds of species on the planet, has an impact on the world as large as the vastness of its definition. The report claims that one of these “unprecedented” disturbances on ecosystems has been human changes in land use, like deforestation.

 “A forest is not a forest without its biodiversity,” says Justin Catanoso, a professor at Wake Forest University and journalist for Mongabay News.

Rainforest trees like the Brazil nut, for example, act as nature’s contribution to absorbing detrimental (and increasing) amounts of carbon dioxide in the air, attempting to mitigate the carbon emitted by human production, deforestation, and wildfires. However, in order for them to thrive, biodiversity, down to the pollinators and seed dispersers, must be maintained. 

Take the sharp-toothed agouti for instance. As one of the only known creatures able to break the sturdy Brazil nut pod, they provide an essential step for reproduction; with every meal, these creatures hide remaining nuts, acting as seed dispersers so that the Brazil nut may continue to populate the rainforest.

According to writers at Mongabay, the tree and agouti are in an interdependent relationship that requires one another’s assistance in order to survive. “For this reason, there has been little success growing Brazil nut trees in plantations—they only appear to grow in primary rainforest,” says Mongabay.

 Immediate action towards saving biodiversity is crucial, according to Catanoso. A decrease within the rainforests has and will continue to diminish the effectiveness of other ecosystem services provided by nature, including the production of food and water, regulation of weather, and carbon sequestration, or the storing of carbon dioxide. 

“The UN [United Nations] says we have 10 years to dramatically reduce our carbon emissions to head off the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, and one of the ways we will get there is by keeping our forests in tact, by reducing deforestation, and by making sure those forests are thriving in biodiversity,” says Catanoso.

Word Count: 473

https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/species/brazil-nut-tree

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5954/806

https://www.vox.com/2019/12/12/20991590/amazon-rainforest-deforestation-climate-change-trees-rain-brazil-nut

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/23/5775#ref-8

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation-and-forest-degradation

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037941

https://www.statslife.org.uk/news/4398-rss-announces-statistics-of-the-decade

https://www.mpg.de/biodiversity

Click to access 12610.full.pdf

https://www.bbc.com/news/10105273

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-tropical-ecology/article/seed-dispersal-of-the-brazil-nut-tree-bertholletia-excelsa-by-scatterhoarding-rodents-in-a-central-amazonian-forest/38B37BBE2AA578977A32B62F58969DA2

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/rainforest_ecology.html

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_wildlife.html

Optogenetics: Shedding Light on Brain Activity

Mind control is no longer limited to science fiction, but has expanded to neuroscience labs nationally.

With just an orb of blue light, some light-reactive proteins from algae, and a thin cable, scientists can now activate specific parts of the brain in mice. 

Optogenetics, the genetic insertion of light-activated proteins originally found in bacteria into other organisms, allows scientists to activate areas of the brain where the protein is present. With the ability to turn on or off specific types of neurons, or brain cells, this technique has led to the identification of previously unknown underlying causes for behaviors found in humans.

For instance, through activating neurons within the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain, scientists are able to initiate antidepressant-like responses from mice. Results like this provide insight to locations that may be targeted in future treatments for depressive disorders.

“Optogenetics may be the answer to a search for temporal and spatial specificity in neuroscience,” says a team of researchers at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition.

Previous techniques to find the function of specific neurons have forced scientists to prioritize either controling the timing of activation or the kinds of neurons activated. But with optogenetics, scientists are now able to dictate both the timing and location of activation.

These light-sensitive proteins, called opsins, are inserted into the mice through a virus that adds the genetic information necessary for the opsin to be produced in chosen neurons. Once these proteins are present, scientists can shine a laser light through a thin fiber attached into the skull of the mouse to activate the opsin-containing cells.

 The accuracy and specificity of optogenetics has allowed scientists to target neurons without disturbing the surrounding areas. Because of this, the results of optogenetic testing have identified specific neurons and their roles in activities such as sleep, the processing of drugs, and in brains suffering from depression.

“Results like these show that the use of optogenetics can lead to a better understanding of cause-effect relationships,” says Leiden Institute.

However, optogenetics has so far only been used with animal models; research using human models is far from present, with the potential inflammation caused by the optic fiber insertion and the long-term consequences of direct light exposure on neurons.

The invasiveness of the treatment, however, may soon be lessened. A study published in Nature Communications earlier this month from the Institute of Basic Science revealed a genetically modified opsin with an increased sensitivity to blue light. With the mere shining of the light onto the outside of the mouse skull, neurons with the opsin were activated. 

This decreased invasiveness of optogenetics may allow for advanced discovery within the field of neuroscience.  

Word Count: 445

Reporting Index:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14005-4.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00610

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004756/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5341518/