Nicole RustToday: A weekly digest 🧵 . A great way to glimpse the tremendous opportunity of this era is to see this alternation between big breakthroughs about the brain and the vast unmet needs for brain and mental disorders. It really helps build the intution about what's what.
Day 30 (breakthrough): Recording tech. The brain is a complex system in which its parts need to be studied simultaneously because its emergent properties follow from their interactions. We can now do that for the first time in history. And this is leading to ways to measure things we've never been able to before. Like how activity in the hypothalamus of a mouse gets sucked into a persistent "line attractor" to drive aggression. Understanding that is a step toward understanding emotion in humans. https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114489108188614165
Day 29 (need): For a taste of what Parkinson's is like, read the advocate Benjamin Stecher blog https://tmrwedition.com or his recent book "Reprogramming the Brain". We can treat but not slow Parkinson's. It's heartbreaking. I admire Ben a lot - he's feisty & reminds researchers what's at stake.
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114494400904272529
Day 28 (breakthrough): The brain's memory "engram" - a tremendous cumulative brain research accomplishment that unfolded across a century, including multiple Nobel prizes. We know where and how memories are stored in the brain; we can even reactivate, erase and implant memories (at least in mice). It's a terrific test case for the question: How does progress in (neuro)science happen?
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114500343226674217
Day 27 (need): We don't know what causes most brain disorders. For 3 caused by single-gene mutations (Huntington's, Fragile X, and a rare Alzheimer's), we've known the cause for over 30 years. We still cannot cure any of them. Why not? There's a lot more to cures than "find the gene".
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114505869401430507
Day 26 (breakthrough): AI. "Building" was once held up as a test of understanding. With AI, we can build without it. AlphaFold is an AI model that predicts protein structures from DNA, created without understanding the principles of protein folding. AI changes the game.
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114511546913459068
Day 25 (need): Psychiatric conditions are diagnosed based on symptoms rather than biological tests like brain scans or blood tests. We do not yet know enough about what's happening in the brain of someone experiencing a depressive episode or psychosis to create such a test.
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114517208460500690
Day 24 (breakthrough): The BrainGate brain computer interface enables individuals with extreme paralysis to move. It's the product of decades of scientific discoveries & engineering. For one man, he imagines writing letters and it's transformed into text. It's remarkable!
https://neuromatch.social/@NicoleCRust/114523105437943759
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures
Nicole Rust (@NicoleCRust@neuromatch.social)
30 days to the launch of Elusive Cures! I learned so much writing it, and I want to share it. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures For the next 30 days, I'll post brain & mind research breakthroughs on odd days, and highlight unmet needs on even ones. #ElusiveCures30 First breakthrough: Recording tech & why it matters. The brain is a complex system in which its parts need to be studied simultaneously b/c its emergent properties follow from their interactions. We can now do that for the first time in history. Up to 1 million neurons in mice! https://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(24)00121-1 And this is leading to ways to measure things we've never been able to before. Like how activity in the hypothalamus of a mouse gets sucked into a persistent "line attractor" to drive aggression. Understanding that is a step toward understanding emotion in humans. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07915-x