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Online ISSN 2653-4983
JOURNAL of MULTISCALE NEUROSCIENCE
Is Alzheimer’s Disease a Manifestation of Brain Quantum Decoherence Resulting from
Mitochondrial and Microtubular Deterioration?
T.W. Nichols1, M.H. Berman1 and J.A. Tuszynski 2,3
1 Quietmind Foundation, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2 Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
3 DIMEAS, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
The etiology of Alzheimer's dementia is, at best multifactorial. Before the emergence of cognitive impairment, symptoms such as thinning of the cortex, accumulation of β-amyloid, and decreased hippocampal volume are common. Hence, the accumulation of β-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau fibrillary tangles are two pathological hallmarks in Alzheimer's disease brains, but antibody therapy aimed to decrease β-amyloid has been a failure and, in most optimistic opinions, may delay somewhat disease progression. However, 31-38 % of subjects develop cerebral micro-hemorrhages in aducanumab therapy, an antibody to the amyloid beta plaque by Biogen. Genetics such as Apo E3/E3 have demonstrated defects in the blood-brain barrier in early-onset dementia...more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Lipid Composition and Brain Membrane Mechanics: Insights from Molecular Simulations
Silvia Vernuccio and Marco Cavaglià
The human brain is a noble organ of extraordinary complexity, capable of performing numerous functions and manifesting properties whose mechanisms are not yet fully understood. This difficulty in fully understanding its functioning is due to the system's inherent complexity, which gives rise to emergent properties arising from the hierarchical and multiscale organization of its composing substructures. In this context, it makes sense to focus on lower-dimensional scales, such as the molecular scale, where the composition of cellular substructures and the organization of biological building blocks might be key to a deeper understanding of some mechanisms of brain function that remain poorly understood to date. One extremely interesting example is the cell membrane, a complex composition of molecular building blocks, self-assembled and with properties of fluid and solids at the same time. It is composed of a wide range of lipid species distributed asymmetrically on bilayer sheets. We recognize that this lipid composition is critical for preserving membrane integrity, function, and the development of cellular ...
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Exploring the neurobiological circuits of anxiety in Autistic Spectrum Disorder
L. A, Cacha
ASD does not include anxiety as one of its core features, which has its own unique and additional level of complexity. The prevalence of anxiety disorder is not considered a core characteristic, yet majority of individuals with autism exhibit clinically elevated levels of anxiety or suffer from at least one anxiety disorder, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. An individual who is anxious is more likely to suffer from excessive negative emotions, which are indicative of potential dysfunctions within the brain systems responsible for regulating negative emotions. Anxiety is believed to have a neurobiological component, and considerable research has long been conducted to determine how its arousal impacts behavioral development in typical situations. Investigation has focused on the structural development of the amygdala implicated in the neurobiology of autism. An overview of the role of the prefrontal cortex in modulation of amygdala function is presented in this paper, as well how differences in amygdala and prefrontal cortex connectivity may play a role in influencing the presentation of anxiety syndrome in the context of autism spectrum disorder.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Spatiotemporal dynamics of intracellular calcium during speed tuning for directionality: the initial stage of cardinal direction selectivity
N.L. Iannella & R.R. Poznanski
Detecting moving objects is crucial in the animal kingdom and is fundamental to vision. In the vertebrate retina, starburst amacrine cells are directionally selective in terms of their calcium responses to stimuli that move centrifugally from the soma. The mechanism by which starburst amacrine cells show calcium bias for centrifugal motion is still to be determined. Recent morphological studies using fluorescent microscopy and immunostaining have shown that the endoplasmic reticulum is omnipresent in the soma, extending to the distal processes of starburst amacrine cells. Electron microscopy for ChAT SAC in adult rat retina unequivocally proves the presence of local endoplasmic reticulum. The submicron in diameter dendrites implies that the endoplasmic reticulum is not luminally connected between the soma and the distal tips. We construct a computational model of SAC dendrites with ER to simulate the Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR)-based calcium waves in the presence of unsaturated buffer to test the hypothesis that the CICR mechanism can sustain constant calcium wave propagation in the centrifugal direction...
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REVIEW
Investigating Brain Connectivity from a Signal Processing Perspective
Alexandra Tsipourakis and Marco Agostino Deriu
Understanding brain connectivity is crucial for deciphering both neural function and dysfunction. In this review, we explore the key signal-processing methods used for analyzing brain connectivity, including techniques such as Fourier transforms, wavelet analysis, and graph-theoretical approaches. We then examine their applications across various neuroimaging and electrophysiological modalities, like EEG, MEG, and fMRI. Additionally, we tackle challenges such as noise reduction, signal non-stationarity, and computational complexity. By connecting neuroscience and signal processing, our aim is to provide insights into the strengths and limitations of both traditional and cutting-edge signal-processing methods for studying brain connectivity while also highlighting potential future research directions.
CLINICAL CASE REPORT
Molecular Biomarker Discovery Targeting Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Cognitive Mechanisms
Konstantinos Panagiotopoulos, Konstantinos Theofilatos & Seferina Mavroudi
Brain disorders, which encompass neurodevelopmental conditions and age-related neurodegenerative diseases, are becoming more prevalent due to population growth, increased life expectancy, and enhanced diagnostic capabilities. Despite clinical differences, these diseases share complex molecular alterations: dysregulation of coding and noncoding RNAs, epigenetic modifications, and altered protein networks. Today, we can directly quantify those alterations. However, determining their relationship to brain function and identifying characteristic disease patterns through the integration of these biomarkers remains a significant challenge. Bioinformatics has become key to understanding these signals, helping us interpret what they tell us about the mechanisms that regulate our physiology and its pathological changes through multi-omics data integration. By analyzing the interplay between genetic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic factors, we can reconstruct disease-specific pathways and find potential links between early stages of brain development and degenerative processes. Given the vast amounts of molecular data available today and the significant influx of artificial intelligence techniques, it becomes increasingly important ....
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Analyzing Neonatal Vocal Expression: Methodological Approaches to Identifying Neurological and Psychiatric Signatures
Syed Taimoor Hussain Shah, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, Andrea Buccoliero, Syed Baqir Hussain
Shah, Angelo Di Terlizzi & Marco Agostino Deriu
Understanding the complexity of brain organization and connectivity is a key step in elucidating the functioning of our brains, including aspects such as consciousness, perception, or thought. Some information about this complexity could be encoded and compressed into distinctive personal characteristics, such as voice, which can serve as a true neurobiological “fingerprint.” In this connection, analyzing infant vocalization patterns offers a unique opportunity to explore neurodevelopmental trajectories and sensory integration. Understanding how this information is encoded in vocal expression could help us determine new biomarkers filled with information about how our brains function, relevant to neurodevelopment. Despite significant advances in neonatal care, accurately identifying neurological and cognitive signatures from infant vocalizations remains a profound challenge, as it requires bridging multiscale brain dynamics with perceptual...
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Conductive polypyrrole/chitin conduit with electric stimulation for nerve regeneration
Haishan Jiao, Jian Huang, Ying Chen, Yuening Song, and Dongyin Li
PPy/chitin composite conduits (CAP) were fabricated by tube casting using chitosan blended with microemulsion polymerized nano-PPy, which was modified by acetylation. Chitin conduits (CA) modified by acetylation from chitosan conduits without PPy were also prepared. Both CAP and CA conduits were used to bridge sciatic nerve defects with or without ES. Autologous nerve transplantation was used as a positive control. Electrophysiological and histological methods were measured. We found that: (1) injured nerve bridged with conduit and ES had improved regeneration compared with that bridged with conduit without ES; and (2) conductive conduit combined with ES was more effective in promoting nerve regeneration compared with non-conductive conduit, but was similar to autologous nerve. Our findings demonstrate that conduits of PPy/chitin conductive composite exhibit favorable properties for clinical use by promoting nerve regeneration and functional recovery.
BRIEF REPORT
On the transition from a sense of self to actualizing an intention
R. R. Poznanski
Action potentials are a part of neural activity, but defining neural action is far more complex. Generalizing specific cognitive tasks as neural is ineffective. Instead, this paper focuses on individual factors such as intentions in action or consciousness in action. The hard question of consciousness arises from how the brain's biochemistry interacts with the electromagnetic field to facilitate energy transduction, enabling various forms of information to sustain self-referential causal closure. This has important implications, especially when intentions in action become intentions through a process that involves a transition from the experience of acting out a thought to actualizing intentions. This transition is particularly relevant to subjective intentionality, precognitive and unreliable in forming intentions without understanding the biochemical and biophysical foundations. We propose that negentropic force drives the transition from experience to intentions. Experience such as subjective intentionality is a quantum-optical effect actuated by electromagnetic “sparks” in benzene rings and proton transfer in hydrophobic pockets ...
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Exploring the Role of Photobiomodulation in Cellular Responses: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease
Sara Castria1, Barbara Truglia, Marco Luppi & Jack A. Tuszynski
Potential therapeutic applications of photobiomodulation (PBM) involves the use of non-ionizing EM radiation in the range between infrared and ultraviolet to induce biological effects on cells, tissues and organisms. The devices used for the experiments reported here were the Bioptron device, which emits a hyperpolarized light beam (HPL) at 40 mW/cm², and the Vielight NeuroPro device, which utilizes an infrared light beam at 60 mW/cm² with a 10 Hz frequency sweep. Three different cancer cell lines were used in the experiments, namely: PC3, HeLa, and MCF7. The study focused on analyzing cell viability, morphological changes, ATP production, and metabolic shifts. The first step of the experiment involved culturing the aforementioned cells under standard conditions to promote proliferation and obtain statistically significant data for analysis. Subsequently, part of the samples was exposed to HPL (via Bioptron), while the remaining samples were exposed to infrared light (via Vielight). After irradiation, cell viability was first assessed using the Alamar Blue assay, followed by the analysis of key cytoplasmic proteins: actin, tubulin, and mitochondrial morphological changes through immunofluorescence staining. Finally, ATP production and metabolic shifts were quantified using the Glycolysis/OXPHOS Assay Kit. The study highlighted a biphasic...