Blood GFAP reflects astrocyte reactivity to Alzheimer’s pathology in post-mortem brain tissue

New scientific commentary by Christian Limberger & Eduardo Zimmer tinyurl.com/2354tnwv

Potassium seeks a role in the drama of neurodegeneration

New scientific commentary by Charles Nicholson tinyurl.com/486f8rv4

Geoffrey Schott explores the writings of Roman poet Lucretius on phenomena associated with the sudden amputation of a limb, and considers what they can tell us about the brain mechanisms that might underpin those phenomena. tinyurl.com/4dfrdv8e

The success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines has rekindled interest in mRNA as a cost-effective means of delivering therapeutic proteins. Monfrini et al. explore potential applications of mRNA therapies for neurological monogenic loss-of-function diseases. tinyurl.com/yn6dp7cy

Sun et al. use a virtual histology approach to assess the pathophysiological basis of interregional differences in grey matter atrophy patterns in patients with multiple sclerosis, AQP4+ and AQP4- subtypes of NMOSD, and MOGAD. tinyurl.com/y324cv8m

Theuriet et al. present long-term clinical data from adults with genetically defined congenital myasthenic syndromes. tinyurl.com/3jxjzd5p

Welcome to Volume 6, Issue 3 of Brain Communications!
📸 Cover image courtesy Whyte-Fagundes et al. shorturl.at/ntDF5. It highlights the synergy between #artificalintelligence tools and human creativity in advancing scientific progress.

Cox Jr et al. show that in children with severe TBI, autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell infusion within 48 hours of the TBI led to shorter intensive care duration, as well as better preservation of brain structure and functionality, vs placebo. tinyurl.com/9v9h8tdn

Dementia therapy: time for an energy boost

New Editorial by Giovanna Mallucci in this month's Brain tinyurl.com/476z2kxc

Using advanced imaging techniques to examine brain tissue from people who died from multiple system atrophy, Böing et al. find that different cell types display distinct types of alpha-synuclein accumulations, providing insights into disease pathogenesis. tinyurl.com/bp8udpxx

Efthymiou et al. characterize nine individuals with ABCC9-related intellectual disability and myopathy syndrome (AIMS). All nine have homozygous loss-of-function variants in the ABCC9 gene, which encodes a regulatory subunit of ATP-sensitive K+ channels. tinyurl.com/y4c225vj

Nolano et al. show that sensory impairment in patients with ALS worsens in parallel with motor disability and could serve as a prognostic biomarker. Studying skin innervation may provide a window into the pathophysiology of ALS. tinyurl.com/23bvhjvn

Brain changes associated with AD can begin up to 20 yrs or more before the onset of symptoms. Quesnel et al. find that IGFBP2 may be a valuable marker for identifying at-risk individuals and could serve as a target to restore deficient insulin signalling. tinyurl.com/mu39ybvy

Ahmed et al. review putative mechanisms linking neuronal cholesterol to Alzheimer’s disease, and discuss current strategies for developing a brain cholesterol-modulating pharmacotherapy. tinyurl.com/44vujdr9

Vaccination with structurally modified fungal protein fibrils: a new treatment for synucleinopathies?

New scientific commentary by Makoto Kinoshita, Yasuyoshi Kimura & Hideki Mochizuki tinyurl.com/yckha8vw

More than 185 CAG repeats: a point of no return in Huntington’s disease biology

New scientific commentary by Jillian Belgrad & Anastasia Khvorova tinyurl.com/4yu2mkv3

New issue of Brain now online! academic.oup.com/brain/issue/14…

Cody et al. implement a novel time framework to characterize the accumulation of tau pathology and cognitive decline relative to amyloid onset in Alzheimer’s disease, explaining a considerable amount of heterogeneity in early disease progression. tinyurl.com/387n66xm

Cracco et al. study the transmission of three human prion diseases to a double mutant transgenic mouse expressing a glycan-free human prion protein, and show the protective role of prion protein glycans. tinyurl.com/3cc2xy7v

Variants in the SCN2A gene cause epilepsy, autism and other severe neurological impairments. Berg et al. investigate the relationship between clinical phenotype and the effects of SCN2A variants on Nav1.2 channel function. tinyurl.com/rb8ppzkw