Pain Resistance in Mole-Rats
Naked mole-rats are weird. Native to East Africa, they live underground in highly ordered and hierarchical colonies with a single breeding queen, more like ants or termites than mammals. Some of their most striking physiological adaptations include an extraordinarily long lifespan (30+ years), apparent resistance to cancer, and resistance to extremely low levels of oxygen and high levels of carbon dioxide.
But it turns out naked mole-rats are not completely alone; they come from a family of weirdos. In my latest Animal Minds post, I discuss what researchers have discovered about pain insensitivity in naked mole-rats and some of their close relatives.
Read the story here: Pain Insensitivity in Mole-Rats.
Drug Overdose Deaths in the U.S.
The good news: Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that drug overdose deaths have dropped for the first time since 1990. Between the 12-month period ending December 2017 and the 12-month period ending December 2018, there was a 5.1% decline in overdose deaths. Now the bad news: Experts still see worrisome signs in the data.
Read my latest story for IEEE Pulse magazine: Drug Overdose Deaths Decline, But Remain Historically High.
Brain Characteristics Associated with Epilepsy and Depression/Anxiety
Researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital found that symptoms of depression and anxiety were related to diffuse reductions in brain structure and function in youth with intractable epilepsy.
Read the whole story at Pediatrics Nationwide: Brain Characteristics Associated with Epilepsy and Internalizing Disorders.
Empathy as a 'Danger Antenna' in Rats
Rats are social animals, exquisitely attuned to the emotions of the rats around them. In a new study published in PLoS Biology, researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience show that rats may use this sense of empathy as a way to gauge danger.
Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Empathy as a 'Danger Antenna' in Rats.
What Has the BRAIN Initiative Accomplished?
Now at the midpoint, the BRAIN Initiative’s impacts on neuroscience are beginning to come into fruition. As of January, 2018, the National Institutes of Health had awarded 368 BRAIN grants to more than 500 investigators, resulting in over 330 publications.
So, what have we learned from the BRAIN Initiative so far? What’s currently in development that could transform our understanding of the brain? And what will the next five years bring?
See my latest article at Neuroscience Quarterly: BRAIN-Inspired Science: A Mid-Initiative Report.