Alzheimer’s treatment relies on the fingerprints of neurons in the brain

On one level the human brain is universal: we share the same characteristics and functions. However, further probing the intricacies of the brain reveals subtle differences with the brain’s architecture. In particular, how each individual reinvents common scenarios is something that can be observed in brain activity. With the recent study, brain activity can be quantified in the form of neurological signatures. Understanding these signatures and the extent to which they alter can provide the basis for a better understanding of disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is also possible that this research approach may hold the key to a cure. For the research, 26 subjects were asked to remember common scenarios, such as driving or eating. The scenarios designed so that each subject remembered each event differently. The verbal descriptions of each person were then mapped onto a computational linguistic model. The model worked to approximate the meaning of the words and create a numerical representation of the context of the description. Each person was then placed in a functional MRI device and asked to reinvent the same experiences. The data allowed researchers at the University of Rochester to isolate patterns of brain activity related to that individual’s experiences. The result allowed the scientists to build a functional model of each participant’s brain, or a “fingerprint” of their neurological activity. The study appears in Nature Communications, where it is titled “Decoding Individual Identity from Brain Activity Aroused in Imagining Common Experiences”.

Molecular brain volume

In related news, a new development has been made in relation to understanding learning and memory. Using the analogy of a “molecular volume knob”, the researchers hypothesized that the regulation of electrical signals in the brain plays an essential role in both learning and memory. This concerns the synapses in our brains, junctions that allow neurons in the brain to communicate at different frequencies, are highly dynamic, and can communicate in a series of whispers and screams, which refer to the level of the released neurotransmitter. The key seems to lie in studying and understanding the extent of the chemical neurotransmitter released; something that varies with those suffering from certain ailments. This discovery may also help understand Alzheimer’s disease, as well as other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesand the research paper is titled “The Kvβ1 potassium channel subunit serves as the primary control point for synaptic facilitation.”