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Patel K, Katz CN, Kalia SK, Popovic MR, Valiante TA. Volitional control of individual neurons in the human brain. Brain 2021; 144:3651-3663. [PMID: 34623400 PMCID: PMC8719845 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awab370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain-machine interfaces allow neuroscientists to causally link specific neural activity patterns to a particular behaviour. Thus, in addition to their current clinical applications, brain-machine interfaces can also be used as a tool to investigate neural mechanisms of learning and plasticity in the brain. Decades of research using such brain-machine interfaces have shown that animals (non-human primates and rodents) can be operantly conditioned to self-regulate neural activity in various motor-related structures of the brain. Here, we ask whether the human brain, a complex interconnected structure of over 80 billion neurons, can learn to control itself at the most elemental scale-a single neuron. We used the unique opportunity to record single units in 11 individuals with epilepsy to explore whether the firing rate of a single (direct) neuron in limbic and other memory-related brain structures can be brought under volitional control. To do this, we developed a visual neurofeedback task in which participants were trained to move a block on a screen by modulating the activity of an arbitrarily selected neuron from their brain. Remarkably, participants were able to volitionally modulate the firing rate of the direct neuron in these previously uninvestigated structures. We found that a subset of participants (learners), were able to improve their performance within a single training session. Successful learning was characterized by (i) highly specific modulation of the direct neuron (demonstrated by significantly increased firing rates and burst frequency); (ii) a simultaneous decorrelation of the activity of the direct neuron from the neighbouring neurons; and (iii) robust phase-locking of the direct neuron to local alpha/beta-frequency oscillations, which may provide some insights in to the potential neural mechanisms that facilitate this type of learning. Volitional control of neuronal activity in mnemonic structures may provide new ways of probing the function and plasticity of human memory without exogenous stimulation. Furthermore, self-regulation of neural activity in these brain regions may provide an avenue for the development of novel neuroprosthetics for the treatment of neurological conditions that are commonly associated with pathological activity in these brain structures, such as medically refractory epilepsy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kramay Patel
- Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), Toronto, Ontario M5T 1M8, Canada
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada
- Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2A2, Canada
| | - Chaim N Katz
- Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), Toronto, Ontario M5T 1M8, Canada
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada
- Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2A2, Canada
| | - Suneil K Kalia
- Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), Toronto, Ontario M5T 1M8, Canada
- Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2A2, Canada
- The KITE Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2A2, Canada
| | - Milos R Popovic
- Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), Toronto, Ontario M5T 1M8, Canada
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada
- Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2A2, Canada
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada
| | - Taufik A Valiante
- Krembil Brain Institute, Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), Toronto, Ontario M5T 1M8, Canada
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada
- Center for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application (CRANIA), Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2A2, Canada
- The KITE Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2A2, Canada
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada
- Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada
- Max Planck-University of Toronto Center for Neural Science and Technology, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada
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Yu TW, Lane HY, Lin CH. Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Alzheimer's Disease: An Updated Review. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22158208. [PMID: 34360973 PMCID: PMC8348485 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22158208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and accounts for most cases of dementia. The prevalence of AD has increased in the current rapidly aging society and contributes to a heavy burden on families and society. Despite the profound impact of AD, current treatments are unable to achieve satisfactory therapeutic effects or stop the progression of the disease. Finding novel treatments for AD has become urgent. In this paper, we reviewed novel therapeutic approaches in five categories: anti-amyloid therapy, anti-tau therapy, anti-neuroinflammatory therapy, neuroprotective agents including N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor modulators, and brain stimulation. The trend of therapeutic development is shifting from a single pathological target to a more complex mechanism, such as the neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. While drug repositioning may accelerate pharmacological development, non-pharmacological interventions, especially repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), also have the potential for clinical application. In the future, it is possible for physicians to choose appropriate interventions individually on the basis of precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tien-Wei Yu
- Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan;
| | - Hsien-Yuan Lane
- Department of Psychiatry and Brain Disease Research Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
- Department of Psychology, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
- Correspondence: (H.-Y.L.); (C.-H.L.); Tel.: +886-921-067-260 (H.-Y.L.); +886-7-7317123 (ext. 8753) (C.-H.L.); Fax: +886-4-2236-1042 (H.-Y.L.); +886-7-7326817 (C.-H.L.)
| | - Chieh-Hsin Lin
- Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 83301, Taiwan;
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
- Correspondence: (H.-Y.L.); (C.-H.L.); Tel.: +886-921-067-260 (H.-Y.L.); +886-7-7317123 (ext. 8753) (C.-H.L.); Fax: +886-4-2236-1042 (H.-Y.L.); +886-7-7326817 (C.-H.L.)
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Slater C, Wang Q. Alzheimer's disease: An evolving understanding of noradrenergic involvement and the promising future of electroceutical therapies. Clin Transl Med 2021; 11:e397. [PMID: 33931975 PMCID: PMC8087948 DOI: 10.1002/ctm2.397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) poses a significant global health concern over the next several decades. Multiple hypotheses have been put forth that attempt to explain the underlying pathophysiology of AD. Many of these are briefly reviewed here, but to-date no disease-altering therapy has been achieved. Despite this, recent work expanding on the role of noradrenergic system dysfunction in both the pathogenesis and symptomatic exacerbation of AD has shown promise. The role norepinephrine (NE) plays in AD remains complicated but pre-tangle tau has consistently been shown to arise in the locus coeruleus (LC) of patients with AD decades before symptom onset. The current research reviewed here indicates NE can facilitate neuroprotective and memory-enhancing effects through β adrenergic receptors, while α2A adrenergic receptors may exacerbate amyloid toxicity through a contribution to tau hyperphosphorylation. AD appears to involve a disruption in the balance between these two receptors and their various subtypes. There is also a poorly characterized interplay between the noradrenergic and cholinergic systems. LC deterioration leads to maladaptation in the remaining LC-NE system and subsequently inhibits cholinergic neuron function, eventually leading to the classic cholinergic disruption seen in AD. Understanding AD as a dysfunctional noradrenergic system, provides new avenues for the use of advanced neural stimulation techniques to both study and therapeutically target the earliest stages of neuropathology. Direct LC stimulation and non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) have both demonstrated potential use as AD therapeutics. Significant work remains, though, to better understand the role of the noradrenergic system in AD and how electroceuticals can provide disease-altering treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody Slater
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
- Vagelos College of Physicians and SurgeonsColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringColumbia UniversityNew YorkNew YorkUSA
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