ADVANCES

Notable brain science findings

BY NICKY PENTTILA

More than one-third of people in the U.S. were showing signs of ANXIETY OR DEPRESSION in April and May, according to estimates by the Census Bureau, compared with onequarter in 2019. The Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics are running a weekly “household pulse survey,” collecting data online to quickly track the national mood and other data since the end of April, relatively early in Covid19’s progress through the country. This method of collection means the survey only reaches people who have an email address or cell phone number to be contacted; more than 42,000 people responded to the survey in the second week of May. Rates of anxiety and depression were highest among women, lowincome individuals, and younger adults. The young adult numbers are especially worrying as that age group does not seem to be at most risk for the coronavirus; other surveys also have shown an increase in depression, stress, and suicide rates among young adults. l

The brains of young girls and boys fire up in the same ways when they’re doing MATH, according to a study in the Nature journal Science of Learning Carnegie Mellon University researchers scanned the brains of 104 kids ages three to ten as they performed basic math tasks and found “one heterogeneous population rather than two categorical groups,” they report. “The findings of widespread gender similarities in boys’ and girls’ brains do not support claims of biological gender differences in childhood.” The results add to the argument that it’s nurture (and societal expectations), not nature, that could explain why there are far fewer teen girls in math-based courses and women in mathbased professions. l

We know the brain affects our heart rate—to fight or flee, sit in quiet meditation, or simply keep breathing—but our HEARTBEAT also can affect our perceptions. During the first, strong beat of the heart’s two-part rhythm, when it pumps blood out to the body, we find it harder to detect a weak electric stimulus to the finger; during the second part, as the blood flows back to the heart, it is easier to detect the stimulus. In a study reported in PNAS, researchers at the Max Planck Institute and the Berlin School of Mind and Brain found that the “P300” component of brain activity is suppressed during the first, outgoing stage. This component is associated with consciousness and decision-making; blocking it suppresses

Researchers have created a simple blood test that can detect ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (AD). According to a new study, the blood test accurately measures one of the proteins—P-tau181—implicated in AD. Blood P-tau181 indirectly measures tau hyperphosphorylation in the brain, which is one of the hallmarks of the disease, along with the clumpy plaques caused by the protein amyloid β. Prior to this discovery, detecting the proteins and confirming an AD diagnosis was possible only through expensive PET scans, invasive lumbar punctures, or autopsy. l our conscious awareness of the pulse, which keeps us from being constantly distracted by our own body sounds, but it could also cause us to miss something superquick, such as a mild shock to the finger, the researchers suggest. They also found that when test volunteers paid conscious attention to their hearts beating, they detected the finger shock even less. l

Another potential use for the anesthetic drug KETAMINE is a one-time boost to traditional behavioral therapies to help people abstain from cocaine or alcohol. A chemical derivative of ketamine, esketamine, was approved by the FDA in 2019 as a rapid-acting treatment for severe depression; it is thought to block neural pathways involved in sensory integration, memory, and learning. Researchers wondered if this might open a window to modify memories and sensations that act as strong triggers to people with addictions and lead to relapse. Researchers at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute ran separate randomized clinical trials, pairing one dose of the drug (or a placebo) with five weeks of mindfulness-based behavioral training to treat 55 cocaine-dependent people, and with five weeks of motivational enhancement therapy to treat 40 alcoholdependent people. In both trials, patients who received ketamine were significantly more likely to remain “clean” during the five weeks (48 percent to 11 percent of the placebo group in the cocaine trial), and if they did relapse, it took longer to do so. l

By The Numbers

14 million people are projected to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease by 2050. Presently, that number is 5.8 million.

18.6 percent is the increase in antidepressant prescriptions filled in the U.S. from February 16 to March 15.

85 percent of people in a national survey have not heard of the term “aphasia,” a language disorder more common than Parkinson’s, MS, or cerebral palsy.

214 patients, or more than a third in Wuhan, China— where the pandemic started—had neurologic manifestations of the coronavirus.

8,000 steps (roughly four miles) a day helps brain health and may increase your odds of a longer life

Links to brain, mental health, and neuroethics articles we recommend:

> Washington Post: The journey from scientific breakthrough to a life-changing cystic fibrosis drug

> Washington Post: She fell more than 30 times. For three years, doctors couldn’t explain why

> Star-Ledger: Living in a ‘toxic’ world raises risk for Alzheimer’s

> Scientific American: A Tsunami of Dementia Could Be On Its Way

> Tech Crunch: With an ex-Uber exec as its new CEO, digital mental health service Mindstrong raises $100 million

> National Geographic: For autistic youths entering adulthood, a new world of challenges awaits

ISSUE: Probiotics, which are manufactured mixtures of "good bacteria" that help digest food, have become a growing multibillion-dollar industry. Whether they work was the focus of a recent 60 Minutes segment on the microbiome. During the past 10 years, studies have linked the gut microbiome to a range of complex behaviors, such as mood and emotion, appetite and satiety, and even learning and memory.

The new normal

I don’t know anyone right now that’s not having depression-like symptoms. It’s hard to keep going when our brains are constantly on fight or flight. It makes people really tired. If you’re having trouble concentrating or getting out of bed, it’s not abnormal. It’s an evolutionary response to a threat.

Luana Marques, psychologist, Harvard Medical School; president, Anxiety and Depression Association of America

> Raleigh News & Observer: Doctors can prescribe a video game for kids with ADHD after landmark FDA decision

> The Atlantic: 30 Years Ago, Romania Deprived Thousands of Babies of Human Contact

> The American Scientist: The Argument for Music

COVID-19 Related

> New York Times: Why Am I Having Weird Dreams Lately?

> Washington Post: ‘A minute later, she forgets.’ Pandemic brings new challenges when a loved one has dementia.

> Wired: What Does Covid-19 Do to Your Brain?

> NBC News: Her father’s delirium was a first sign of coronavirus. He’s not the only one.

> New York Times: Is the Pandemic Sparking Suicide?

> Associated Press: Pandemic threatens to deepen crisis in mental health care

> Star-Ledger: Autism may make it tricky for some to tolerate masks

> Scientific American: From Headaches to ‘Covid Toes,’ Corona Virus Symptoms are a Bizarre Mix