News

Alzheimer’s Genetic Risk Factors Spark Inflammation in Females

inflammatory microglia stained green and yellow

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have found that two genetic variants that confer high risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) together trigger a harmful inflammatory response in the brain’s immune cells, particularly in females, in a preclinical model.

The findings, published Sept. 30 in Neuron, emphasize the importance of considering sex...

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Brain Macrophages with ApoE4 Play a Key Role in Damaging Blood Vessels and Neurodegeneration

apoe4 vascular dammage

A new study helps explain why having ApoE4—the gene variant most closely linked to Alzheimer’s disease—increases the risk of neurodegeneration and white matter damage. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine discovered that immune cells in the brain called border-associated macrophages (BAMs) are a source of ApoE4 protein and contribute to damaging blood vessels and brain tissue.

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Brain Scanning Approach Shows Wiring of Depression

Liston Salience Network

By repeatedly scanning the brains of a small group of patients for a year and a half, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have identified a distinct pattern of neuronal interactions that appears to predispose some people to developing depression.

Published Sept. 4 in Nature, the work highlights the potential...

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Large Study Confirms Significant Frequency of Undetected Responsiveness in Severe Brain Injury

fMRI images of control patients and a patient with cognitive-motor dissociation

With surprising frequency, patients with severe brain injury can show clear signs of cognitive function on brain scans in response to requests to carry out complex mental work, even when they can’t move or speak, according to an international study co-led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.

The study, published Aug. 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine, was the largest-ever...

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Commercial Astronauts Shed Light on Flights’ Health Impacts and Create Spaceflight Atlas

picture of earth from space

Short-term space travel causes many of the same molecular and physiologic changes as long-term space missions, but most reverse within months of returning to Earth. Yet, those changes that are longer-lasting and distinct between crew members reveal new targets for aerospace medicine and can guide new missions, according to the results of a massive international research endeavor by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine,...

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Astrocytes Induce Sex-Specific Effects on Memory

Anna Orr astrocytes

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have uncovered the first evidence that astrocyte receptors can trigger opposite effects on cognitive function in male and female preclinical models. The findings point to astrocytes, brain cells that support and regulate neurons, as key contributors to sex-specific brain mechanisms.

While many studies have tested the behavioral effects of astrocytic receptors, none of them have addressed whether biological sex plays a role and most have tested only...

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New Atlas of mRNA Variants Captures Inner Workings of the Brain

mRNA isoforms

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have assembled the most comprehensive atlas to date of messenger RNA (mRNA) variants in the mouse and human brain. The atlas is an important new resource in understanding brain development, neuron specialization and other brain functions.

RNA transcripts that are copied from DNA sequences carry the instructions for building proteins and show which genes are active in a...

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Apixaban No Better Than Aspirin for Preventing Stroke Recurrence in Patients with Atrial Cardiopathy

illustration of blood vessels leading to the brain

More than a decade ago, the anticoagulant apixaban, trade name Eliquis, was shown to be superior to aspirin for preventing recurrent stroke in patients with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. But a multi-center, phase 3 clinical trial has found that apixaban is no more effective than aspirin at preventing a second stroke in patients diagnosed with a milder, related condition called atrial cardiopathy, according to results reported by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia...

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Mapping Brain Repair and Remodelling After Stroke

immune cells infiltrate brain after stroke


Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have painstakingly catalogued the cellular response to stroke in a preclinical model, identifying the immune cells involved and the roles they may play in the days and weeks following a stroke. During a stroke, loss of oxygen leads to brain damage and cell death. It also triggers a powerful inflammatory response in which the brain’s resident immune cells, along with cells...

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Immune Protein May Induce Dementia Unrelated to High Blood Pressure

connection between high blood pressure and dementia

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have found that controlling high blood pressure may not be enough to prevent associated cognitive declines. The findings point to an immune protein called cytokine IL-17 as a culprit for inducing dementia and suggest new approaches to prevent damage to brain cells.

The study, published on Dec. 4 in Nature Neuroscience, uncovered a new mechanism...

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