Aging plays a significant role in the disease onset and progression of multiple cerebrovascular events. Identification of the core aging-related genes involved in intracranial aneurysm (IA) can help to further explore the pathogenesis of the disease. In a recent study published in the Chinese Neurosurgical Journal, researchers identified four aging-related genes through bioinformatics analysis that were closely associated with IA. Understanding their functions provided a deeper insight into the pathophysiology of IA.

The study investigates the complex link between offspring number and health in a large cohort of over 500,000 Chinese adults over 12 years. Addressing past research gaps, the study used a Phenome-Wide Association Study, performing separate analyses for men and women. This rigorous, sex-stratified approach, relying on Cox Proportional-Hazards Models, was used to systematically quantify health risks across a vast range of diseases and mortality while adjusting for potential confounders.

“People tend to joke about mood swings, saying ‘my mood swings throughout the day, I’m already a bit bipolar,’ or joke with each other saying ‘everything is bipolar.’ And it’s not quite like that, as bipolar disorder has a biological component.”

This is one of the statements featured in a short trailer on YouTube about bipolar disorder. The video is connected to the play Oxímoro, entre Solstícios e Equinócios (Oxymoron, Between Solstices and Equinoxes) by Marionet, a Portuguese theatre company that brings scientific research topics to the stage.

The play was developed through an in-depth collaboration with doctors, researchers, and patients, with the goal of informing and raising public awareness about bipolar disorder, helping to reduce the stigma surrounding this and other mental health conditions.

The project also included an analysis of audience responses to the performance, with a specific focus on emotional engagement. The results of this experience are described in a practice insight  published in the special issue of emotions and science communication in Journal of Science Communication (JCOM). According to the authors, the audience’s emotional response—empathy, emotional resonance, and personal identification—helped facilitate the assimilation of scientific information and contributed to reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness.