Age is more than just one number. While neuroscientists used to think of cognitive aging as a single trendline, they now realize that vast individual differences require a more predictive and personalized approach. As they uncover more factors that affect cognition over time, they are realizing that modeling the aging brain requires more diverse data than traditionally captured, as will be presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered a potential new strategy to fight back against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, conditions that are linked to the toxic accumulation of Tau and alpha synuclein protein clumps in the brain. The team reports that tubulin, the building block of microtubules, the cell’s internal ‘railway tracks,’ can stop Tau and alpha synuclein from forming toxic clumps and instead steer them into their normal, healthy roles. The findings support redefining tubulin, from a passive casualty of disease to an active protector against toxic protein aggregation.

Researchers have discovered a previously unknown signalling cascade that determines how powerful our innate immune system responds to virus infections. This discovery has broad implications for inflammatory diseases, cancer, and neurodegeneration / publication in ’Nature Cell Biology‘