The Brain Podcast

Welcome to the 17th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with senior author Dr Bénédicte Ballanger of the Brain article entitled: Noradrenergic alterations in Parkinson's disease: a combined 11C-yohimbine PET/neuromelanin MRI study

Can this multi-modal study examining the role of Noradrenaline in Parkinson's disease offer insight into important neurotrasmitter pathophysiology and provide the basis for a non-dopamine therapeutic strategy?

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad338

This episode was co-hosted by Andreas Themistocleous and Michael David, edited and produced by Michael David and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 16th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

We are very excited to feature a January issue Brain article, where we speak with senior author Dr Lasse M Giil entitled: Impaired glucose utilization in the brain of patients with delirium following hip fracture

Delirium is a common condition with significant impact on patient outcome. This episode discussed potential intrinsic brain mechanisms that may underly delirium. The team explores the evidence that delirium is more than just a systemic process that extends into the brain but may involve pathophysiological alterations of brain function. Listen to how this may change clinical practice.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad296

This episode was co-hosted by Andreas Themistocleous and Michael David, edited and produced by Michael David and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 15th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

We are very excited to feature our first article from Brain Communications, where we speak with first author Dr Kiel Telesford of the article entitled: Neuron-binding antibody responses are associated with Black ethnicity in multiple sclerosis during natalizumab treatment

This episode discussed racial differences in antibody response to natalizumab treatment for individuals of black ethnicity with multiple sclerosis. Further, they consider potential mechanisms which may underly differences and the implications on treatment.

Check out the full article on the Brain Communications website: https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcad218

This episode was co-hosted by Andreas Themistocleous and Debra Ehrlich, edited and produced by Michael David and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 14th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Fu-Chin Liu, senior author of the article entitled: Speech- and language-linked FOXP2 mutation targets protein motors in striatal neurons.

This article explores a potential genetic basis for disordered speech by a mutation in the transcription factor FOXP2. This was discovered in KE family members with speech disturbances was a landmark example of the genetic control of vocal communication in humans. The author and colleagues examine an animal model of the KE family FOXP2R553H mutation to explore cellular pathomechanisms involving intracellular dynein-dynactin 'protein motors' in the striatum.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad090

We also hear from our new podcast host, Dr Chaitra Sathyaprakash, who is a post-doctoral fellow at National Institute of Neuroscience, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan- welcome to the team!

This episode was co-hosted by Adam Handel and Chaitra Sathyaprakash, edited and produced by Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 13th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Josef Parvizi, senior author of the article entitled: Multisite thalamic recordings to characterize seizure propagation in the human brain

This article explores the role of the thalamus in seizure propagation and how multi-site intracranial electrode recordings identify new and unexpected findings regarding which thalamic nuclei may have the earliest involvement in seizure propagation.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad121

This episode was co-hosted by Debra Ehrlich and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Xin You Tai and David Michael, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 12th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Nico Melzer, senior author of the article entitled: A genome-wide association study in autoimmune neurological syndromes with anti-GAD65 autoantibodies

This article explores expanding entity of GAD-65 associated neurological syndromes, the exciting role of T-cells and potential therapeutic avenues that these findings may bring.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac119

This episode was co-hosted by Adam Handel and Darshan Pandya , edited and produced by Adam Handel and Xin You Tai; co-produced by Antonia Johnston; original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 11th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Ted Price, senior author of the article entitled: RNA profiling of human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) reveals sex differences in mechanisms promoting neuropathic pain

This article explores exciting findings around differences in the DRG transcriptome which were only apparent when stratifying participants by sex and how these differences may inform mechanistic targets for neuropathic pain.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac266

This episode was co-hosted by Andreas Thermistocleous and Debra Ehrlich, edited and produced by Xin You Tai; co-produced by Antonia Johnston and David Michael; original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 11th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Philip Insel, lead author of the article entitled: Tau positron emission tomography in preclinical Alzheimer's disease

The article explores the utility of tau PET imaging in three independent, large cohorts of cognitively normal individuals with high levels of amyloid (on PET imaging). We discuss specific areas of the brain with high tau concentration and how this differs from the traditional Braak model from neuropathology data. Philip also details how tau PET imaging can play a role in clinical trials.

Additionally, we welcome Dr Adam Handel onto the team as a new podcast co-host for this episode and many more to come!

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac299

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai; co-hosted by Adam Handel; co-produced by Joanne Bell and Sarosh Irani; original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 10th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode we speak with Hideaki Nishihara and Britta Engelhardt, lead authors of the article entitled: Intrinsic blood–brain barrier dysfunction contributes to multiple sclerosis pathogenesis

This was a transcontinental recording with our guests dialing in from Japan and Europe. The article explores blood-brain barrier dysfunction as a pathogenic process of multiple sclerosis. The authors discuss the use of a novel in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier which was designed to capture the activity of adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte trafficking.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac019

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai; co-hosted by Sarosh Irani; co-produced by Joanne Bell; original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

In this episode we chat with Professor Robyn S. Klein, senior author of the article entitled: COVID-19 induces CNS cytokine expression and loss of hippocampal neurogenesis

This article explores the ongoing challenge to better understand the mechanisms underlying the cognitive and neuropsychiatric sequlae of the Sars-CoV2 infection. We discuss the use of both animal model experiments and human post-mortem tissue investigation to gain insight on this topical condition.

Check out the full article on the Brain website: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac270

This episode was hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai; co-hosted by Sarosh Irani; co-produced by Joanne Bell; original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.