Neuroscientists have discovered brain cells that form multiple coordinate systems to tell us 'where we are' in a sequence of behaviors. These cells can play out different sequences of actions, just like a music box can be configured to play different sequences of tones. The findings help us understand the algorithms used by the brain to flexibly generate complex behaviors, such as planning and reasoning, and might be useful in understanding how such processes go wrong in psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia.
Read more …Brain acts like music box playing different behaviors
Some patients being treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy, develop a dangerous form of heart inflammation called myocarditis. Researchers have now uncovered the immune basis of this inflammation. The team identified changes in specific types of immune and stromal cells in the heart that underlie myocarditis and pinpointed factors in the blood that may indicate whether a patient's myocarditis is likely to lead to death.
Read more …How cancer immunotherapy may cause heart inflammation in some patients
When performing a knee replacement surgery or total knee arthroplasty, doctors traditionally try to align the hip, knee, and ankle in a straight line, forming a neutral alignment, rather than replicating the patient's original alignment. To understand which approach is better, researchers have conducted a post-operation questionnaire comparing patient-reported outcomes to changes in knee alignment before and after surgery. Their findings may improve current surgical guidelines and patients' long-term quality of life.
Read more …Toward better surgical outcomes in patients undergoing knee replacement surgery