The Brigham’s Fengfeng Bei, PhD, and team have reported on a new adeno-associated virus variant that delivers gene therapy across the blood-brain barrier in non-human primates more efficiently than previously developed vehicles. It could have implications for treating neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s.

Giovanna S. Manzano, MD, of the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Marcelo Matiello, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues determined positive predictive values of a live cell–based serum assay that detects the diagnostic biomarker for MOG-AD in a real-world cohort.

Brigham investigators have mapped out a group of cells in the trigeminal ganglia that drive migraine pain, allowing them to further characterize the cells in a way that holds promise for developing new therapeutics. Neurologist and lead author William R. Renthal, MD, PhD, elaborates on the study.

Vikram Khurana, MD, PhD, and colleagues have discovered an additional function of α-Synuclein—it modulates the stability of mRNA, thereby regulating gene expression. They explain the implications for understanding normal cellular physiology and developing therapies for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.

Brigham physiatrist Danielle L. Sarno, MD, is committed to reducing chronic pain among patient populations by increasing access to interdisciplinary pain care and linking patients to pain management resources. She and Jennifer Kurz, MD, established a program to help people find long-term solutions for chronic pain.

Kirk R. Daffner, MD, and colleagues found five weeks of cognitively stimulating activity by healthy older adults increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and cognitive performance. They report evidence that the improvement in cognition with training was mediated by increases in BDNF.

Garth Rees Cosgrove, MD, Michael A. Mooney, MD, of the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues recently organized a pilot in-person cadaveric workshop for medical students. It included hands-on teaching of craniotomy-related skills by neurosurgery faculty and residents.

Rose Du, MD, PhD, and colleagues completed the largest-ever analysis of patients with cranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVF) hemorrhage. They report that treatment within five days was associated with a low rate of an early rebleed and appears to be an appropriate timeframe.

It’s possible to link lesions in different brain locations to a common neuroanatomical substrate using the human connectome. Using this approach, Brigham researchers have identified specific testable targets for therapeutic neuromodulation of nicotine addiction.