Substantia nigra

• Terran Biosciences, Inc. ("Terran"), a biotech platform company developing therapeutics and technologies for patients with neuropsychiatric illnesses, has received FDA clearance to market NM-101, a cloud-based software platform to analyze neuromelanin-sensitive MRI scans.
• Currently, there is no other FDA-cleared software indicated for the analysis of neuromelanin MRI on the market, making Terran’s technology the world’s first.
• NM-101 is a cloud-based analysis platform that is able to seamlessly integrate into existing workflows at hospitals and imaging centers.
• NM-101 contains algorithms that enabled for the first time the fully automated analysis and the cross-scanner harmonization of neuromelanin MRI scans [8-10,12,13].

• Of note, GT-02287 significantly reduced plasma Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) levels, an emerging biomarker for neurodegeneration, in a mouse model of GBA1-PD.
• Researchers used a mouse model of GBA1-PD, created using conduritol beta epoxide (CBE) to induce GCase deficit comparable to GBA1-PD.
• Data from the poster describes the effect of GT-02287 on rotenone-induced neurotoxic effects in a PD animal model.
• “Buoyed by these encouraging data, we look forward to initiating the Phase 1 clinical study with GT-02287 and advancing the development of this potentially best-in-class treatment for GBA1 Parkinson’s disease.”

• And the truth is that the benefits of a good holiday can be felt even before the trip begins.
• Scientific studies show that merely looking forward to a future reward can be even more rewarding than the reward itself.
• This is so thanks to a small molecule called dopamine, which we will talk about later.

Rest increases cognitive flexibility

• This was concluded by a 2016 study in which 46 workers from a Dutch company participated.
• What the researchers observed is that, after two or three weeks of vacation, workers had greater cognitive flexibility.
• Most studies concur that, from a biological point of view, one of the main reasons for this increase in cognitive flexibility –and for the benefits of holidays in general– is stress reduction.
• But we have to make a small distinction here: stress in and of itself does not have to be bad.

Recipe for a holiday that recharges your batteries

• When we are idle, our brain is able to reverse – at least temporarily – the negative effects of being under stress.
• And here comes the key: for holidays to be truly effective, we have to ensure that they really free us from the stress of our work.
• Of course, what one finds rewarding is entirely subjective, and what is pleasant for one person can cause stress for others.

To enjoy or not to enjoy

• The worst thing is that the changes do not only occur in the substantia nigra or in the ventral tegmental area.
• It has been found that chronic stress is even capable of changing the number of dopamine receptors in the areas that receive these projections.
• Therefore, a vacation that frees us from stress will help to rebalance the dopaminergic system.

• The main intent of this Parkinson’s model work was to assess the capacity of NNI-362, to regenerate neurons and ameliorate behavioral deficits for age-related neurodegenerative disorders in those regions of the brain where disease is present.
• The Phase 1a trials were successfully completed in a healthy aged population in 2021, for Alzheimer’s disease, and Neuronascent aims to continue toward Phase 2 proof-of-concept trials for more than one age-related, neurodegenerative indication.
• To determine whether NNI-362 could support disease-specific regeneration of neurons outside of the hippocampus, an AAV-alpha synuclein model of Parkinson’s disease was run at Motac, France, under the guidance of Dr. Erwan Bezard.
• This work aims to assess whether NNI-362 is disease-agnostic, such that in aging the neurodegeneration can be reversed no matter the triggers of disease neuron degeneration.