Cognition

MEDITWIN Brings Together French Science and Technology Excellence Around Virtual Twins for the Future of Medical Care

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

MEDITWIN will offer virtual twins for medical practice, helping to improve the quality of care for safer, more accessible healthcare for all.

Key Points: 
  • MEDITWIN will offer virtual twins for medical practice, helping to improve the quality of care for safer, more accessible healthcare for all.
  • The MEDITWIN project will offer personalized virtual twins of organs, metabolism and cancer, for better diagnosis and treatment.
  • Seven new medical practices will be developed from the virtual twins, in neurology, cardiology and oncology.
  • The MEDITWIN public-private alliance is a major step forward, mobilizing the best of medicine, science and technology to serve future healthcare.

ROCKSTAR® ENERGY DRINK UNVEILS "ROCKSTAR FOCUS™," A NEW LINE OF ENERGY DRINKS DELIVERING ENERGY & MENTAL BOOST

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 29, 2024

PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Rockstar Energy Drink announced the launch of Rockstar Focus, the newest addition to the brand's growing energy portfolio, created to give consumers a drink that delivers on energy and a mental boost to help increase focus.

Key Points: 
  • The brand reveals a new kind of energy drink that gives consumers mental focus and energy.
  • PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Rockstar Energy Drink announced the launch of Rockstar Focus, the newest addition to the brand's growing energy portfolio, created to give consumers a drink that delivers on energy and a mental boost to help increase focus.
  • Made with innovative ingredients like Lion's Mane and providing 200 mg of caffeine, Rockstar Focus gives consumers functional energy and a mental boost to tackle the day and be the best version of themselves.
  • cans at www.rockstarenergy.com , and at retailers where PepsiCo products are sold nationwide, starting at $2.99 per can.

Gate Neurosciences Announces Clinical Collaboration with Beacon Biosignals to Advance Precision EEG Biomarkers in Major Depressive Disorder

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Gate Neurosciences , a clinical-stage biotechnology company using precision medicine approaches to develop next-generation neuroscience therapies, today announced a strategic collaboration with Beacon Biosignals to further advance the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) biomarkers across the company’s clinical pipeline in neuropsychiatry and cognition.

Key Points: 
  • Gate Neurosciences , a clinical-stage biotechnology company using precision medicine approaches to develop next-generation neuroscience therapies, today announced a strategic collaboration with Beacon Biosignals to further advance the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) biomarkers across the company’s clinical pipeline in neuropsychiatry and cognition.
  • Zelquistinel is a rapid-acting, once-weekly oral NMDA receptor positive modulator in development for treating major depressive disorder (MDD).
  • “The Gate team is excited to partner with Beacon in pioneering a new era of precision psychiatry with innovative biomarker insights, approaches, and technology,” commented Mike McCully, CEO of Gate Neurosciences.
  • The Dreem™ 3S data flows into Beacon Biosignals' analytics platform to provide validated neurophysiological endpoints for clinical trials.

Cognito Therapeutics Announces First Patient Enrolled in HOPE Biomarker Study

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Cognito Therapeutics , a neurotechnology company developing disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, announced today the first patient enrolled in a biomarker substudy within the HOPE pivotal trial .

Key Points: 
  • Cognito Therapeutics , a neurotechnology company developing disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, announced today the first patient enrolled in a biomarker substudy within the HOPE pivotal trial .
  • “The enrollment of the first patient in the HOPE biomarker substudy is a clinical milestone for our company.
  • We are on track to achieve study completion within our projected timelines, with over 240 patients currently enrolled in the HOPE study across 60 active sites across the US,” said Ralph Kern, M.D., MHSc, Chief Medical Officer, Cognito Therapeutics.
  • "We are well-positioned to achieve our study timeline goals, as we advance towards potential approval of the first non-pharmacologic disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease."

Timeline, a Swiss Longevity Biotech, Secures Pivotal Financing Round with Support from Strategic Global Industry Leaders, including L’Oréal and Nestlé

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

This marks a significant milestone for the company and includes strategic investments from two global industry leaders—L’Oréal and Nestlé.

Key Points: 
  • This marks a significant milestone for the company and includes strategic investments from two global industry leaders—L’Oréal and Nestlé.
  • "This strategic collaboration reflects the breakthrough multidimensional approach that we've always believed is necessary to make meaningful advancements for longevity and healthspan."
  • said Patrick Aebischer, Co-Founder and Chairman of Timeline “I want to thank L’Oréal, Nestlé and our longstanding investors for their commitment to longevity solutions rooted in the highest level of science”.
  • “Longevity is a new definition of beauty, at the intersection of different scientific disciplines, from decoding biological markers to analyzing external exposure.

Locked-in syndrome is predominant outcome when children survive drowning, larger study confirms

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 26, 2024

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Jan. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- It is a far cry from the traditionally thought-of "vegetative state" in which the mind is absent while the body lives on. Indeed, it is the opposite. Children with "locked-in syndrome," unable to move or speak, are awake and fully aware of their surroundings.

Key Points: 
  • Children with "locked-in syndrome," unable to move or speak, are awake and fully aware of their surroundings.
  • Now, in follow-up research published in the journal Pediatric Neurology, the team reports the largest study to date on the subject.
  • The recently published analysis of 154 children confirms that the predominant outcome of non-fatal pediatric drowning is locked-in syndrome.
  • In the research, 60% of children who survived drowning events (93 of 154) were classified as locked in by family caregivers surveyed by UT Health San Antonio.

Carlyle Announces Acquisition of $415 Million Private Student Loan Portfolio and Strategic Investment in Monogram

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

NEW YORK and BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global investment firm, Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announced the acquisition of a $415 million private student loan portfolio, and strategic investment into Monogram LLC ("Monogram"), a leading provider of finance solutions for students and their families.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK and BOSTON, Jan. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global investment firm, Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) today announced the acquisition of a $415 million private student loan portfolio, and strategic investment into Monogram LLC ("Monogram"), a leading provider of finance solutions for students and their families.
  • Led by the former management team of Cognition Financial and backed by Carlyle, Monogram will partner with Carlyle to originate, acquire, and manage high-quality third-party private student loan assets.
  • The Monogram management team has been in the private student loan business for more than 30 years, originating and managing over $30 billion in private student loan assets.
  • "Carlyle is excited to partner with Monogram to deliver attractive and competitive financing solutions to the private student loan market."

Space travel taxes astronauts' brains. But microbes on the menu could help in unexpected ways

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Providing astronauts with the right diet is also paramount in supporting their mental and cognitive health, in a way unlike previous missions.

Key Points: 
  • Providing astronauts with the right diet is also paramount in supporting their mental and cognitive health, in a way unlike previous missions.
  • That includes acknowledging the role of microbes in mental health and wellbeing, and providing astronauts with the right foods and conditions for a variety of these beneficial microbes to grow.
  • Here’s why a healthy balance of microbes is important under such challenging conditions, and how we could put microbes on the menu.

Why are missions to Mars so challenging?

  • Deep space missions will expose humans to immense physical and psychological challenges.
  • These include prolonged isolation from loved ones, extreme space and resource constraints, and the difficulties of microgravity.

Why is diet important for mental health?

  • We already know the quality of people’s diet not only influences their physical health, but also their mental and brain health.
  • Diet quality is consistently and independently linked to the risk of depression or anxiety.


Diet can have such consequences by altering:
Diet can also influence the many ways microbes in the gut affect the brain, a link known as the microbiota gut-brain axis.

Read more:
Essays on health: microbes aren't the enemy, they're a big part of who we are

Not all foods make the grade

  • Space foods need to appeal to a diverse crew and stay nutritious for an extremely long time (likely a three- to five-year mission).
  • They also need to be lightweight and compact enough to fit on the spacecraft.

Why are microbes so important?

  • We have co-evolved with, and are hosts to, trillions of different microbes that live on our skin and in all our niches and cavities.
  • Gut microbes influence our mental health and behaviour, and these, in turn, influence our gut microbes.
  • So ensuring all astronauts have the healthiest and most diverse of microbes for the whole of the mission is vital.

How could we encourage healthy microbes?

  • We also need to think about how we grow the food if we are to support healthy microbiomes.
  • Indeed, microbes play an essential role in the nutrient and phytochemical content of plants, and the microbes in soil, plants and humans are interconnected.
  • Some types have a meat-like flavour and texture, and can provide all the amino acids humans need as well as useful byproducts from the microbes themselves.
  • Fermentation itself creates thousands of different bioactive molecules, including some vitamins, that have diverse beneficial effects on health, including possible benefits to mental health.
  • Probiotics are live microbes that have demonstrated health benefits and prebiotics are food for these healthy microbes.

Benefits on Earth too


We’re only at the start of learning how to optimise microbes to keep space crews healthy, which is crucial for long space flights and for possible settlement on other planets. However, this research could have many other applications. We can use what we learn to help create self-sustaining and sustainable food systems on Earth to improve the environment and human health.

  • She is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Dauten Family Centre for Bipolar Treatment Innovation and Zoe Limited.
  • Dorit Donoviel is Executive Director, NASA-Funded Translational (moving products from lab-bench to practice) Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine.

Groundbreaking IONS Study Reveals Remarkable Brain Activity Differences in Upsight Phenomenon

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, January 13, 2024

NOVATO, Calif., Jan. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In an unprecedented scientific investigation, a recent case study has shed light on intriguing differences in brain electrical activity associated with a unique phenomenon known as "Upsight." This study, conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, offers remarkable insights into the human brain's ability to perceive holographic images within one's visual field.

Key Points: 
  • A landmark study at IONS (The Institute of Noetic Sciences) has shed light on the brain activity behind a remarkable phenomenon known as "Upsight" – the ability to perceive holographic images within one's visual field.
  • The study, conducted with Tom Matte, an individual who experiences Upsight firsthand, reveals significant differences in brain electrical activity compared to traditional mental imagery.
  • NOVATO, Calif., Jan. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In an unprecedented scientific investigation, a recent case study has shed light on intriguing differences in brain electrical activity associated with a unique phenomenon known as "Upsight."
  • The research team at IONS is submitting "A case study on differences in brain electrical activity between recall-based mental imagery and a subjective phenomenon of Upsight" to the Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition (JAEX) and is currently under peer review.

FDA Acceptance of Zevra’s Arimoclomol NDA Filing for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) Results in XOMA Making a $1 Million Milestone Payment to LadRx

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 11, 2024

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Jan. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ: XOMA), the biotech royalty aggregator, announced today that based upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) acceptance of Zevra Therapeutics’ New Drug Application (NDA) for arimoclomol, an orally-delivered, first-in-class therapy for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), XOMA will make a $1 million milestone payment to LadRx.

Key Points: 
  • EMERYVILLE, Calif., Jan. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ: XOMA), the biotech royalty aggregator, announced today that based upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) acceptance of Zevra Therapeutics’ New Drug Application (NDA) for arimoclomol, an orally-delivered, first-in-class therapy for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), XOMA will make a $1 million milestone payment to LadRx.
  • “NPC is an ultra-rare, progressive, neurodegenerative genetic disorder where those living with NPC lose independence due to physical and cognitive limitations, with key neurological impairments presenting in speech, cognition, swallowing, ambulation, and fine motor skills.
  • Arimoclomol has the potential to be the first approved therapy designed to slow the progress of this devastating disease,” stated Brad Sitko, Chief Investment Officer at XOMA.
  • The transaction also included a mid-single-digit to mid-teens royalty rate on commercial sales of aldoxorubicin depending upon the indication, in addition to potential payments of up to $343 million in development and commercial milestones from ImmunityBio.