Edward Harding

Neuroscientist | Assitant Research Professor @FlorianMerkle lab | @Cambridge_Uni and @ClareCollege | Neurodegeneration | Still in awe of Biology

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

We updated our work with more data!
Histology and in vitro studies giving us evidence of direct action of metformin in the brain at physiological concentrations

@IMS_MRL
@FlorianMerkle

[Daniel J Drucker @DanielJDrucker]

Should metformin be studied as a neuroprotective agent? https://t.co/YEAI6rXtbw

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

"Dendritic arborization decreased during torpor in V1..."
".... fully reversed during intertorpor arousal, indicating that on average dendritic arbors grew by 0.75 mm (65%) over ∼1.5 h"

That's fast!

[TmT @tmtakahas]

Pronounced Neuroplasticity in the Primary Visual Cortex of the 13-Lined Ground Squirrel during Hibernation https://t.co/vua6K6ClW7

[TmT @tmtakahas]

Pronounced Neuroplasticity in the Primary Visual Cortex of the 13-Lined Ground Squirrel during Hibernation https://t.co/vua6K6ClW7

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

Such a shame this is happening. It used to be quite good. Within fields where strong labs were similarly active in reviewing. And (people forget) reviewers named on every article.

The automated assignment and constant emails, with your signature, was always its weakness.

[Michael Okun @michael_okun]

I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience (part of @FrontNeurosci). It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇

[TmT @tmtakahas]

Induction of cortical on/off periods in awake mice fulfills sleep functions | Nature Neuroscience https://t.co/2ejWiP5D8K

[Biomedical Picture of the Day BPoD @BPoD_s]

MOSAIC – an optical microscope that achieves super res across scale & depth in living tissue

📹 Tian-Ming Fu, Gaoxiang Liu, Daniel E. Milkie and Xiongtao Ruan et al @HHMIJanelia @UCBerkeley in @naturemethods
➡️ https://t.co/ITrxfdWwXx

[Vicky C Yang @VickyCYang]

Between 1985--2023, MIT's faculty grew 9%. Administrative staff grew 189%. 📈 Why? In new @PNASNews paper, we use dynamical system model to show administrative bloat can emerge without empire-building--just from well-intentioned problem-solving gone awry https://t.co/MZgGkxilZ2

[Arjun Raj @arjunrajlab]

Can someone start a journal called “Cell Atlases” so that the rest of the journals can go back to publishing interesting things?

[Simon Mead @smead2]

Limited transmission of cervid prions to nonhuman primates provides insights into the zoonotic potential of chronic wasting disease. My take - Possible limited replication of cwd prions in primates, not entirely ruled out persistence of inoculation. https://t.co/N3MhugAF1M

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

Absolutley. This is a huge inefficiency in the field. Realistically means complex studies take years, when maybe they didn't need to.

Not even mentioning the tech trend to ever more complex surgery.

[Prof. Michael Lin @MichaelLinLab]

There is a big elephant in the room in experimental systems neuroscience:

Before many trainees can test a single hypothesis, they spend 1–3 years becoming expert mouse surgeons rather than scientists.

Here's my proposal for how we can waste less time and do more research🧵

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

@umochitju @MichaelLinLab @patrickmineault I don't know what these students are doing but hard to believe this is referring to the same thing

[Simon Mead @smead2]

This is a superb clinicians review of CAA in NEJM, but in my opinion overlooks the fundamental that CAA is essentially a prion disorder with inherited sporadic and transmitted forms just like CJD. Important for public health to acknowledge this fact and its implications.

[Ruslan Rust @rust_ruslan]

Update on a CRISPRi map of iPSC-microglia activation states with 31 regulators that bias cells toward disease-associated, interferon-response, or antigen-presenting programs. This is interesting because it turns "microglial state" from a descriptive label into a knob you can turn.

Highly relevant for anyone working on iPSC-derived brain therapies, where the host microglia decide whether your graft thrives.

https://t.co/PPjbZfQPZQ

[allen institute @AllenInstitute]

Happy Birthday to Santiago Ramón y Cajal - the "father of modern neuroscience."

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

Very cool

[Spirochrome @spirochrome]

Mesmerizing light sheet imaging of neutrophils swarming at a yeast target!

The neutrophils were labeled with SPY650-DNA (yellow) and a calcium dye (blue).

This movie is part of the recent manuscript by
Evelyn Strickland that we highly recommend reading! https://t.co/U6tn4sfogZ

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

Excellent commentary from @alzheimerssoc

[Alzheimer's Society @alzheimerssoc]

The recent report by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded breakthrough Alzheimer’s drugs are ineffective and unlikely to benefit people living with the disease.

This has attracted widespread debate and some criticism from many in the dementia research community.

It is essential we challenge whether some of the conclusions reached in this report are an accurate representation of amyloid targeting therapies for Alzheimer’s disease today.

Here is what we, along with leading experts, have to say on the claims that anti-amyloid drugs are ineffective. 👇

https://t.co/tDBfFCuRwD

[Simon Mead @smead2]

Big news - a second clinical trial of a designed therapy for prion diseases

[Alzheimer's Research UK @AlzResearchUK]

Anti-amyloid treatments like lecanemab and donanemab are not the whole answer. But it is just as wrong to dismiss their impact as ‘trivial’ as it is to overhype them. We heard from Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Executive Director of Research and Partnerships, to get to the facts behind today’s headlines.

After decades of research, we are finally seeing the first generation of treatments that prove we can slow dementia. They are not perfect and much more work is needed. But oversimplifying the hard-won progress made into “they don’t work” risks undermining public understanding, damaging trust and setting back momentum at a critical moment.

If you agree, please share this video.

https://t.co/gkobmrc5jh

[Edward Harding @EdwardCHarding]

@smead2 So much resistance to prion-like mechanisms! Framing dementia close to a prionopathy now seems to preclude any related funding. I just don't get it.

[Simon Mead @smead2]

Nice paper from colleagues emphasising prion-like mechanisms in dementia and inclusion of CJD in funding mechanisms for dementia disorders. Surprising resistance to prion-like mechanisms in dementia communities which imo often stems from poor understanding https://t.co/Yt9YCTHsnz

[Agnès Landemard @agnesldm]

How does blood flow relate to brain activity? We discovered that it reflects two neural populations affected oppositely by arousal. Together, they explain neurovascular coupling in all brain regions and brain states!

Out in Nature: https://t.co/wtjzmbIjmz
@UCLBrainScience