Babies can tell who has close relationships based on one clue: Saliva: Sharing food and kissing are among the signals babies use to interpret their social world
Learning to navigate social relationships is a skill that is critical for surviving in human societies. For babies and young children, that means learning who they can count on to take care of them. MIT neuroscientists have now identified a specific signal that young children and even babies use to determine whether two people have […]
Microglial methylation ‘landscape’ in human brain: Profiles differ across age, disease state, brain region
In the central nervous system, microglial cells play critical roles in development, aging, brain homeostasis, and pathology. Recent studies have shown variation in the gene-expression profile and phenotype of microglia across brain regions and between different age and disease states. But the molecular mechanisms that contribute to these transcriptomic changes in the human brain are […]
New research provides clues to developing better intranasal vaccines for COVID-19 and flu
While gut microbiota play a critical role in the induction of adaptive immune responses to influenza virus infection, the role of nasal bacteria in the induction of virus-specific adaptive immunity is less clear. New research published this week in mBio,an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, explores the role of nasal bacteria and […]
HIV Independently Tied to More Severe COVID-19
HIV was independently associated with a higher risk for severe or critical COVID-19, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) analysis. In a study of people living with HIV in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America who also were hospitalized for COVID-19, HIV infection was linked with an increased risk of severe or critical COVID-19 […]