A new study published in Cell titled, “A spatial code governs olfactory receptor choice and aligns sensory maps in the nose and brain,” led by researchers from Harvard Medical School (HMS) has created the first detailed map of the spatial distribution of over 1,000 olfactory receptors in the epithelium. The study informs the development of therapies for loss of smell, where treatment options are limited.
The researchers examined approximately 5.5 million neurons in more than 300 individual mice using single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. Results showed that neurons are organized into tight, overlapping, horizontal stripes from the top to the bottom of the nose based on the type of smell receptor expressed. This highly organized receptor map was consistent across mouse models and mirrored the organization of smell maps in the brain. Similar maps have been observed in vision, hearing, and touch.
Notably, the olfactory map was informed by a gradient of retinoic acid in the nose, which allowed each neuron to express the correct type of smell receptor based on its spatial location.
“Our results bring order to a system that was previously thought to lack order, which changes conceptually how we think this works,” said Sandeep (Robert) Datta, PhD, professor of neurobiology at HMS and senior author and corresponding author of the study. “We show that development can achieve this feat of organizing a thousand different smell receptors into an incredibly precise map that’s consistent across animals.”
The authors also found that the receptor map in the nose matches up with smell maps in the olfactory bulb of the brain, shedding insight into how information moves from the nose to the brain.
While sensory maps that describe how receptors in the eye, ear, and skin are organized to capture and interpret auditory, visual, and touch information, mapping olfactory receptors has been a longstanding challenge due to high receptor diversity. As an example, mice have approximately 20 million olfactory neurons that express more than a thousand types of smell receptors, compared with only three main types of visual receptors for color vision. Each type of smell receptor detects a unique subset of odor molecules.
The team is also studying smell receptors in human tissue to understand to what degree the smell map is consistent across species to inform treatments, such as stem cell therapies and loss of smell and its consequences, such as an increased risk of depression.
“Smell has a really profound and pervasive effect on human health, so restoring it is not just for pleasure and safety but also for psychological well-being,” Datta said. “Without understanding this map, we’re doomed to fail in developing new treatments.”
The first large-scale study across all major female reproductive organs has uncovered how aging processes impact each organ and tissue in unique ways. Published today in Nature Aging, the study has identified novel blood biomarkers that could help physicians anticipate health risks associated with menopause, such as pelvic floor prolapse.
“Until now, we tended to consider menopause mainly as the end of the ovary’s reproductive function,” says Marta Melé, PhD, leader of the transcriptomics and functional genomics group at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and director of the study. “However, our results show that it acts as a turning point that profoundly reorganizes other organs and tissues of the reproductive system, and allow us to identify the genes and molecular processes that could be behind these changes.”
Menopause is a complex biological process with significant implications for overall health, which is estimated to be actively affecting 6% of the world’s population at any given time. However, the cellular and molecular processes driving it across reproductive organs and tissues have historically remained understudied.
To map the complex biology of menopause, Melé’s team analyzed 1,112 tissue images and 659 RNA sequencing samples from 304 women between the ages of 20 and 70. This allowed the researchers to reconstruct aging trajectories of the uterus, ovary, vagina, cervix, breast, and Fallopian tubes. Using deep learning algorithms, they were able to identify key changes associated with aging in each organ, both at the molecular and tissue levels.
Results showed that not all organs age uniformly across the female reproductive system. For instance, the ovary and vagina were shown to age gradually in a process starting years before menopause. Meanwhile, the uterus undergoes a very abrupt transition during menopause.
Even within the same organ, different tissues were shown to age in distinct ways. In particular, the muscle tissue of the uterine wall and the vaginal epithelium were observed to be the most affected during menopause, undergoing sharp changes.
The study also analyzed blood plasma samples from 21,441 women, which led to the identification of molecular signals of aging that can be detected in the blood. These biomarkers could offer non-invasive monitoring of female reproductive organs during menopause and enable more accessible, less invasive follow-up tests for women at risk of complications associated with menopause, such as pelvic floor prolapse.
“We not only identified the molecular changes underlying the aging of these organs, but we also saw that they can be detected in blood, which opens the door to new clinical tools,” says Oleksandra Soldatkina, PhD, lead author of the study and researcher at BSC.
This study marks a step toward better understanding a key biological process that has historically been left behind, leading to better prevention, diagnosis and treatment of multiple diseases linked to menopause. The researchers highlighted that their findings “position menopause as a key inflection point in female aging and provide insights with tissue-specific focus to support healthier menopausal transitions and reduce age-related disease risk.”
Plasma biomarker levels change in differing ways for different types of early-onset dementia, with unique clinical associations that could help stratify risk in patients, research suggests.
The findings may help improve detection and prognosis of these neurodegenerative diseases, which manifest before the age of 65 years and are often challenging to treat due to atypical symptoms and clinical heterogeneity.
The report, in JAMA Network Open, revealed differences in both the concentrations of biomarkers over time and their association with clinical outcomes in early-onset Alzheimer disease (EOAD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
“Our results highlight disease-specific plasma biomarker dynamics and their potential utility in monitoring disease progression in early-onset dementia,” reported Eun-Joo Kim, PhD, from Pusan National University Hospital in Korea, and colleagues.
Recent developments with plasma biomarkers have changed the landscape of dementia diagnosis.
Phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217), a marker specific of Alzheimer’s disease, has been found to be highly accurate in detecting its pathology.
Meanwhile, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) are emerging as astrocytic activation and neurodegeneration markers, respectively, with NfL particularly relevant for FTD.
Combining p-tau217 and NfL could therefore enable Alzheimer’s disease and FTD, two leading causes of dementia at an early age, to be distinguished.
To investigate further, Kim and team compared biomarker trajectories and clinical outcomes in 322 patients with EOAD and FTD, of whom 245 had EOAD and 77 FTD.
Around two thirds of each group was female, and the mean age was in the early to mid 60s.
High baseline levels of p-tau217, GFAP, and NfL were significantly associated with all clinical outcomes in the EOAD group, assessed using scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB).
However, among patients with FTD, only baseline GFAP and NfL were associated with decreases in MMSE scores.
The association of p-tau217 and GFAP levels with clinical outcomes was greater at earlier stages of EOAD, with the former biomarker showing no association at later stages of disease.
The plasma biomarkers followed distinct longitudinal trajectories in the two forms of early-onset dementia. In the EOAD group, the levels of all three biomarkers increased significantly over time, but with FTD only NfL increased.
Annualized changes in levels of all three biomarkers showed outcome-specific associations with clinical decline in EOAD. GFAP and NfL changes were associated with declines in MMSE score and p-tau217 levels with worsening CDR-SB score in this group. No such associations were observed for patients with FTD.
“In this multicenter, prospective cohort study of patients with EOAD and FTD, the clinical relevance of plasma biomarker levels and longitudinal changes may vary between EOAD and FTD,” the authors summarized.
“These findings may inform future clinical practice and trial design regarding stratifying patient populations and monitoring clinical progression, particularly in EOAD.”
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
It’s time to make a plan for nuclear waste
Today, nuclear energy enjoys rare support across the political spectrum. Public approval has spiked, and Big Tech is throwing money around to meet rising electricity demand. That newfound interest is exactly why it’s time to talk about an old problem: nuclear waste.
In the US, nuclear reactors produce about 2,000 metric tons of high-level waste each year—and there’s nowhere to put it. Now, the need for a permanent storage solution is becoming urgent. Here’s what’s at stake.
—Casey Crownhart
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Orchestrated agents are coming for white-collar work
When people say AI will transform industries, what they have in mind—whether they know it or not—are AI agents. ChatGPT showed AI can talk. But to change the world, it needs to do stuff.
The real power comes when agents work as teams, coordinating multiple roles to tackle complex tasks. Apps like Codex and Claude Cowork offer a glimpse of this shift, bringing multi-agent general-purpose productivity tools.
In theory, networks of AI agents could do to white-collar knowledge work what assembly lines did to manufacturing. That’s the vision. But as agents move into real-world systems, the risks grow too. Read the full story.
—Will Douglas Heaven
Agent Orchestration is one of the 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now, MIT Technology Review’s guide to what’s really worth your attention in the busy, buzzy world of AI. We’re unpacking one item from the list each day here in The Download, so stay tuned.
MIT Technology Review Narrated: no one’s sure if synthetic mirror life will kill us all
In February 2019, a group of scientists proposed a high-risk, cutting-edge, irresistibly exciting idea that the National Science Foundation should fund: making “mirror” bacteria.
These lab-created microbes would be organized like ordinary bacteria, but their proteins and sugars would be mirror images of those found in nature. Researchers believed they could reveal new insights into building cells, designing drugs, and even the origins of life.
But now, many of them have reversed course. They’ve become convinced that mirror organisms could trigger a catastrophic event threatening every form of life on Earth. Find out why.
—Stephen Ornes
This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1Elon Musk says Sam Altman “stole a charity” at the OpenAI trial Musk testified for the first time yesterday in the landmark legal showdown. (FT $) + He said OpenAI was founded as a non-profit to avoid a “Terminator outcome.” (Wired $) + And claimed he came up with the idea for the company. (Reuters $) + The trial could upend the global AI race. (MIT Technology Review)
2The White House has plans to bypass Anthropic’s blacklisting It’s drafting guidance to sidestep the supply-chain risk designation. (Axios) + The White House is also meeting other tech firms to discuss AI risks. (Politico) + The Pentagon’s culture war against Anthropic has backfired. (MIT Technology Review)
3OpenAI is tightening ties with Amazon after retreating from Microsoft AWS customers are getting extra access to OpenAI systems. (NBC News) + While OpenAI gets new users and cloud-computing capabilities. (CNBC)
4AI bots told scientists how to create biological weapons And unleash them in public spaces. (NYT $) + AI will change war forever. (MIT Technology Review)
5China has suspended robotaxi licenses after a scary outage Dozens of Baidu vehicles suddenly stopped last month. (The Verge) + Chinese robotaxi firms are planning global expansions. (Guardian)
6Meta has been found in breach of EU rules on protecting children After failing to block access to Facebook and Instagram. (Guardian) + Parents are forcing schools to roll back classroom tech use. (NYT $)
7AI is spotting pancreatic cancer years before symptoms appear A study found it could catch the tumor early enough to treat. (Bloomberg)
8The Iran war is disrupting data center rollouts Oaktree-owned Pure DC is the latest firm to pause investments. (CNBC)
9SpaceX is tying Elon Musk’s pay to Mars colonization goals It’s set lofty goals for his jaw-dropping compensation. (Reuters $)
10AI has reconstructed the face of an ancient Pompeii victim Technology is reshaping our understanding of the distant past (NPR)
Quote of the day
“Overnight, without you even knowing it, your own life chances, the life chances of your children, will be dependent on people continuing to prop up Musk’s visions of how the world should look.”
—Elon Musk biographer Michel Martin tells NPR how the Tesla tycoon is shaping our lives.
One More Thing
NEIL WEBB
Inside Clear’s ambitions to manage your identity beyond the airport
If you’ve ever been through a large US airport, you’re probably aware of Clear, the identity verification service that uses biometric scans to whisk travelers past standard security checks.
Now Clear wants to expand that “face-first” experience from airports to just about everywhere, from retailers and banks to even your doctor’s office. Its CEO has designs on making Clear the “identity layer of the internet” and the “universal identity platform” of the physical world.
All you have to do is show up—and show your face. But as biometric identity systems go mainstream, concerns about privacy, security, and control are becoming harder to ignore. And the cost of convenience may not be shared equally. Discover what’s at stake.
—Eileen Guo
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)
BackgroundNeurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), an emerging diffusion MRI technique for estimating the microstructural pathology of brain tissue in vivo, has attracted significant research interest. However, a systematic bibliometric analysis of this field remains unexamined. This study aims to perform a bibliometric analysis of the NODDI literature to explore the current research landscape, identify emerging trends, and provide insights for future investigations.MethodsNODDI-related publications were retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases during the period of 2012 to 2025. CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and Bibliometrix R package were used to generate visualization maps.ResultsA total of 679 publications related to NODDI were identified from WOS, including 653 research articles and 26 review papers. 844 relevant publications were retrieved from the Scopus database. After 2012, the number of publications on NODDI increased rapidly. Sweden demonstrated the highest average citation per paper, while the United States contributed the largest number of publications. University College London was the most productive institution. Hui Zhang was identified as the most prolific author, while Alexander DC achieved the highest average citation count. NeuroImage was recognized as the leading journal in terms of publication frequency. Common keywords included “diffusion magnetic resonance imaging,” “NODDI,” “brain,” and “multiple sclerosis.” Recent studies show the research focus is shifting from methodological development to clinical application, especially in the field of neuropsychiatric disorders, and is being integrated with emerging methodologies such as Mendelian randomization.ConclusionsThis bibliometric analysis highlights potential directions for future NODDI-related research. Future studies may focus on optimizing imaging techniques, investigating neuropsychiatric disorders, and integrating advanced methodologies.
BackgroundAlthough music listening and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) alone have certain effects in the treatment of insomnia, the sleep regulatory effects and neural mechanisms of the combined treatment in patients with insomnia disorder (ID) are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of combined bifrontal-tDCS (F3: anode, F4: cathode) with music listening in patients with ID using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).Methods76 ID patients were randomly divided into an intervention group (n=38) and a control group (n=38), and received 4 weeks of a total of 20 sessions of music + tDCS therapy and music + sham tDCS therapy (30-second stimulation with fade-in/fade-out to mimic somatic sensations), respectively. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale (PSQI), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. Oxy-haemoglobin (HbO2) concentration and functional connectivity (FC) were assessed during the verbal fluency task using fNIRS.ResultsCompared with the control group, the PSQI total score (mean difference: -2.57 points, 95% CI: -4.43 to -0.71, p = 0.001), PSQI sub-scores except “sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction”, SDS and SAS scores of the intervention group improved significantly after treatment. It was observed by fNIRS that the HbO2 concentration in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and right superior frontal cortex (SFC) increased significantly after treatment in the intervention group but was not superior to the control group. In addition, the FC enhancement of left SFC-left DLPFC and left SFC-mPFC after treatment was significantly better in the intervention group than in the control group, and the PSQI improvement was positively correlated with the FC enhancement of channel-averaged and left SFC-right DLPFC.ConclusionsCombining bifrontal-tDCS with music listening is more helpful in improving sleep quality and prefrontal functional connectivity in ID patients compared with music listening alone. For ID patients, music electrical stimulation headphones may be a safe, effective, and convenient new treatment strategy.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/, identifier ChiCTR2400086233.
BackgroundThe prevalence of adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) is rising; however, diagnosis relies on subjective measures due to a lack of objective biomarkers. This study explored infrared thermography (IRT) as a non-invasive tool to quantify thermal radiation characteristics of acupoints in adolescents with MDD. The objective was to establish diagnostic models based on acupoint temperature-derived biomarkers.MethodsA prospective, multi-center observational study enrolled 108 participants (65 adolescents with MDD and 43 healthy controls [HCs]). We first examined correlations between acupoint temperatures and depression severity using Pearson analysis. Multiple linear and binary logistic regression models were developed to diagnose MDD and assess severity. The diagnostic model for MDD was visualized as a nomogram and validated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, Hosmer-Lemeshow tests, calibration plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Internal validation was performed using the bootstrap method.ResultsAmong 27 acupoints analyzed, adolescents with MDD exhibited altered acupoint temperatures at Taiyang (EX-HN5), Quchi (LI11), Yanggu (SI5), and Waiqiu (GB36). Subsequent Pearson correlation analysis revealed negative correlations between the infrared relative temperatures of Taiyang (EX-HN5), Quchi (LI11), and Waiqiu (GB36) and depression severity (P = 0.001, r = -0.319; P = 0.022, r = -0.229; P = 0.001, r = -0.325) and a weak positive correlation between the infrared relative temperature of Yanggu (SI5) and depression severity (P = 0.043, r = 0.202). Building on these findings, two diagnostic models were developed: a linear regression model for depression severity of adolescents (Y = 52.25-9.52*TEX-HN5-13.07*TGB36) and a logistic regression model for adolescents with MDD diagnosis (P = ex/(1+ex), x = 0.22-1.14*TEX-HN5+0.45*TSI5-2.19*TGB36). The nomogram-based model demonstrated good calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow P = 0.855), discrimination (AUC = 0.785, 95%CI: 0.693 – 0.876), and clinical utility. Internal validation using the bootstrap method produced a C-index of 0.752 (95% CI: 0.617 – 0.877), further confirming the model’s robustness.ConclusionsIn conclusion, acupoint temperature-based models show promising efficacy for the objective and non-invasive diagnosis and severity quantification of adolescents with MDD, offering valuable tools for early clinical intervention. Future studies should validate these findings across diverse populations and integrate multi-modal biomarkers to enhance diagnostic precision.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT06750640.
IntroductionA child’s ASD diagnosis represents a critical event for parents, often requiring them to face the loss of their child’s ideal image and reevaluate the family life projects. The aim of this study is to explore how parents retrospectively reconstruct and integrate their child’s ASD diagnosis through autobiographical memories.Methods21 parents, 16 mothers and 5 fathers, that received the ASD diagnosis within five years, were administered the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a two levels approach. The first one to explore the patterns of meanings that emerged in the whole parents’ autobiographical memories through the Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The second one is to identify patterns of resolution or non-resolution of the impact of the diagnosis.ResultsFindings show suffering and struggling as main themes and subthemes and a prevalence of unresolved diagnoses; gender differences in the way of managing the child-related care tasks, efforts, and coping strategies emerged.DiscussionIn line with literature, our findings suggest that the availability of supportive resources plays a crucial role in facilitating parents’ adjustment and integration of the ASD experience and harmonizing gender differences. They also emphasize that the impact of ASD diagnosis is not a single event but an ongoing process of meaning-making which changes with the child’s developmental path. Our findings highlight the need for cognitive and emotional reconstruction and reframing of parents’ autobiographical memories. These processes play a kay role in shaping how the diagnosis experience is integrated into one’s narrative identity, creating opportunities for transforming the meaning of the remembered experience.
BackgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder characterized by hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive symptoms. Adults with ADHD often report reduced quality of life (QoL) across social, educational, and occupational functioning. Part of these deficits may be attributed to stigma, which includes stereotypes, prejudices, discrimination, and negative labelling. While stigma’s effects on QoL have been extensively documented in other mental health conditions, the specific types and impacts of stigma experienced by adults with ADHD remain underexplored in recent reviews.AimsTo identify and describe the different types of stigmas experienced by adults with ADHD, while exploring how stigma may impact QoL’s key domains as defined by WHO (physical domain, psychological domain, level of independence, social relationships, environment, and spirituality/religion/personal beliefs).MethodsA literature search was conducted across APA PsycArticles, Embase, and Ovid MEDLINE(R) for ADHD AND stigma-related keywords. Eligible studies were English, peer-reviewed articles from the past decade involving adults (≥18) and describing or specifying at least one type of stigma.ResultsA total of 17 papers met the inclusion criteria. Stigma types included self-stigma and/or internalized stigma, perceived stigma, public stigma, and structural stigma. QoL domains affected included the psychological domain, social relationships, environment, and level of independence. Greater ADHD symptomatology was positively correlated with more internalized stigma, which in turn was linked to functional impairment, worse self-esteem, and poorer QoL. Self-stigma manifested as self-deprecating labels and ADHD devaluation. Perceived stigma hindered treatment seeking, medication compliance, and diagnostic disclosure, although associations with QoL were insignificant. Public stigma was the most investigated and related to negative societal attitudes, notably in academic contexts. Few studies looked at structural stigma; those that did identified structural barriers to care, though none directly assessed QoL outcomes.ConclusionStigma remains pervasive, though direct effects on QoL domains are less widely investigated. Future studies should investigate structural stigma in more depth and explore causal relationships between stigma and QoL.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Y52HK
A multicountry cohort study found that prediction models combining clinical parameters with either pulse oximetry or the host biomarker sTREM1 more accurately identified febrile children needing referral than standard WHO criteria.
