Chronic Pain and Dementia; FDA Neuro Chief Resigns; Brain Surgery in the Bronze Age

People who had chronic pain at multiple body sites had an increased risk of dementia and relatively faster cognitive decline than people with chronic pain at one site or no chronic pain. (PNAS)

High levels of serum neurofilament light at disease onset may help identify multiple sclerosis patients at high risk of disability worsening. (JAMA Neurology)

Obesity was associated with 21 Alzheimer’s disease-related genes, Framingham Heart Study data showed. (Alzheimer’s & Dementia)

Chief neuroscience FDA official Billy Dunn, MD, who had a hand in some of the agency’s most controversial drug approvals including aducanumab (Aduhelm) for Alzheimer’s disease, resigned. (BioPharma Dive)

Neuronal APOE4 removal protected against tau-mediated gliosis, neurodegeneration, and myelin deficits in mice. (Nature Aging)

Sex differences in cognitive performance and brain connectivity may reflect faster brain maturation in girls than boys, ABCD study data suggested. (JAMA Network Open)

An excavation uncovered early evidence of brain surgery in the Late Bronze Age. (PLOS One)

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is seeking comments on a draft recommendation statement and evidence about folic acid supplementation to prevent neural tube defects.

Placental growth factor may be a biomarker for vascular cognitive impairment. (Alzheimer’s & Dementia)

Newer glucose-lowering drugs were linked with a decreased risk of dementia among people with type 2 diabetes in a meta-analysis. (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society)

The case of NFL player Damar Hamlin offered insights about preventing brain injury and promoting neuroprotection after cardiac arrest. (Annals of Neurology)

With its focus on subspecialties, modern neurology training is failing outpatients, two neurologists argued. (JAMA Neurology)