This month’s edition of “Insights & Outcomes” from Yale University delves into groundbreaking research exploring the origins of mental illness, the rapid fueling of supermassive black holes, and innovative approaches to studying dark matter and dark energy. The research provides a closer look at how mental disorders may begin in the developing brain, while also zooming out to the cosmic scale to understand phenomena in distant galaxies.
Early Roots of Mental Illness Discovered
A recent study from Yale suggests that mental illnesses may originate much earlier in the developmental process than previously thought, potentially even during the first trimester of pregnancy. This revelation comes from research using human stem cells grown in laboratory conditions to simulate early brain development, alongside data from prenatal human brains.
The study tracked markers in neural stem cells—fetal cells responsible for brain formation—that could be the root cause of disorders. Researchers found that genes linked to conditions such as autism and schizophrenia are activated surprisingly early, during the initial stages of brain growth, long before neural stem cells mature into neurons.
“This research offers new clues about the origins of cortical disorders,” said Nicola Micali, associate research scientist in neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine. “We demonstrated that many risk genes involved in neuropsychiatric disorders are already active before birth.”
The study also mapped regulatory networks of genes involved in disorders like ADHD and depression, as well as malformations such as microcephaly. The findings were published in Nature Communications.
High-Speed Fueling of a Supermassive Black Hole
In a cosmic discovery, a team including Yale scientists has reported a possible “ultra-fast inflow” of gas into a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy, occurring at speeds of 15% to 20% of the speed of light. This significant finding was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The phenomenon was observed in the galaxy “ESP 39607” using NASA’s NuSTAR X-ray space telescope in 2023 and 2024. The inflow, occurring at approximately 100 to 134 million miles per hour, provides a rare glimpse into the chaotic accretion processes of black holes.
“This could represent a rare glimpse into how black holes pull in matter,” said Alessandro Peca, a researcher at Eureka Scientific and Yale’s Department of Physics.
Such ultra-fast inflows are rarely documented due to their transient nature, making this observation particularly valuable for astronomers.
Understanding Seizure-Induced Loss of Consciousness
Yale researchers have uncovered why some frontal lobe seizures lead to loss of consciousness while others do not. Frontal lobe seizures, a type of focal seizure, originate in the brain’s frontal lobes but vary in their impact on consciousness.
Elaheh Salardini, a former Yale postdoc, and Hal Blumenfeld, a professor of neurology, analyzed data from 65 seizure episodes across 30 patients. They discovered that seizures causing impaired consciousness spread to larger brain areas crucial for maintaining consciousness.
“The activity invades much wider areas that are thought to be important for consciousness,” noted Blumenfeld, whose findings were published in Neurology.
This new understanding may aid in predicting seizure activity and developing treatments to restore consciousness during seizures.
Exploring Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Isaque Dutra, a Ph.D. student in physics at Yale, has been awarded a NASA FINESST grant for his research proposal on dark matter and dark energy. Under the guidance of Priyamvada Natarajan, Dutra aims to probe the fundamental nature of these cosmic phenomena.
Dark matter is theorized to make up most of the universe’s matter, while dark energy is believed to drive the universe’s accelerating expansion. Dutra’s research will use strong gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters to explore these mysterious forces.
FINESST received 456 astrophysics proposals this year, selecting only 24 for funding, highlighting the competitive nature of this prestigious award.
Dutra and Natarajan’s work could provide critical insights into the discrepancies observed in the Lambda Cold Dark Matter cosmological model, potentially pointing to new physics beyond the standard model.
For more science and medicine research news, visit Yale News’ Science & Technology and Health & Medicine pages.
