Propionic acid in multiple sclerosis: a phase 2b, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial

Welcome to the 38th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with senior author Professor Gültekin Tamgüney of the Brain article entitled: Vaccines mimicking conformational epitopes on α-synuclein fibrils provide immunity to Parkinson's disease We discuss the an exciting approach of structurally engineering fungal proteins to mimic the specific conformational epitopes of pathological alpha-synuclein fibrils. The authors develop a precise method for inducing targeted immunity against synucleinopathies. In vivo testing demonstrated efficacy, with immunized models achieving up to a 42% extension in survival along with robust antibody recognition of human Parkinson's and Lewy body tissues. This study offers a proof-of-concept for human neurodegenerative disease therapeutics. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the August 2026 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awag099 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Michael David and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 37th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Tobias Moser of the Brain article entitled: Propionic acid in multiple sclerosis: a phase 2b, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial We discuss the an exciting results... Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the July 2026 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awag099 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai and Alasdair Coles, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 36th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with senior author Dr Carsten Finke of the Brain article entitled: Brain atrophy patterns in anti-IgLON5 disease We discuss a fascinating article which examines clinical and imaging data related to anti-Iglon5 disease. This valuable contribution to our understanding of this rare disease comprises data collected across multiple sites. Results identified distinct atrophy patterns in anti-IgLON5 disease, which closely mirror sites of pathophysiologic processes, including autoantibody binding and tau deposition. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the March 2026 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf256 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 35th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Laetitia Marcadet and senior author Chantelle F Sephton of the Brain article entitled: Targeting lipid droplets in FUS-linked amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mitigates neuronal and astrocytic lipotoxicity. We discuss the interest concept of abnormal cellular energy metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and, more broadly, across other neurodegenerative and neurological conditions. The authors outline their combined model of neuronal and, more uniquely, astrocytic compartments to identify response to lipid droplet targeting. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the Feb 2026 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf404 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Roberto Bellanti and Andreas Thermisticleous, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 34th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Lorenzo Pini of the Brain article entitled: Brain connectivity as a new target for Alzheimer's disease therapy? We discuss a fascinating review into the literature examing brain connectivity in Alzheimer's disease as a biomarker for symptom progression, diagnosis and monitoring response to treatment. Further, they discuss whether brain stimulation to target connectivity may have therapeutic opportunities. The article also features a discussion around digital twins to facilitate Alzheimer's research - well worth a read! Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the Feb 2026 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf404 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 33rd episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Courtney R Benoit and senior author Associate Professor Tracy L Young-Pearse of the Brain article entitled: POU3F2 regulates canonical Wnt signalling via SOX13 and ADNP to expand the neural progenitor population We discuss a complex but important topic examining underlying mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, specifically the regulation of canonical Wnt signalling pathway. The authors describe how two autism-related genes, ADNP and POU3F2, are linked through loss-of-function mutations in the transcription factor POU3F2 and how this may contribute to abnormal neurodevelopment. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the December 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf221 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 32th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Philipp J Koch of the Brain article entitled: Neurotransmitter-informed connectivity maps and their application for outcome inference after stroke We discuss a fascinating method to map neurotransmitter-informed brain network maps. From here, the authors examine two separate stroke cohorts and examine the degree of lesion-related disruption of these neurotransmitter connectomes. Of note, disproportionately high damage to dopamine-transporter–weighted networks consistently predicted worse functional recovery. This may lead to exciting therapeutic avenues.  Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the November 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf185 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 31th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Ifrah Zawar of the Brain article entitled: The association of seizure control with neuropathology in dementia We discuss an impressive post-mortem investigation of the link between seizures and the associated neuropathology of dementia. Higher tau and beta-amyloid burden is associated with Alzheimer's disease and also other forms of dementia. Listen as Dr Zawah discusses how seizures may drive neurodegeneration and that this, in turn, may lead to worse seizures and cognitive difficulties. This is an under-recognised and important problem in the clinical management of dementia. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the July 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf017 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai and Roberto Bellanti, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 30th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with senior author Professor Gabor G Kovacs of the Brain article entitled: Midbrain cytotoxic T cells as a distinct neuropathological feature of progressive supranuclear palsy Listen to the fascinating insights exploring the autoimmune side of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) following identification of cytotoxic T cells within the mid-brain of PSP post-mortem tissue. The pattern of T cells appears to follow both temporal progression of underlying PSP and may also relate to rate of disease progression. Professor Kovacs discusses potential autoimmune treatment in a neurodegenerative disorder, such as PSP, and others. Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the August 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf135 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by David Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.    

Welcome to the 29th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.  This episode features a discussion with first author of the Brain article entitled: Distinct transcriptional changes distinguish efficient and poor remyelination in multiple sclerosis We are joined by Alida Chen for an interesting discussion into detecting transcriptional changes that may identify efficient remyelination in multiple sclerosis. Using brain bank donor tissue, the authors examine donors who show efficient remyelination compared with those who had poorly remyelinating lesions. They discuss interesting findings around the epithelial–mesenchymal transition pathway as well as the MTORC1 signalling pathway. Further, the team discusses how these findings may translate to in vivo understanding of efficient remyelination in patients with MS as well as other experimental models that may help elucidate this.   Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the June 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae414 This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.