How the Brain Clears Waste; Masked Benzodiazepine Taper; New Hope for PML

Imaging in neurosurgery patients showed how the brain’s glymphatic system clears waste. (PNAS)

Investigational apitegromab met its primary endpoint of motor function improvement in a phase III trial of spinal muscular atrophy, Scholar Rock announced.

Masked tapering with a targeted behavioral intervention helped older adults with insomnia discontinue benzodiazepine receptor agonists, a randomized trial showed. (JAMA Internal Medicine)

A case series suggested that directly isolated allogeneic virus-specific T cells may reduce mortality and improve functional outcomes in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). (JAMA Neurology)

The BBC offered a close-up look at microglia.

And Nature published a complete wiring map of the 140,000 neurons in the fruit fly brain.

Long-term brainstem changes associated with inflammation were seen on 7T MRI in a study of people who had been hospitalized with severe COVID-19 early in the pandemic. (Brain)

A barrier to tofersen (Qalsody) treatment appears to be identifying SOD1 gene variants in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers argued. (JAMA Neurology)

Researchers proposed areas for exploration in Parkinson’s disease using lessons learned from therapeutic development in multiple sclerosis. (Nature Reviews Neurology)

Investigational dalzanemdor failed to improve cognition compared with placebo in a phase II study of early Alzheimer’s disease, Sage Therapeutics said. The drug is also being studied in Huntington’s disease.