Neurology Research & Reviews

Abstract: Esports has grown into a global industry with paid athletes, coaches, and training camps. That growth brings new health risks. Players sit for long hours, stare at screens, and compete under public view every night. This paper builds a wellness model for esports that covers the body, the mind, and the organization around the player. The model draws on esports medicine, sleep science, adolescent mental health research, and lessons from traditional sport during the COVID-19 pandemic. The model treats sleep, nutrition, movement, and mental health support as core training variables, not optional extras. One point stands above the rest. Programs that skip wellness will burn out their players and shorten their careers. This paper closes with concrete steps for organizations, universities, and clinicians who want to build wellness into esports before the industry outgrows its own health infrastructure.

Abstract: Black women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have drinking patterns and lived experiences worth documenting on their own terms, not only as a comparison point for predominantly White institutions. These women drink less, on average, than women at predominantly White institutions and national benchmarks, but that pattern sits on specific pathways, including adverse childhood experiences, depression, coping motives, gender-differentiated religiosity and ethnic identity, and sexual victimization, that put a meaningful minority at real risk. Drawing on 17 peer-reviewed articles, this review also covers mental health service utilization, polysubstance use, and morbidity and mortality patterns among Black women broadly, framing alcohol misuse as a social problem tied to social work’s Grand Challenges. It closes with limitations, gender-responsive prevention and telehealth recommendations, and a call for parallel research at other Minority-Serving Institutions, including Predominantly Black, Hispanic-Serving, Tribal, and Native American- and Asian American-serving campuses.

Abstract: NGLY1 deficiency is a rare disorder that can affect multiple body systems. Affected individuals may have failure to reach developmental milestones, intellectual disability, movement disorders, seizures, liver disease, and an inability to produce tears when crying (alcryma) or rarely produce tears. The specific symptoms and severity of the disorder can vary significantly among affected individuals. Additional symptoms may develop in some children. NGLY1 deficiency is caused by a disease-causing variant (mutation) in the NGLY1 gene. This variant is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. As of April 2021, fewer than 100 people have been identified with NGLY1 deficiency. Affected infants often have reduced muscle tone (hypotonia), in which the child is described as being excessively “floppy”. About half of all infants are born with low birth weight and, despite a normal appetite, many infants will fail to gain weight or grow for their age and sex (growth failure). Some infants have difficulty swallowing and are at risk of food or liquids going down the wrong tube and ending up in the lungs (aspiration). Constipation may also occur. In some infants, head circumference, which is normal at birth, may be smaller than expected with age (acquired microcephaly). NGLY1 deficiency syndrome is caused by mutations in the NGLY1 gene, which is located on the short arm of chromosome 3 at 3p24.2. Genes provide instructions for making proteins that play an important role in many body functions. When a mutation occurs in a gene, the protein product may be defective, ineffective, absent, or overproduced. Depending on the function of the specific protein, this can affect many organs in the body, including the brain.

Abstract: A “biologics package” in spine surgery refers to a combination of advanced biological materials and adjunctive products (bone substitutes, growth factors, or blood-derived products) used to stimulate tissue regeneration and enhance the success of spinal fusion procedures. These strategies aim to promote bone healing, accelerate fusion, reduce complications. Animal-derived barrier membranes ( Shield) are resorbable xenogeneic biomaterials increasingly used in spine surgery to reduce postoperative epidural fibrosis, protect neural structures, and facilitate dural repair. Derived primarily from porcine or bovine collagen matrices, these implants function as temporary mechanical barriers and extracellular scaffolds during the critical phases of wound healing. Although preclinical and early clinical studies suggest a reduction in scar tissue formation, high-level evidence demonstrating consistent improvement in long-term clinical outcomes remains limited. Their role is therefore considered adjunctive rather than essential in routine spinal procedures.autologous graft harvesting. Dual-antibiotic hydrogels (DAB), typically incorporating vancomycin and gentamicin within a bioresorbable carrier matrix, have emerged as adjunctive local antimicrobial strategies in instrumented spine surgery. Designed to prevent bacterial colonization and biofilm formation on implants, these hydrogels aim to reduce deep surgical site infections (SSI) while minimizing systemic antibiotic exposure. Preclinical data demonstrate sustained local antibiotic release and inhibition of biofilm formation. Early clinical series suggest a reduction in infection rates in high-risk populations; however, high-level randomized controlled trials remain limited. DAB represents a promising adjunct in infection prevention protocols, particularly in instrumented lumbar arthrodesis.

Abstract: A novel, non-invasive, two-phase behavioral assay is introduced to quantify drug craving in rodents, bypassing surgical catheterization. Phenotypic screening of a baseline population (N = 53) via two-bottle choice successfully stratifies rats into Drug-Preferring and Water-Preferring subgroups using an optimized 0.5 mg/mL cocaine concentration. A representative sub-sample is then tested in an apparatus where an adjustable, spring-loaded door acts as a physical analogue to a progressive-ratio schedule. Under increased mechanical resistance (150g to 300g, corresponding to 1.47 to 2.94 Newton, and 0.147 to 0.294 Joule over a 10 cm door displacement), drug- preferring subjects exhibit persistent motivation to re-enter the drug chamber, whereas controls cease crossing. Notably, water-preferring rats actively reject the drug after a brief sip, returning immediately to the neutral water chamber. This refined protocol transforms qualitative profiles into a precise, scalar, and quantitative metric of motivational drive determined by the animal’s internal craving state, maintaining veterinary refinement to attain reduction-refinement-respect, the three Rs towards ANIMAL WELFARE in preclinical research.