Two research papers in Nature Magazine describe work on a wiring diagram for the nerve and muscle actions that propel fruit flies into the air and guide their flight. John C. Tuthill, associate professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Washington - School of Medicine, and Wei-Chung Allen Lee, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston are the senior scientists jointly supervising the research. Although a fruit fly seems like a simple creature, the circuitry that controls its movements contains an unexpected level of complexity. A fly’s motor neurons are few, yet it can perform remarkable aerial and terrestrial feats. The studies provide detailed information on how the nerve coordination for a fly’s legs differs from that directing its wings. The leg and the wing in fruit flies each have a distinct evolution and biomechanics. The scientists found that some muscle fibers in adult flies are controlled by several motor neurons. These multiple innervations might offer more flexibility and explain why an insects’ limbs can operate with precision despite having so few motor neurons.
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A common assumption is that for most people, both physical and cognitive function peak in their 20s before declining throughout the adult lifespan. As an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley, Dr. K. Warner Schaie began to challenge this assumption. After having retirees take a cognitive test that was designed for children, he discovered that adults performed better than high school students. Schaie’s curiosity gave rise to the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS), one of the most extensive psychological research studies of cognitive health and aging ever conducted. From 1956 to 2012, Schaie tested and added a new cohort of participants every seven years. For more than 30 years, Schaie and his wife, Sherry Willis, PhD, a research professor at the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, researched cognitive development and aging at Penn State University, returning to Seattle to conduct SLS testing. “Drs. Schaie and Willis demonstrated that cognitive functioning isn’t as simple as an early peak and a guaranteed decline as we age,” says Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington. “They helped to combat ageist attitudes, showing us that there are many people who stay sharp in their old age.” Schaie passed away in February 2023 at the age of 95, he left a substantial body of work and a philanthropic commitment to create an endowed chair in the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Today, the study’s impact lives on through the work of researchers like Jeffrey Iliff, PhD, who studies the relationship between sleep and cognitive impairment or dementia. “As a society, we are just beginning to understand risk factors for dementia,” says Dr. Unützer. “A lot of research is focused on people who have dementia, but we need to learn about what makes the brain resilient to risk factors by studying people who have them and yet haven’t developed dementia. That is one opportunity SLS data creates.”
What a Decades-long Study Teaches Us About Brain Health and Aging
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Research Scientist Xinyao de Grauw, MD, PhD, MPH will be representing Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC) at the 2024 Safe States Injury & Violence Prevention conference. This premiere conference, happening in Portland from August 20-August 22, is an opportunity is for injury and violence prevention professionals working across a variety of settings to connect and learn from one another. For three days, hundreds of professionals and advocates from state, local, and tribal health, hospitals and healthcare, research and academia, community-based organizations, and the federal government come together to share best practices and innovative solutions, discuss emerging issues and new research, and hone their competencies in injury and violence protection. Register today!
Safe States Alliance
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Last week, Airlift Northwest joined American Medical Response and Life Flight Network on the Harborview Medical Center helipad to honor 36 U.S. fallen first responders. The multi-state procession of this year’s temporary National EMS Memorial, known as the Tree of Life, began here in Seattle for the first time, and its last stop is Arlington, VA. The ceremonial drive will take place over the course of several days leading into the Weekend of Honor. We honor those who have died in the line-of-duty and recognize the sacrifices being made by our nations’ EMS providers.
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Today, Airlift Northwest joined American Medical Response and Life Flight Network on the Harborview Medical Center helipad to honor 36 U.S. fallen first responders. The multi-state procession of this year’s temporary National EMS Memorial, known as the Tree of Life, began here in Seattle for the first time, and its last stop is Arlington, VA. The ceremonial drive will take place over the course of several days leading into the Weekend of Honor. We honor those who have died in the line-of-duty and recognize the sacrifices being made by our nations’ EMS providers.
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If streetlights and headlights around you are surrounded by halos or starbursts, it could be a sign of a common condition called astigmatism. More than 30% of people in the U.S. will develop the condition at some point in their lives. “Astigmatism occurs when the surface of your cornea is shaped kind of like a football — one slope is steeper than the other, as opposed to a basketball where everything slopes the same. The steeper slope focuses the light at a different place than the flatter slope, so the person is not quite able to see clearly. It’s blurry," explains Dr. Brian Chou, a neuro-ophthalmologist and an assistant professor in the University of Washington - School of Medicine's Department of Ophthalmology. If you're experiencing blurred vision, schedule an eye exam. Your optometrist or ophthalmologist will perform a refraction test and check for astigmatism. There are several possible treatments ranging from glasses to laser surgery.
Do Lights Look Weird at Night?
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“Ophthalmologists just hate the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve because those are our busiest weeks every year. We get a very substantial number of fireworks injuries, and we see that a lot of them are young kids or younger people. And some of these people lose vision from one eye or both," says Dr. Shu Feng, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington - School of Medicine. Feng and research colleagues tracked 230 patients who had presented with eye injury in the two weeks surrounding Independence Day over an eight-year span (2016-22). The findings indicated that the odds of a fireworks-related injury were two times higher among residents of areas where fireworks were legal than among residents of areas with restrictions. “That's why eye protection is super important when handling fireworks. And maybe just leaving it to experts is the best idea," says Feng.
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Every year around the Fourth of July, Harborview Medical Center, the region’s only Level I trauma and burn center, treats about 55 patients for fireworks-related injuries. The hospital's Emergency Department will be staffed to care for the influx of injuries expected this week. “We see a lot of fireworks-related injuries,” said Dr. Stephen Morris in emergency medicine at UW Medicine in Seattle. “The most devastating injuries that we see are those to the hands and eyes.” “Fireworks and alcohol certainly don’t mix,” he added. “That’s a big portion of the injuries we see related to people who are intoxicated and just don’t have the wherewithal to use them properly." Morris encourages people to attend a public fireworks display run by professionals to celebrate Independence Day.
