932 21 AUGUST 2020 • VOL 369 ISSUE 6506 sciencemag.org SCIENCE
RESEARCH | IN OTHER JOURNALS
NEUROSCIENCE
Basal ganglia, beta
oscillations, and insomnia
Insomnia affects up to 60% of
Parkinson’s disease patients.
Beta oscillations are especially
prominent in the basal ganglia in
idiopathic Parkinson’s disease.
Mizrahi-Kliger et al. hypothesized
that basal ganglia pathophysiol-
ogy may not only play a mediating
role in Parkinson’s motor symp-
toms but may also contribute
to Parkinson’s insomnia. Using
the vervet monkey Parkinson’s
model, which replicates the major
biochemical, pathological, and
clinical signs of the disease, the
authors found that beta activity
was consistently more prominent
and widespread, including during
non–rapid eye movement (non-
REM) sleep. The Parkinsonian
state was accompanied by syn-
chronized beta oscillations across
the basal ganglia and cortex.
Non-REM sleep beta oscillations
associated with reduced cortical
slow oscillations increased before
spontaneous awakening and were
correlated with the degree of
insomnia. —PRS
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 ,
17359 (2020).QUANTUM SENSING
Trap and isolate to extend
quantum lifetime
The coherence time of a quan-
tum system is an important
parameter in the development
of technologies that exploit the
sensitive nature of quantum
mechanics. Rubidium atoms
have quantum mechanical spin,each atom behaving like a tiny
magnetic compass, which makes
them exquisitely sensitive to local
fluctuations in the magnetic field.
Upadhyay et al. trapped single
rubidium atoms in an ultracold
parahydrogen matrix and then
applied a sequence of pulses that
further decoupled them from
their immediate decoherence-
inducing environment. With this
trap-and-isolate protocol, the
coherence lifetime of the rubid-
ium atoms can be extended to a
fraction of a second. The authors
suggest that co-trapping a single
molecule alongside a single
rubidium atom could provide
a platform for single-molecule
nuclear magnetic resonance
studies and the development of
other quantum sensing technolo-
gies. —ISO
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125 , 043601 (2020).PHYSICS
A transient
superconductor
Systems of interacting particles
occupying a lattice can often
be described by the so-called
Hubbard model. This model has
been studied extensively with
cold atoms in optical lattices,
where its parameters can be
easily tuned. In a comple-
mentary approach, Buzzi et
al. investigated the organic
molecular superconductor
k-(BEDT-TTF) 2 Cu[N(CN) 2 ]Br ,
which can be described by the
model, and used light to modu-
late the Hubbard parameters.
The frequency of the light was
tuned to a vibrational mode of
the molecular building block
of this material. The photo-
excitation caused the sample
to (briefly) become supercon-
ducting at temperatures much
higher than the critical tempera-
ture. Calculations indicated that
this was a consequence of an
unusual long-range state of dou-
bly occupied lattice sites. —JS
Phys. Rev. Lett. X 10 , 031028 (2020).MEDICINE
Preventing protein
truncation
A rare neurodegenerative dis-
ease called CLN3 Batten disease
causes fatality by 20 to 30 years
of age. The CLN3 gene encodes
a lysosome membrane protein
subject to deletions in exons 7
and 8, which introduces a pre-
mature termination codon and
truncates the resulting protein
by 257 amino acids. Centa et al.
developed an antisense oligo-
nucleotide that restored most
of the carboxyl-terminal part
of the protein by inducing exon
5 skipping in messenger RNA
processing. Injection of these
oligonucleotides into the central
nervous system of neonatal
mice lacking Cln3 exons 7 and
8 improved motor coordination
and survival, indicating that even
partial restoration of protein
function can be therapeutically
beneficial. —GKA
Nat. Med. 10.1038/
s41591-020-0986-1 (2020). PHOTO: STORIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCKArctic sea ice loss causes stronger and more frequent marine heat waves there.M
arine heat waves , like their more commonly discussed terrestrial counterparts, are
occurring with increasing frequency and strength. The Arctic is warming at a higher rate
than any other comparably sized region on Earth. How are Arctic marine heat waves
changing? Hu et al. examined sea surface temperature data and show that these
marine heat waves have grown in frequency, duration, and intensity mostly in the places
where sea ice coverage no longer lasts through the summer. This finding implies that marine
heat waves will be even more common and intense as the multiyear ice cover of the Arctic
continues to decrease. —HJS Geophys. Res. Lett. 47 , e2020GL089329 (2020).ARCTIC WARMINGHigh heat
Published by AAAST5H8PZ0