A study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that chronic organ rejection may be triggered by the disruption of lymphatic vessels — an important drainage system throughout the body — from the donor organ rather than an attack by the patient’s immune system.

When removing cancerous tissue in the brain, neurosurgeons often use “awake brain mapping” to minimize the risk of causing unintended disruptions to a patient’s quality of life while removing as much tumor as possible. This practice, which has been used for decades, involves waking a patient up mid-surgery to test their neurocognitive functions in real time by stimulating the brain surface and assessing for functional changes. Now, a study published in the journal Science Advances details a promising, new avenue toward improving awake brain mapping results by investigating the tiny, nearly imperceptible variabilities in patient behavior that occur during the procedure. This work points to a future where brain surgeries are not just safer, but more precisely tailored to protect each patient’s speech, movement and quality of life.