Full activation of a protein ensemble essential for communication between nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord requires the rocking motion of some of the ensemble’s segments. The ensemble is known to be defective in neurological disorders like epilepsy and Parkinson's so this insight has important implications.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have decoded an important molecular signal that guides the development of a key region of the brain known as the neocortex.
Despite recent discouraging results, endovascular treatment is still a "reasonable" treatment option for selected patients with acute stroke, according to a commentary in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
A collaborative team of researchers including scientists from UCLA has uncovered evidence that a specific genetic alteration appears to contribute to schizophrenia. They also found that schizophrenia shares a common biological pathway with Fragile X mental retardation syndrome.
A study by Valentina Moskvina, Ph.D., of the Cardiff University School of Medicine, Wales, United Kingdom, and colleagues, examined the genetic overlap between Parkinson disease (PD) and Alzheimer disease (AD).
Using direct human brain recordings, a research team from Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA and Thomas Jefferson University has identified a new type of cell in the brain that helps people to keep track of their relative location while navigating an unfamiliar environment.
A boost in the speed of brain scans is unveiling new insights into how brain regions work with each other in cooperative groups called networks.
By activating a subset of brain cells in mice, researchers changed the way the animals remembered a particular setting. To determine if they could alter the way a mouse remembered a setting by activating neurons associated with it, researchers attempted to change whether or not a mouse was afraid of a particular cage. Their experiements implicated neurons in the brain's dentate gyrus as being responsible for inducing the animal's false memory of their cage.
Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have successfully combined cellular therapy and gene therapy in a mouse model system to develop a viable treatment strategy for breast cancer that has metastasized to the patient’s brain.
A team of neuroscientists has identified a protein in laboratory mice linked to impairments similar to those afflicted with Angelman syndrome—a condition associated with symptoms that include autism, intellectual disability, and motor abnormalities.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the gene mutation responsible for a particularly severe form of pontocerebellar hyplasia, a currently incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting children. Based on results in cultured cells, they are hopeful that a nutritional supplement may one day be able to prevent or reverse the condition.
A team of researchers says it has solved the longstanding puzzle of why a key protein linked to learning is also needed to become addicted to cocaine. Results of the study, published in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Cell, describe how the learning-related protein works with other proteins to forge new pathways in the brain in response to a drug-induced rush of the “pleasure” molecule dopamine. By adding important detail to the process of addiction, the researchers, led by a group at Johns Hopkins, say the work may point the way to new treatments.
Johns Hopkins Nursing researchers focus on the discrimination-depression link, herpes tests for teens, the baby-mom bond, violence against women across the globe, and more in the July-August 2013 research news briefs.
Anemia, or low levels of red blood cells, may increase the risk of dementia, according to a study published in the July 31, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Since spinal cord stimulation (SCS) was approved by the FDA in 1989 to treat chronic neuropathic pain of the trunk and limbs, word about the option is growing among primary care providers, specialists and patients -- including one advocate who found relief 12 years after the onset of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Experts are addressing the question of how soon to offer SCS in CRPS.
Glucose intolerance or insulin resistance do not appear to be associated with pathological features of Alzheimer disease (AD) or detection of the accumulation of the brain protein β-amyloid (Αβ), according to a report published by JAMA Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.
Less contact during practice could mean a lot less exposure to head injuries for young football players, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Virginia Tech.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has long been considered the most effective treatment of medication-resistant depression. But millions of people don’t take advantage of it because of the side effects and misperception of the therapy.
The network of arteries supplying blood flow to the brain is more likely to be incomplete in people who suffer migraine, a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reports.
The results of a new study by neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center show that a sudden decrease of testosterone, the male sex hormone, may cause Parkinson’s like symptoms in male mice.
A small percentage of people diagnosed with a mysterious neurological condition may only experience psychiatric changes - such as delusional thinking, hallucinations, and aggressive behavior - according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
A new stem cell-based approach to studying epilepsy has yielded a surprising discovery about what causes one form of the disease, and may help in the search for better medicines to treat all kinds of seizure disorders.
People who stop taking cholesterol drugs may be at an increased risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, according to research that appears in the July 24, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous studies on the relationship between cholesterol drugs called statins and the risk of Parkinson’s disease have had inconsistent results.
Researchers have developed a new screening and tracking tool for diagnosing autism. The method holds promise as a method to introduce interventions.
Dennis O'Leary of the Salk Institute was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development. But as it so often does in science, answering one question opened up many others. O'Leary wondered what if the layout of the cortex wasn't fixed? What would happen if it were changed?
A research team led by scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.
A team of researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a mechanism that can prevent the normal prion protein from changing its molecular shape into the abnormal form responsible for neurodegenerative diseases.
The information carried by the electrical activity of neurons is a mixture of stored memories, environmental circumstances, and current state of mind, scientists have found in a study of laboratory rats. The findings offer new insights into the neurobiological processes that give rise to knowledge and memory recall.
A new study suggests that Chinese people may be at higher risk for stroke than Caucasians. The research is published in the July 16, 2013, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A drug originally developed to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs has now been shown to dramatically reduce seizures in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) – a genetic disease characterized by benign tumors on multiple organ systems. TSC is estimated to affect more than a million individuals throughout the world.
A new study from neuroscientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine provides the first novel insights into the neural origins of hot flashes in menopausal women in years. The study may inform and eventually lead to new treatments for those who experience the sudden but temporary episodes of body warmth, flushing and sweating.
The trajectory of amyloid plaque buildup—clumps of abnormal proteins in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease—may serve as a more powerful biomarker for early detection of cognitive decline rather than using the total amount to gauge risk, researchers from Penn Medicine’s Department of Radiology suggest in a new study published online July 15 in Neurobiology of Aging.
Scientists have created a virtual model of the brain that daydreams like humans do. They hope the model will help them understand why certain portions of the brain work together when a person is mentally idle.
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation will honor seven young mental health researchers for their exceptional research on Fri. July 26, 2013 at the Annual Klerman and Freedman Awards, and present an online briefing for media about the honorees’ latest cutting-edge research on July 23, 2013.
Deep brain stimulation therapy blocks or modulates electrical signals in the brain to improve symptoms in patients suffering from movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia, but a new study suggests that several factors may cause electrical current to vary over time.
Older people with Alzheimer’s disease are less likely to also have cancer, and older people with cancer are less likely to also have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the largest study to date on the topic, which appears in the July 10, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers show a foundational assumption used in brain mapping is flawed, leading them to challenge established works and theories.
First joint initiative of UNMC's Nebraska Neuroscience Alliance to test a unique therapy to combat Parkinson’s disease.
Stroke is the country’s leading cause of disability, leaving millions with residual arm and leg weakness. However, efforts have usually focused on stroke prevention and acute care. Now, two new studies suggest that stroke survivors left weakened or partially paralyzed may be able to regain more arm and hand movement even years after a stroke - information that clinicians may not know or pass on to their patients.
Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that, across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, cerebrovascular disease affecting circulation of blood in the brain was significantly associated with dementia.
The rates of regional brain loss and cognitive decline caused by aging and the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are higher for women and for people with a key genetic risk factor for AD, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a study published online July 4 in the American Journal of Neuroradiology.
The idea that females are more resilient than males in responding to stress is a popular view, and now University at Buffalo researchers have found a scientific explanation. The paper describing their embargoed study will be published July 9 online, in the high-impact journal, Molecular Psychiatry.
In a groundbreaking new study from UC San Francisco, researchers have found that children affected with sensory processing disorders (SPD) have quantifiable differences in brain structure, showing a biological basis for the disease that sets it apart from other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Researchers have found a unique type of methylation, previously found in humans only in embryonic stem cells, before the new survey of neurons. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists and their collaborators have found that they appear in brain cells during the first years of life, when key learning processes are being established. Methylation is the addition of methyl chemical groups to nucleotide bases in a strand of DNA. The marks influence which genes are expressed or at what levels they’re expressed.
Salk findings uncovers dynamic changes in the epigenome that occur during brain circuitry formation.
UCLA researchers have found a possible biological explanation for narcolepsy. In addition, they have shown for the first time that the numbers of new neurons in the brain can increase greatly and not just serve as replacement cells. This may underlie recovery and learning and open new routes to treatment of a number of neurological disorders.
New research suggests that reading books, writing and participating in brain-stimulating activities at any age may preserve memory. The study is published in the July 3, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown one disease protein can morph into different strains and promote misfolding of other disease proteins commonly found in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other related neurodegenerative diseases.
Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have discovered a protein that regulates synaptic ion channels that have been tied to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
On July 2nd, JoVE will publish a video article showing the details of a technique developed by researchers to improve language function in stroke patients with chronic speech-language impairment.
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