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18-Nov-2015 5:05 PM EST
UAB Study Says Alzheimer’s Plaques Can Also Affect the Brain’s Blood Vessels
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Amyloid beta, the plaque that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, may also contribute to Alzheimer’s by interfering with normal blood flow in the brain, according to investigators UAB. In findings published Nov. 23 in the journal Brain, the team shows that when amyloid beta accumulates around blood vessels — where it is known as vascular amyloid — it appears to prevent the brain from properly regulating blood flow, which is essential to normal brain function.

   
21-Nov-2015 11:05 AM EST
Virginia Tech Neuroscientists Take Step in Understanding Cause of Alzheimer's Symptoms
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have uncovered a mechanism in the brain that could account for some of the neural degeneration and memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers, together with scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, discovered that a common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease – the accumulation of amyloid plaques along blood vessels – could be disrupting blood flow in the brain.

16-Nov-2015 8:05 AM EST
And When the Bubbles Burst, Thunder in Neurons
American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics

In the fleeting moments after a liquid is subjected to a sudden change in pressure, microscopic bubbles rapidly form and collapse in a process known as cavitation. In the human brain, this is believed to be a mechanistic cause of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, but the phenomenon has yet to be directly observed in brain tissue because the bubbles appear and disappear within microseconds. To address this, researchers are seeking to understand how cavitation might injure neurons by using a 3-D imaging system coupled with a diffraction grating to examine their post-exposure morphology. They will present their recent findings APS’s DFD 2015 Meeting.

Released: 23-Nov-2015 5:05 PM EST
UC San Diego Professors Named Fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science
UC San Diego Health

Six University of California, San Diego professors have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. They are among 347 members selected this year by colleagues in their disciplines to be honored for “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”

23-Nov-2015 1:10 PM EST
First-of-Their-Kind Dopamine Measurements in Human Brain Reveal Insights Into Learning
Virginia Tech

The readings were collected during brain surgery as the conscious patients played an investment game, demonstrating rapid dopamine release encodes crucial information. The findings have implications for Parkinson’s disease and disorders such as depression and addiction.

Released: 23-Nov-2015 12:05 PM EST
Stem Cell Treatment Mediates Harmful Immune Response Following Spinal Cord Injury in Pre-Clinical Trials
Case Western Reserve University

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have demonstrated in lab animals that a family of therapeutic stem cells lessen consequences of a damaging immune response and preserve function that would otherwise be lost. Their findings appear in the Nov. 19 Scientific Reports.

17-Nov-2015 12:05 PM EST
Animal Study Shows How Exercise May Energize Brain Cell Function
Johns Hopkins Medicine

As we age or develop neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, our brain cells may not produce sufficient energy to remain fully functional. Researchers discovered that an enzyme called SIRT3 that is located in mitochondria — the cell's powerhouse — may protect mice brains against the kinds of stresses believed to contribute to energy loss. Furthermore, mice that ran on a wheel increased their levels of this protective enzyme.

18-Nov-2015 5:05 PM EST
Scripps Florida Scientists Unveil Critical Mechanism of Memory Formation
Scripps Research Institute

In a new study that could have implications for future drug discovery efforts for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that the interaction between a pair of brain proteins has a substantial and previously unrecognized effect on memory formation.

   
Released: 19-Nov-2015 2:05 AM EST
How Does Our Brain Form Creative and Original Ideas?
University of Haifa

A new study by Dr. Naama Mayseless and Prof. Simone Shamay-Tsoory from the Department of Psychology at the University of Haifa attempted to crack the connection between brain activity and creativity. The results shed a new, perhaps unexpected light, on our ability to think outside the box

Released: 18-Nov-2015 4:05 PM EST
UGA Researchers Develop Visual Test to Quickly Check Brain Function Quality
University of Georgia

University of Georgia researchers have developed a simple technique to measure an individual’s visual processing speed—the speed at which an individual can comprehend visual information—in order to identify whether or not they may have cognitive issues.

13-Nov-2015 11:05 AM EST
Brain Disorder May Increase Miscarriage and Preeclampsia Risk in Pregnancy
American Academy of Neurology (AAN)

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, a disease often confused for multiple sclerosis, may increase a woman’s risk for miscarriage and preeclampsia during pregnancy, according to a study published in the November 18, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Released: 18-Nov-2015 2:00 PM EST
What Salamanders Can Teach Us About Baseball
University of Louisville

University of Louisville researcher Bart Borghuis, Ph.D., has increased our understanding of how people and animals deal with sensorimotor delay in day-to-day interactions by analyzing the hunting skills of salamanders. His article, “The Role of Motion Extrapolation in Amphibian Prey Capture,” is published in today’s issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

16-Nov-2015 12:05 PM EST
Scientists Turn Tastes On and Off by Activating and Silencing Clusters of Brain Cells
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Most people probably think that we perceive the five basic tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (savory)—with our tongue, which then sends signals to our brain “telling” us what we’ve tasted. However, scientists have turned this idea on its head, demonstrating in mice the ability to change the way something tastes by manipulating groups of cells in the brain.

Released: 18-Nov-2015 11:05 AM EST
Neurogastronomy: How Our Brains Perceive the Flavor of Food
University of Kentucky

Neuroscientists, food scientists and internationally-renowned chefs convened at the University of Kentucky recently to explore ways to help patients with neurologically-related taste impairments enjoy food again.

16-Nov-2015 8:00 AM EST
Male Hormone Testosterone Cause of Sex Differences in Parkinson’s Disease Risk, Study Suggests
American Physiological Society (APS)

Men are twice as likely as women to develop Parkinson’s disease. New research suggests that testosterone enhances the susceptibility of brain cells that control movement to damage from chemical imbalances, explaining the sex differences in the occurrence of Parkinson’s.

Released: 18-Nov-2015 9:05 AM EST
Patients Improve Speech by Watching 3-D Tongue Images
University of Texas at Dallas

A new study done by University of Texas at Dallas researchers indicates that watching 3-D images of tongue movements can help individuals learn speech sounds. Researchers say the findings could be especially helpful for stroke patients seeking to improve their speech articulation.

Released: 16-Nov-2015 4:05 PM EST
Modulating Brain’s Stress Circuitry Might Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
UC San Diego Health

In a novel animal study design that mimicked human clinical trials, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that long-term treatment using a small molecule drug that reduces activity of the brain’s stress circuitry significantly reduces Alzheimer’s disease (AD) neuropathology and prevents onset of cognitive impairment in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition. The findings are described in the current online issue of the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Released: 16-Nov-2015 1:00 PM EST
Van Andel Research Institute Expands Into New Areas of Parkinson’s Research
Van Andel Institute

Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) is continuing the expansion of its neurodegenerative disease research program, which aims to answer fundamental questions about diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, with the addition of two outstanding scientists.

Released: 13-Nov-2015 5:05 PM EST
Scientists Sniff Out Female Mouse Scents That Make Males Frisky​​
Washington University in St. Louis

Scientists have identified two chemical scents in the urine of female mice that arouse sexual behavior in males, a discovery that shines a spotlight on how mouse pheromones control behavior. The research, at Washington University School of Medicine​ in St. Louis, is available online in the journal Cell.

Released: 13-Nov-2015 3:05 PM EST
Parkinson Drug May Prevent and Delay AMD
Research to Prevent Blindness

RPB-supported researchers have made a significant discovery that might lead to the delay or prevention of the most common cause of blindness in the elderly: age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Patients who take the drug L-DOPA (for Parkinson Disease, Restless Legs or other movement disorders) are significantly less likely to develop AMD and, if they do, it is at a significantly later age.



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