Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have compiled the first-ever review of the neurobiology of wisdom "“ once the sole province of religion and philosophy. The study by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and Thomas W. Meeks, MD, of UC San Diego's Department of Psychiatry and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging.
Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research have demonstrated that attacks on the mitochondrial protein Drp1 by the free radical nitric oxide"”which causes a chemical reaction called S-nitrosylation"”mediates neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease. Prior to this study, the mechanism by which beta-amyloid protein caused synaptic damage to neurons in Alzheimer's disease was unknown.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have shed light on how the neurotransmitter dopamine helps brain cells process important information.
A new theory about sleep's benefits for the brain gets a boost from fruit flies in this week's Science. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that sleep, already recognized as a promoter of long-term memories, also helps clear room in the brain for new learning.
If you've ever been sleep-deprived, you know the feeling that your brain is full of wool.
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.
Professors of kinesiology and community health at Illinois have found that physical activity may increase students' cognitive control "“ or ability to pay attention "“ and also result in better performance on academic achievement tests.
By doing a set of vigorous visual exercises on a computer every day for several months, patients who had gone partially blind as a result of suffering a stroke were able to regain some vision.
In this week's open-access journal PLoS Biology, research teams at the University of Utah John A. Moran Eye Center and the University of Colorado at Boulder report technical advances that have reduced the time it takes to process high-speed "color" ultrastructure mapping of brain regions down to a few months.
Scientists studying a mysterious neurological affliction in cats have discovered a surprising ability of the central nervous system to repair itself and restore function.
A new study shows that people with multiple sclerosis may be at a lower risk for cancer overall, but at a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as brain tumors and bladder cancer. The study is published in the March 31, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Saint Louis University researchers find that a protein in tick saliva shows promise as a potential treatment for the debilitating neuromuscular disorder myasthenia gravis.
The visual system has limited capacity and cannot process everything that falls onto the retina. Instead, the brain relies on attention to bring salient details into focus and filter out background clutter. Two recent studies by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, one study employing computational modeling techniques and the other experimental techniques, have helped to unravel the mechanisms underlying attention.
A receptor for glutamate, the most prominent neurotransmitter in the brain, plays a key role in the process of "unlearning," report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Their findings, published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, could eventually help scientists develop new drug therapies to treat a variety of disorders, including phobias and anxiety disorders, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder.
While finding a biomarker for Parkinson's disease that would let physicians screen for or track progression of the disease remains an elusive goal, a team led by a University of Illinois at Chicago neuroscientist has shown that a non-invasive brain scanning technique offers promise.
Findings from one of the largest-ever imaging studies of depression indicate that a structural difference in the brain "“ a thinning of the right hemisphere "“ appears to be linked to a higher risk for depression, according to new research at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
People who have osteoporosis are more likely to also have vertigo, according to a study published in the March 24, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A type of brain cell that was long overlooked by researchers embodies one of very few ways in which the human brain differs fundamentally from that of a mouse or rat. Human astrocytes are bigger, faster, and much more complex than those in mice and rats.
A new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers is the first to pinpoint damage inside the brains of veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome "“ a finding that links the illness to chemical exposures and may lead to diagnostic tests and treatments.
An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. The team has determined that two of the most commonly prescribed anti-seizure medications may lead to significantly increased levels of cholesterol, C-reactive protein and other markers of cardiovascular disease risk.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered a mode of action for mysterious but diagnostic protein snarls found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients that suggests a one-two punch of therapy may be needed to combat the neurodegenerative disease.
A new type of brain-imaging scanner shows that intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain's axons that sends signals throughout the brain.
Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that convulsive seizures in a form of severe epilepsy are generated, not on the brain's surface as expected, but from within the memory-forming hippocampus.
People who have lost brain cells in the hippocampus area of the brain are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in the March 17, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A test capable of confirming or ruling out Alzheimer's disease has been validated and standardized by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. By measuring cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of two of the disease's biochemical hallmarks "“ amyloid beta42 peptide and tau protein "“ the test also predicted whether a person's mild cognitive impairment would convert to Alzheimer's disease over time.
Scientists have identified the first gene that pulls the plug on ailing nerve cell branches from within the nerve cell, possibly helping trigger the painful condition known as neuropathy, which can afflict patients with cancer, diabetes, kidney failure and other disorders.
The human brain's sensitivity to unexpected outcomes plays a fundamental role in the ability to adapt and learn new behaviors, according to a new study by a team of psychologists and neuroscientists from the University of Pennsylvania.
A study conducted by Prof. Gary Lynch at the University of California, Irvine, has demonstrated the remarkable reversal of memory loss in an animal model of Huntington's disease using a novel class of agents known as ampakines. The experiments were conducted in mice harboring the genetic mutation found in humans that is responsible for Huntington's disease.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked a potential indicator of Alzheimer's disease to brain damage in humans with no signs of mental impairment.
A new study shows that higher temperatures and lower barometric air pressure may lead to a higher, short-term risk of headaches, but air pollution may not have a significant effect on headache. The research is published in the March 10, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A history of diabetes and elevated levels of cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, are associated with faster cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers. These results add further evidence of the role of vascular risk factors in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes appear to share risk factors with and may influence the development of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, according to several reports published in the March issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine have identified a key to eye development "” a protein that regulates how the light-sensing nerve cells in the retina form. While still far from the clinic, the latest results, published in the Jan. 29 issue of Neuron, could help scientists better understand how nerve cells develop.
The skull base is not just a simple platform for the brain but an anatomically intricate area with an array of connections necessary to the body's essential functions. Traditionally, a tumor or aneurysm in this area was either inoperable or involved significant risk. Now, new surgical techniques are greatly improving patient outcomes.
Deploying a method that removes potentially cancer-causing genes, Whitehead Institute researchers have "reprogrammed" human skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state. Whitehead scientists then used these so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to create dopamine-producing neurons, the cell type that degenerates in Parkinson's disease patients.
An international collaborative research effort has identified a novel gene, FUS/TLS, for inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). This is the fourth gene associated with familial forms of the devastating neurological disorder. The mutations in FUS/TLS lead to deposits of abnormal protein within motor neurons.
MIT study sheds light on underlying neural mechanism of remapping observed in macular degeneration.
There's a lot more to memory than the ability to remember a story, who the President is, or what you ate for lunch. According to new research by scientists at Washington State University, aspects of memory that record the source of information and the relative timing of events are at least as important to our everyday functioning as the ability to recall specific content, and should be part of the tests used to diagnose dementia.
Where do innovative ideas come from and how can we accelerate them? That's the challenge and mandate of MIT's McGovern Institute Neurotechnology (MINT) program. MINT supports innovative new projects that can drive the future development of neuroscience.
An investigational protein that transformed normal laboratory mice into super-jocks holds great promise in developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), say researchers at the University of Virginia Health System.
People who start smoking before age 17 may increase their risk for developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.
People with a family history of melanoma may have a greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.
Overweight people who are between the ages of 20 and 55 may have a higher risk of experiencing migraine headaches, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.
Injecting the small protein insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) into the bloodstream reduces Rett syndrome symptoms in mice, including lethargy, breathing and heart rhythm irregularities, reduced brain size, and stalled nerve cell development. Rett syndrome is an inherited neurological disease that affects one out of 10,000 girls born. The disease does not have a cure or treatment.
A study of brain function in young, memory-deficient mice reveals that a stimulating environment improves not only their memory but also the memory of their memory-deficient offspring. If this improvement also occurs in humans, a mother's youthful experiences may help shape her children's ability to learn.
A new study by researchers from Rush University Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine using mice indicate that a child's memory and the severity of learning disorders may be affected by what his or her mother did when she was a child. Findings from the study will be published in the February 4th issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Physical therapists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are evaluating a new mechanical arm that allows people recovering from neurological injuries such as strokes and traumatic brain injury to enter a virtual world where they can repeatedly practice movements needed to regain arm strength and movement.
Abdolmohamad Rostami, M.D. Ph. D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and director of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory at Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience has been elected the 126th President of the Philadelphia Neurological Society.
Every winter there are tragic stories about children and adults who suffer life-altering and even fatal sports-related accidents. The AANS offers this advice: Don't risk your neck for that fleeting moment of fun, because it takes only one moment for a life to change forever. Wear a helmet and follow other safety precautions to help put a freeze on winter sports injuries.
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