Neurodegenerative Diseases News and Research

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Scientists shed new light on how tau protein transitions from liquid state to solid tangles

While much about Alzheimer's disease remains a mystery, scientists do know that part of the disease's progression involves a normal protein called tau, aggregating to form ropelike inclusions within brain cells that eventually strangle the neurons.

6 Jul 2017

Scientists provide detailed view of tau protein structures found in Alzheimer's disease

New research by scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the United Kingdom and Indiana University School of Medicine gives the most detailed view yet of tau protein structures found in Alzheimer's disease.

6 Jul 2017

Alzheimer’s disease specific brain deposits photographed for the first time in vivid detail

Scientists from the Britain's Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology have for the first time, clearly pictured what the deposits typically seen in a person with Alzheimer’s disease look like. This is a breakthrough in neurodegenerative diseases. The latest study showing the structure of tau protein was published in the journal Nature.

5 Jul 2017

History of traumatic brain injury not related to cognitive decline, study shows

Although much research has examined traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a possible risk factor for later life dementia from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), little is known regarding how TBI influences the rate of age-related cognitive change.

5 Jul 2017

Emory scientists show how same enzyme spurs Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are not the same. They affect different regions of the brain and have distinct genetic and environmental risk factors.

4 Jul 2017

SCT scientists develop Neo-Islet technology for treating insulin-dependent diabetes

The cover of the July 2017 issue of the journal STEM CELLS Translation Medicine showcases the latest advance toward a functional cure of insulin-dependent diabetes.

30 Jun 2017

Dysfunctional microglia cells contribute to loss of synapses in Alzheimer's disease

Similar to other neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer's is a disease in which the cognitive abilities of afflicted persons continuously worsen.

30 Jun 2017

Research presents crystal structure of enzyme implicated in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

A Stony Brook University-led team of researchers has determined the structure of a key enzyme involved with cell growth regulation in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jun 2017

Study finds link between upper GI infections and protein implicated in Parkinson’s disease

Acute and chronic infections in a person's upper gastrointestinal tract appear to be linked to Parkinson's disease, say scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center and their collaborators at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

28 Jun 2017

UA researchers explain exercise-brain connection from evolutionary perspective

Mounting scientific evidence shows that exercise is good not only for our bodies but for our brains. Yet, exactly why physical activity benefits the brain is not well understood.

27 Jun 2017

Western University neuroscientist launches world's largest sleep-and-cognition study

Renowned Western University neuroscientist Adrian Owen has launched the world's largest sleep-and-cognition study to help researchers learn the effects on our brains of sleep and sleep deprivation.

27 Jun 2017

New approaches to early detection of Parkinson's disease on the horizon

Detecting Parkinson's disease before non-reversible symptoms occur: New approaches to early detection are meant to ensure just that. They are based on detection of alpha-synuclein in the skin or intestines.

24 Jun 2017

Researchers create new camera that can register fast processes in transparent specimens

Researchers from ITMO University have built a setup for recording holograms of tiny objects like living cells with a femtosecond speed. The new method allows one to reconstruct phase topography of a studied sample according to deformations that emerge in a laser pulse when it passes through the specimen.

22 Jun 2017

Promoting innate detoxification mechanisms could be efficient strategy to reduce cellular oxidative stress

Promoting innate detoxification mechanisms in the body and discovering which supplements increase the efficacy of those biochemical pathways could be an efficient strategy to reduce the cellular oxidative stress and protect our health, according to an article published in the journal Food Chemistry, by the researchers Rafael Franco, from the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona, and Eva Martínez Pinilla, from the Institute of Neurosciences of Asturias and the University of Oviedo.

21 Jun 2017

African plant extract could pave way for new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease

A plant extract used for centuries in traditional medicine in Nigeria could form the basis of a new drug to treat Alzheimer's disease, researchers at The University of Nottingham have found.

20 Jun 2017

SDSU neuroscientist explores how the brain works to retrieve correct word from memory

When you look at a picture of a mug, the neurons that store your memory of what a mug is begin firing. But it's not a pinpoint process; a host of neurons that code for related ideas and items--bowl, coffee, spoon, plate, breakfast--are activated as well.

20 Jun 2017

Viral vectors for gene transfer can travel to distant areas in the brain, study shows

Gene transfer is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. The approach involves using harmless laboratory-produced viruses to introduce important genes into the brain cells.

16 Jun 2017

Pyk2 deficits contribute to memory problems in Huntington’s disease mouse model

Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the UB and from IDIBAPS together with a team from the University Pierre and Marie Curie and the Institute du Fer à Moulin, published a study in Nature Communications, which demonstrates that the regulation in Pyk2, a protein-tyrosine kinase, causes alterations of the synaptic plasticity involved in memory tasks, associated with the hippocampus in mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington's.

13 Jun 2017

Study provides new insight into cells that rejuvenate the brain

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease manifested by various neuronal pathological processes and a significant decline in brain function.

9 Jun 2017

Studies offer hope for developing new biomarker and drug for neurodegenerative diseases

Two new studies of progressive, neurodegenerative diseases linked to defects in cells' mitochondria offer hope for developing a new biomarker for research and diagnostics, and a drug for treating such diseases, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.

6 Jun 2017