Neurodegenerative Diseases News and Research

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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

Study underlines significance of microglia for homeostasis in the brain

The role of microglial cells in neurodegenerative disease is not fully understood. But new results from researchers in Munich and Basel suggest that stimulation of this arm of the immune system might well delay the onset of such disorders.

2 Jun 2017

Brain's immune cells may play roles in neurodegenerative, psychiatric illnesses

Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain's front lines of immune defense--cells called microglia--unique.

31 May 2017

EU funds ‘Keep Control’ project that focuses on balance and gait deficits in older adults

Balance problems when standing and walking are ubiquitous in the older population, and can lead to a significant burden for the individual and society.

31 May 2017

Troubles with normal dreaming may be early warning sign for neurological conditions

Dr. John Peever at the University of Toronto has been working to answer one of humanity's greatest questions: how do we dream? He has found a certain area of the brain is responsible for this phenomenon and that troubles with normal dreaming may be an early warning sign for ailments such as Parkinson's Disease.

30 May 2017

Study unravels mystery of how nerve cells are damaged in neurodegenerative diseases

A new study has uncovered a molecular mechanism in the prion protein, a protein responsible for neurodegenerative diseases, which may explain why nerve cells degenerate in these disorders.

25 May 2017

Study: Abnormal proteins in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases share similar feature

A Loyola University Chicago study has found that abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease all share a similar ability to cause damage when they invade brain cells.

23 May 2017

Researchers discover how tau disrupts functioning of nerve cells even before forming tangles

Tau proteins are involved in more than twenty neurodegenerative diseases, including various forms of dementia.

19 May 2017

New understanding about brain proteins could lead to effective therapies for dementia

A research team from the University of Plymouth, University of Southampton and the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center, Vari, Greece, have studied two structurally-similar proteins in the adult brain and have found that they play distinct roles in the development of dementia.

19 May 2017

Neurobiologists uncover reason for defects in the blood-brain barrier of Huntington's disease patients

By using induced pluripotent stem cells to create endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the brain for the first time for a neurodegenerative disease, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists and colleagues have learned why Huntington's disease patients have defects in the blood-brain barrier that contribute to the symptoms of this fatal disorder.

17 May 2017

Discovery of steroid hormone in fruit flies may shed new light on maternal hypothyroidism

University of Oregon researchers using Drosophila have identified a steroid hormone that triggers a vital transition in early brain development in which neural stem cells properly change gears to produce different kinds of neurons.

15 May 2017

Penn researcher searches for common factor linked to smell loss

Studies have shown that loss of the sense of smell can be among the first warning signs of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

10 May 2017

Scientists study cell’s reaction to Salmonella by visualizing protein chains at near-molecular level

With drug resistance being on the rise worldwide, bacterial infections pose one of the greatest global threats to human health. By deciphering the host-pathogen interaction on a molecular level, researchers hope to pave the way for new therapies.

10 May 2017

Scientists show ability to grow specific neurons for treatment of optic neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists have demonstrated the capacity to grow specialized neurons that relay visual data to the brain, creating a source of cells for future treatments of glaucoma and other optic neurodegenerative diseases.

9 May 2017

Dendritic cells develop from specialized progenitors, research shows

Dendritic cells are gatekeepers of Immunity and are crucial for the detection and initiation of Immunity against pathogens and foreign substances. Up to now dendritic cell subtypes were thought to develop from one common progenitor.

5 May 2017

Easing cellular traffic jams in Huntington’s disease may save brain cells

Working with mouse, fly and human cells and tissue, Johns Hopkins researchers report new evidence that disruptions in the movement of cellular materials in and out of a cell's control center - the nucleus- appear to be a direct cause of brain cell death in Huntington's disease, an inherited adult neurodegenerative disorder.

5 May 2017

ARVO 2017 to showcase latest advances in treatments for eye disease and blindness

The Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology is the largest gathering of eye and vision researchers in the world, with over 11,000 attendees from more than 75 countries.

2 May 2017

SyMRI approach provides myelin maps in scan times of only 5 minutes

It has been a long-standing dream in MRI to move from visualizing tissue contrast differences to directly imaging patient tissue properties. Recent developments within quantitative MRI have provided substantial steps forward in measuring the basic physical properties such as T1 and T2 relaxation times or proton density.