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Researchers discover new role of enzyme in promoting self-destruction of axons

Scientists in the Vollum Institute at OHSU have identified an enzyme that plays a crucial role in the degeneration of axons, the threadlike portions of a nerve cell that transmit signals within the nervous system.

14 Jul 2017

CRISPR technology shows potential as a “molecular recorder” through DNA encoded movie

The researchers from Harvard University, Seth L. Shipman, Jeff Nivala, Jeffrey D. Macklis and George M. Church, believe that their study is a major step forward to a "molecular recorder" that may someday make it possible to get read-outs, has published online their proof-of-concept on July 12, 2017, in the journal Nature.

14 Jul 2017

Rice engineers building flat microscope to monitor, stimulate neurons in the brain

Rice University engineers are building a flat microscope, called FlatScope TM, and developing software that can decode and trigger neurons on the surface of the brain.

13 Jul 2017

MPFI researchers reveal new technique to probe function of cerebellar interneurons

The cerebellum is an area of brain at the back of your head involved in movement. Its neuronal circuitry is relatively simple compared to other areas, but scientists still have a lot left to learn regarding its role in motor control and motor learning.

13 Jul 2017

E-Scape Bio announces extension of funding to develop novel drug for Alzheimer's disease

E-Scape Bio announced an extension of its Series A funding to a total of $63 million. Created as a spin-off from research conducted at the Gladstone Institutes, E-Scape Bio is a biopharmaceutical company with a mission to develop new therapies to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

12 Jul 2017

NYU researcher to study biological differences between men and women in oral cancer pain

Nicole Scheff, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Brian L. Schmidt, director of the NYU Bluestone Center for Clinical Research and the NYU Oral Cancer Center, both located at New York University College of Dentistry, has received a two-year, $120,000-plus F32 grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

10 Jul 2017

Greater neural adaptations following high-load training may explain differences in muscle strength

A recent study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has given new meaning to the concept of brain power by suggesting that physical strength might stem as much from exercising the nervous system as the muscles it controls.

10 Jul 2017

IBS scientists control memory by modulating synchronized brain waves during deep sleep

Have you ever tried to recall something just before going to sleep and then wake up with the memory fresh in your mind? While we absorb so much information during the day consciously or unconsciously, it is during shut eye that a lot of facts are dispatched to be filed away or fall into oblivion.

6 Jul 2017

Neural network model judges images to predict melanoma with high degree of accuracy

It's a mark on your skin you've never noticed before. It's a spot with irregular borders, or a mole that seems to be changing. Maybe it's a wound that does not heal.

6 Jul 2017

Neuroscientists propose new line of thinking in how the brain forms memories

Neuroscientists from the University of Chicago argue that research on how memories form in the brain should consider activity of groups of brain cells working together, not just the connections between them.

5 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

Researchers develop new technique to capture neuron activity

Many cognitive processes, such as decision-making, take place within seconds or minutes. Neuroscientists have longed to capture neuron activity during such tasks, but that dream has remained elusive -- until now.

27 Jun 2017

Carbon nanotubes show great potential to facilitate neuronal regeneration

Carbon nanotubes exhibit interesting characteristics rendering them particularly suited to the construction of special hybrid devices - consisting of biological issue and synthetic material - planned to re-establish connections between nerve cells, for instance at spinal level, lost on account of lesions or trauma.

27 Jun 2017

Research provides insights into how light may interact with the brain to affect sleep

Humans are diurnal animals, meaning that we usually sleep at night and are awake during the day, due at least in part to light or the lack thereof. Light is known to affect sleep indirectly by entraining--modifying the length of--our circadian rhythms and also rapidly and directly due to a phenomenon known as masking.

23 Jun 2017

Researchers identify first definitive risk genes for Tourette Syndrome

An international team that just conducted the largest study of Tourette Syndrome has identified genetic abnormalities that are the first definitive risk genes for the disorder.

23 Jun 2017

Memories stored in same neuron can be selectively erased, study suggests

Different types of memories stored in the same neuron of the marine snail Aplysia can be selectively erased, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and McGill University and published today in Current Biology.

22 Jun 2017

Japanese scientists show how male pheromone enhances female sexual behavior in mice

A study by a group of Japanese scientists showed how a male pheromone in mice enhances sexual behaviors in females--and how it may enhance a different behavior, aggression, in males -- by identifying distinct neural circuits and neurons that generate a particular behavioral response to specific chemical signals.

22 Jun 2017

Scientists discover biological fingerprint in children with tuberculosis meningitis

Children with tuberculosis meningitis - a brain and spinal cord infection that leads to disability and death -- have a biological fingerprint that can be used to assess the severity of the condition, help decide the best course of treatment, and provide clues for novel treatments, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London and the University of Cape Town reveal.

21 Jun 2017

Study identifies structural changes in genes that increase risk of Tourette syndrome

Researchers have identified structural changes in two genes that increase the risk of developing Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary motor and vocal tics.