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Sleep helps recalibrate brain cells responsible for learning and memory, mice study shows

Studying mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have fortified evidence that a key purpose of sleep is to recalibrate the brain cells responsible for learning and memory so the animals can "solidify" lessons learned and use them when they awaken -- in the case of nocturnal mice, the next evening.

3 Feb 2017

New technology enables “completely locked-in” patients to communicate

A brain─computer interface has enabled people with “locked-in” syndrome to communicate, according to trial results published in PLOS Biology. The device was able to decipher the thoughts of four patients who were unable to speak, move or blink and relay “yes” or “no” answers to basic questions.

2 Feb 2017

Brain-computer interface could revolutionize lives of people with completely locked-in syndrome

A computer interface that can decipher the thoughts of people who are unable to communicate could revolutionize the lives of those living with completely locked-in syndrome, according to a new paper publishing January 31st, 2017 in PLOS Biology.

1 Feb 2017

Study reveals new molecular mechanism vital for associative memory encoding in the hippocampus

A new study, published on the cover of the scientific journal Biological Psychiatry and lead by Dr Carlos Saura from the Institut de Neurociències at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, reveals a new molecular mechanism essential for associative memory encoding in the hippocampus.

31 Jan 2017

Novel potassium channel genes could be promising therapeutic targets for alcohol use disorder

A handful of FDA-approved drugs exist for treating individuals with alcohol use disorder but they have been largely ineffective at reducing the high rates of relapse. As such, there remains a critical need to identify and develop alternative pharmacological treatment options.

31 Jan 2017

Researchers shed light on basis of Parkinson’s disease and other ‘synucleinopathies’

Parkinson's disease (PD) and other "synucleinopathies" are known to be linked to the misfolding of alpha-synuclein protein in neurons.

27 Jan 2017

Penn researchers unravel missing steps involved in movement of cellular cargo

Every time a hormone is released from a cell, every time a neurotransmitter leaps across a synapse to relay a message from one neuron to another, the cell must undergo exocytosis.

24 Jan 2017

Researchers find new way to quantify olfactory sensory neurons using PET radiotracer

Olfactory health - how well we are able to smell - is a reliable marker of the health of the brain, but the "smell identification tests" commonly used in studies of olfactory health do not offer a complete picture of what is happening.

24 Jan 2017

Salk Institute researchers reveal how to curb immune enthusiasm

Normally when we think of viruses, from the common cold to HIV, we want to boost people's immunity to fight them.

20 Jan 2017

Tau pathology underlies deterioration of spatial cognition in Alzheimer's disease

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have discovered that the spatial disorientation that leads to wandering in many Alzheimer's disease patients is caused by the accumulation of tau protein in navigational nerve cells in the brain.

20 Jan 2017

Study reveals mechanism for illness-induced sleepiness in humans and animals

It's well known that humans and other animals are fatigued and sleepy when sick, but it's a microscopic roundworm that's providing an explanation of how that occurs, according to a study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

19 Jan 2017

Mutations in gene that enables memories, sense of direction can contribute to schizophrenia symptoms

Mutations in a gene that should enable memories and a sense of direction instead can result in imprecise communication between neurons that contributes to symptoms of schizophrenia, scientists report.

19 Jan 2017

Blocking molecular signaling pathway could prevent or reverse peripheral neuropathy

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the University of Manitoba and St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre in Canada, have identified a molecular signaling pathway that, when blocked, promotes sensory neuron growth and prevents or reverses peripheral neuropathy in cell and rodent models of type 1 and 2 diabetes, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy and HIV.

18 Jan 2017

Researchers discover role of neuron protein in learning abilities and AIDS-related dementia

Researchers from the University of California and Cardiff University have made a breakthrough in the understanding of AIDS-related dementia, discovering the role of a neuron protein which was also found to affect learning abilities in healthy subjects.

18 Jan 2017

Antibiotics targeting brain’s inflammatory response may exacerbate cognitive deficits in children

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of disability and death in infants and children in the United States, with more than half a million affected annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

11 Jan 2017

Orphan Disease Center establishes new initiative that focuses on ALS

The Orphan Disease Center in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has established a new Program of Excellence for Motor Neuron Disease.

10 Jan 2017

Johns Hopkins researchers identify new biological target for treating spinal muscular atrophy

Johns Hopkins researchers along with academic and drug industry investigators say they have identified a new biological target for treating spinal muscular atrophy.

9 Jan 2017

The 10th annual symposium at UC Riverside focuses on glial-neuronal interactions in health and disease

The brain is home to two kinds of cells: neurons and glia, with the latter protecting the former. Glia, the stuff between neurons, are important also because they regulate and define neuron-neuron communication.

9 Jan 2017

Research provides new insights into how the brain processes visual information to control behavior

What you see is not always what you get. And that, researchers at The Rockefeller University have discovered, is a good thing.

6 Jan 2017

Protein involved in neurological disorders can travel from brain to stomach

Researchers of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases have found that "alpha-synuclein", a protein involved in a series of neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease, is capable of travelling from brain to stomach and that it does so following a specific pathway.

5 Jan 2017