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Johns Hopkins study shows high doses of cocaine kill brain cells

Working with mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have contributed significant new evidence to support the idea that high doses of cocaine kill brain cells by triggering overactive autophagy, a process in which cells literally digest their own insides. Their results, moreover, bring with them a possible antidote, an experimental compound dubbed CGP3466B.

19 Jan 2016

Gene linked to autism lays groundwork for crucial brain structure during prenatal development

A gene linked to mental disorders helps lays the foundation for a crucial brain structure during prenatal development, according to Salk Institute research published January 14, 2016 in Cell Reports.

18 Jan 2016

Determining Ectopeptidase Activity: An Interview with Professor Stephen Weber, University of Pittsburgh

The scope of the activity of neuropeptides is remarkably broad. For example, neuropeptides are involved in pain control, mood/depression/eating disorders, social and emotional behaviour, body weight, drug abuse, stress, reproduction, motor control, memory, and in maintaining neuronal health when they are stressed.

From Pittcon 14 Jan 2016

UCLA discovery could lead to new therapies for autism

UCLA scientists have discovered that an overlooked region in brain cells houses a motherlode of mutated genes previously tied to autism. Recently published in Neuron, the finding could provide fresh drug targets and lead to new therapies for the disorder, which affects one in 68 children in the United States.

13 Jan 2016

Scientists identify unusual regulator of body weight, metabolic syndrome

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered an unusual regulator of body weight and the metabolic syndrome: a molecular mechanism more commonly associated with brain cells. Lowering levels of P75 neurotrophin receptor (NTR)--a receptor involved in neuron growth and survival--protected mice fed a high-fat diet from developing obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.

12 Jan 2016

Scientists discover protein interaction that describes aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the University of Würzburg in Germany have identified a protein interaction that is a hallmark of an aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma and that may provide a new treatment strategy.

12 Jan 2016

DNA-binding protein acts like genetic traffic signal to orchestrate early stage embryonic development

New research by UC San Francisco stem cell biologists has revealed that a DNA-binding protein called Foxd3 acts like a genetic traffic signal, holding that ball of undifferentiated cells in a state of readiness for its great transformation in the third week of development.

11 Jan 2016

Scientists discover molecular mechanism responsible for degeneration of Purkinje cells in SCA1

Scientists from Bern have discovered a mechanism which is responsible for the degeneration of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum in a neurodegenerative disease called Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. The results of their study open up new avenues for the future treatment of cerebellum associated degenerative disorders.

7 Jan 2016

Scientists reveal underlying mechanisms that lead to more difficult-to-treat symptoms of schizophrenia

Scientists at Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, and the Université Paris Descartes have found that deficits in social memory--a crucial yet poorly understood feature of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia--may be due to a decrease in the number of a particular class of brain cells, called inhibitory neurons, in a little-explored region within the brain's memory center.

7 Jan 2016

Researchers link idiopathic congenital nystagmus to a defect in neurocomputation

Botond Roska and his group at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research implicate a clearly defined neuron type and its circuit in the retina in the pathophysiology of idiopathic congenital nystagmus.

6 Jan 2016

Scientists demonstrate workings of CCL2 mechanism that stimulates nerve regeneration

The peripheral nervous system is a vast network of nerves that exists primarily outside of brain and spinal cord and connects to the far reaches of the body. The very expanse of peripheral nerves makes them highly vulnerable to injuries such as blunt-force blows, cuts, and leg and arm fractures, as well as diseases that attack peripheral nerves such as diabetes, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.

6 Jan 2016

Alpha-synuclein protein involved in Parkinson's disease pathology does not behave like a 'prion'

In Parkinson's disease, the protein "alpha-synuclein" aggregates within neurons of patients and appears to propagate across interconnected areas of the brain. How this happens remains largely unknown.

6 Jan 2016

Acute bulbar palsy variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome found

Researchers have identified a new variant form of Guillain-Barré syndrome that is characterised by prominent acute bulbar palsy without neck or limb weakness.

5 Jan 2016

3-D recordings of nematode brains may help understand how neurons coordinate action and perception

Princeton University researchers have captured among the first recordings of neural activity in nearly the entire brain of a free-moving animal. The three-dimensional recordings could provide scientists with a better understanding of how neurons coordinate action and perception in animals.

31 Dec 2015

Scientists pin down structure of neuronal protein clumps associated with ALS

To create treatments for a disease without any, scientists need to study and understand the driving forces behind the faulty biology. Today, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine announced the first-ever evidence-based description of the neuronal protein clumps thought to be important in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a fatal neurodegenerative condition.

29 Dec 2015

Ultrafast near-infrared lasers deliver gene therapy to treat macular degeneration

Millions of adults over age 50 struggle each year with vision loss caused by damage to the retina or common macular degeneration.

24 Dec 2015

Researchers describe epigenetic mechanisms underlying the development of cerebellum

From before birth through childhood, connections form between neurons in the brain, ultimately making us who we are. So far, scientists have gained a relatively good understanding of how neural circuits become established, but they know less about the genetic control at play during this crucial developmental process.

23 Dec 2015

Salk researchers move one step closer to unlocking how the brain functions

How the brain functions is still a black box: scientists aren't even sure how many kinds of nerve cells exist in the brain. To know how the brain works, they need to know not only what types of nerve cells exist, but also how they work together. Researchers at the Salk Institute have gotten one step closer to unlocking this black box.

17 Dec 2015

Understanding how thought arises from brain structure

Using 20 years of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from tens of thousands of brain imaging experiments, computational neuroscientists Hava Siegelmann and a postdoctoral colleague at the University of Massachusetts have created a geometry-based method for massive data analysis to reach a new understanding of how thought arises from brain structure.

17 Dec 2015

Researchers identify dazzling new method for visualizing neurons

Researchers have discovered a dazzling new method of visualizing neurons that promises to benefit neuroscientists and cell biologists alike: by using spectral confocal microscopy to image tissues impregnated with silver or gold.

16 Dec 2015

Neuron News and Research

Johns Hopkins study shows high doses of cocaine kill brain cells

Gene linked to autism lays groundwork for crucial brain structure during prenatal development

Determining Ectopeptidase Activity: An Interview with Professor Stephen Weber, University of Pittsburgh

UCLA discovery could lead to new therapies for autism

Scientists identify unusual regulator of body weight, metabolic syndrome

Scientists discover protein interaction that describes aggressive subtype of medulloblastoma

DNA-binding protein acts like genetic traffic signal to orchestrate early stage embryonic development

Scientists discover molecular mechanism responsible for degeneration of Purkinje cells in SCA1

Scientists reveal underlying mechanisms that lead to more difficult-to-treat symptoms of schizophrenia

Researchers link idiopathic congenital nystagmus to a defect in neurocomputation

Scientists demonstrate workings of CCL2 mechanism that stimulates nerve regeneration

Alpha-synuclein protein involved in Parkinson's disease pathology does not behave like a 'prion'

Acute bulbar palsy variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome found

3-D recordings of nematode brains may help understand how neurons coordinate action and perception

Scientists pin down structure of neuronal protein clumps associated with ALS

Ultrafast near-infrared lasers deliver gene therapy to treat macular degeneration

Researchers describe epigenetic mechanisms underlying the development of cerebellum

Salk researchers move one step closer to unlocking how the brain functions

Understanding how thought arises from brain structure

Researchers identify dazzling new method for visualizing neurons

Human iPSCs: A Full Guide to Advanced in Vitro Models and Applications eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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