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Regulating neuronal lipid metabolism helps axon regeneration after injury, study finds

Typical examples include paralysis due to a spinal cord injury and visual field atrophy or even complete blindness due to optic nerve atrophy in glaucoma patients.

30 Jan 2020

New method for delivering NSCs to spinal cord injuries may boost repair efforts

Writing in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, an international research team, led by physician-scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, describe a new method for delivering neural precursor cells (NSCs) to spinal cord injuries in rats, reducing the risk of further injury and boosting the propagation of potentially reparative cells.

29 Jan 2020

Link between autism and poor cognition

Autistic people are often brilliant, but they may also have poor cognitive skills. The relationship between autism and either condition, inside the brain, has been far from clear. However, now a new study shows that poor cognition in autism could be due to the influence of a small gene fragment.

29 Jan 2020

New strategy using organoids to study childhood brain tumors

A new study reports the creation of in vitro models of brain tumors in children using organoids derived from stem cells, which will help to screen new drugs for efficacy and thus improve the rate of drug development. The study, titled 'Modeling medulloblastoma in vivo and with human cerebellar organoids,' is published in the journal Nature Communications.

29 Jan 2020

Study elucidates neural mechanisms by which acute stress affects appetite

Stress is prevalent in modern society and can affect human health through its effects on appetite. However, knowledge about the neural mechanisms related to the alteration of the subjective level of appetite caused by acute stress in humans remains limited.

29 Jan 2020

Study helps better understand the development of adolescent brain

New brain networks come 'online' during adolescence, allowing teenagers to develop more complex adult social skills, but potentially putting them at increased risk of mental illness, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

29 Jan 2020

Findings shed new light on how striatum processes information to plan, execute movements

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped how different nerve cells in the brain area striatum process information to plan and execute our movements at just the right time and with the right vigour. The results, presented in the journal Cell Reports, show that different cell types in the striatum receive signals from completely different parts of the cerebral cortex and thus respond to different types of information.

28 Jan 2020

Study could lead to next-generation clinical testing for hidden hearing loss

A pair of biomarkers of brain function -- one that represents "listening effort," and another that measures ability to process rapid changes in frequencies -- may help to explain why a person with normal hearing may struggle to follow conversations in noisy environments, according to a new study led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers.

28 Jan 2020

Non-invasive electrostimulation of the vagus nerve improves memory in mice

Researchers at UPF are testing a new non-invasive method of stimulating the vagus nerve in mice that improves their memory.

28 Jan 2020

Exploring link between elevated blood pressure early in life and dementia

Whether elevated blood pressure early in life translates to increased risk of dementia is a question scientists are working to answer.

28 Jan 2020

Study evaluates the impact of prostate cancer treatment decisions

A five-year follow-up study of more than 2,000 U.S. men who received prostate cancer treatment is creating a road map for future patients regarding long-term bowel, bladder and sexual function in order to clarify expectations and enable men to make informed choices about care.

27 Jan 2020

Study suggests prenatal origin for ‘young’ Parkinson’s disease

A new study published in the journal Nature Medicine on January 2020 suggests that Parkinson’s disease developing before the age of 50 years could be due to an abnormality in certain brain cells that remains dormant until the age of onset of the disease. It also indicates the potential usefulness of a specific drug to prevent this by correcting the brain cell disorder.

27 Jan 2020

Autism diagnosis test is less reliable than previously assumed, study finds

Rutgers researchers have found that a test widely used to diagnose whether children have autism is less reliable than previously assumed.

27 Jan 2020

Medi-Cal benefits eliminated a decade ago, such as foot care and eyeglasses, are back

San Diego podiatrist Dr. John Chisholm recalls the jolt some of his patients felt in 2009 when Medi-Cal, the government-funded health insurance in California for low-income people, eliminated coverage for podiatry care and several other benefits for adults due to a massive budget shortfall engendered by the Great Recession.

27 Jan 2020

Medtronic: RCT demonstrates profound back pain relief with DTM therapy

Medtronic plc today announced three-month results from a large, multicenter randomized controlled trial showing statistically significant (p=0.0009) and superior back pain relief with Differential Target Multiplexed (DTM) Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) compared to conventional SCS.

From Medtronic 27 Jan 2020

Prescription drug bumetanide could help treat autism

A new drug called bumetanide, which is used to treat edema, shows promise in treating some symptoms of autism in young children, while not showing significant adverse effects. The study was published in January 2020 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

26 Jan 2020

Biodegradable bridge for nerve injuries

Researchers have successfully tried a biodegradable bridge like device (biodegradable polycaprolactone PCL conduit) in vivo for management of nerve injuries. The team published their findings in a paper titled, “Long-gap peripheral nerve repair through sustained release of a neurotrophic factor in nonhuman primates,” in the latest issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

26 Jan 2020