Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

YAP protein plays vital role in development of human neural crest

The Hippo/YAP signalling pathway plays a crucial role when the cells of the neural crest - a structure that generates cell types such as bones and nerve tissue - specialise for a certain function in the human embryo and migrate to their target region within the body.

22 Mar 2016

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

An overwhelming number of researchers still struggle within the black hole of the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy for neurological diseases. While the complexity of understanding how neurons grow, connect and function has long been studied, it remains a mystery, one that graduate student Forrest Goodfellow in the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center is helping unravel.

22 Mar 2016

Tews Laboratory uses LaVision BioTec UltraMicroscope to study molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion

LaVision BioTec, developers of advanced microscopy solutions for the life sciences, report on the work in the Tews Laboratory which is studying the molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion using an UltraMicroscope for enhanced imaging of cells.

22 Mar 2016

Key molecule in breast, lung cancer cells can help prevent spread of cancer

Scientists have revealed that a key molecule in breast and lung cancer cells can help switch off the cancers' ability to spread around the body.

22 Mar 2016

Antipsychotic drugs may do significantly more harm to Parkinson's disease patients

At least half of Parkinson's disease patients experience psychosis at some point during the course of their illness, and physicians commonly prescribe antipsychotic drugs, such as quetiapine, to treat the condition. However, a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan Medical School, and the Philadelphia and Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and suggests that these drugs may do significantly more harm in a subset of patients.

21 Mar 2016

KORs could be potential drug target for treatment of addiction, anxiety disorders

University of North Carolina researchers uncovered a cellular mechanism by which kappa opioid receptors (KOR) drive anxiety. These proteins inhibit the release of the neurotransmitter glutamate in a part of the brain that regulates emotion.

21 Mar 2016

WHO sends experts to monitor Zika virus in Cabo Verde

Responding to a request from the Ministry of Health in Cabo Verde, the World Health Organization is sending a team to Cabo Verde, with joint participation of experts from WHO AFRO and the Institut Pasteur, Dakar.

21 Mar 2016

St. Luke’s surgeon first in world to implant Medtronic’s new, MRI-compatible neurostimulator system

Steven Falowski, MD, Chief of Functional Neurosurgery at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania today was the first surgeon in the world to implant Medtronic’s brand new, full-body, MRI-compatible paddle electrode leads for the Restore neurostimulator system.

21 Mar 2016

Aging-associated changes begin earlier than expected in human brain

A new study published in Physiological Genomics suggests that the brain shows signs of aging earlier than old age. The study found that the microglia cells—the immune cells of the brain—in middle-aged mice already showed altered activity seen in microglia from older mice.

21 Mar 2016

IUPUI investigators use stem cells to identify potential therapies to prevent glaucoma

Using stem cells derived from human skin cells, researchers led by Jason Meyer, assistant professor of biology, along with graduate student Sarah Ohlemacher of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain.

21 Mar 2016

Researchers elucidate mechanisms underlying impaired ciliogenesis in PKD

In an article published online ahead of print on Feb. 19, 2015 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center report findings from in vitro and in vivo studies that elucidate the mechanisms underlying the impaired ciliogenesis and abnormal kidney development characteristic of polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

21 Mar 2016

Scientists discover neural pathway that induces forgetting by actively erasing memories

They say that once you've learned to ride a bicycle, you never forget how to do it. But new research suggests that while learning, the brain is actively trying to forget. The study, by scientists at EMBL and University Pablo Olavide in Sevilla, Spain, is published today in Nature Communications

21 Mar 2016

Study points to potential way to make people behave in less selfish, more altruistic ways

It's an age-old quandary: Are we born "noble savages" whose best intentions are corrupted by civilization, as the 18th century Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau contended? Or are we fundamentally selfish brutes who need civilization to rein in our base impulses, as the 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued? After exploring the areas of the brain that fuel our empathetic impulses -- and temporarily disabling other regions that oppose those impulses -- two UCLA neuroscientists are coming down on the optimistic side of human nature.

21 Mar 2016

New type of nerve cells appears to control feeding behaviors in mice

While researching the brain's learning and memory system, scientists at Johns Hopkins say they stumbled upon a new type of nerve cell that seems to control feeding behaviors in mice. The finding, they report, adds significant detail to the way brains tell animals when to stop eating and, if confirmed in humans, could lead to new tools for fighting obesity. Details of the study will be published by the journal Science on March 18.

20 Mar 2016

Innovative treatment may help prevent brain swelling, death in stroke patients

New research has provided more evidence that an innovative treatment strategy may help prevent brain swelling and death in stroke patients. J. Marc Simard, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Yale University and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that Cirara, an investigational drug, powerfully reduced brain swelling and death in patients who had suffered a type of large stroke called malignant infarction, which normally carries a high mortality rate.

19 Mar 2016

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate specific leftward asymmetry for globus pallidus volume

A Japanese research group found that patients with schizophrenia demonstrated a specific leftward volumetric asymmetry for the globus pallidus, one of the basal ganglia of the brain. The basal ganglia are involved in motivation and volition, the impairment of which may result in difficulties in social life. This finding is expected to help elucidate the underlying pathological mechanisms of schizophrenia. Moreover, it will be a step toward the development of therapeutic strategies for schizophrenia.

19 Mar 2016

Manipulation of NAD could lead to potential therapy for acute kidney injury

Approximately one out of five hospitalized adults and one out of three hospitalized children worldwide experience acute kidney injury, the sudden loss of kidney function. Many different factors, including surgery, chemotherapy or shock, can lead to acute kidney injury, but exactly why the kidneys are so vulnerable to these and other stressors has not been well understood.

19 Mar 2016

Transcranial direct current stimulation assists chronic stroke rehabilitation

Adding ipsilesional anodal transcranial direct current stimulation to upper limb rehabilitation delivers motor improvements in chronic stroke patients that last for at least 3 months, a randomised trial shows.

18 Mar 2016

Chronic pain patients can reduce emotional response to pain through spinal cord stimulation

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have shown that patients who have chronic pain can reduce their emotional response to the pain through spinal cord stimulation.

18 Mar 2016

Brain's immune cells play direct role in development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Cedars-Sinai research scientists have found that immune cells in the brain play a direct role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, offering hope for new therapies to target the neurodegenerative disease that gradually leads to paralysis and death.

18 Mar 2016

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

YAP protein plays vital role in development of human neural crest

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

Tews Laboratory uses LaVision BioTec UltraMicroscope to study molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion

Key molecule in breast, lung cancer cells can help prevent spread of cancer

Antipsychotic drugs may do significantly more harm to Parkinson's disease patients

KORs could be potential drug target for treatment of addiction, anxiety disorders

WHO sends experts to monitor Zika virus in Cabo Verde

St. Luke’s surgeon first in world to implant Medtronic’s new, MRI-compatible neurostimulator system

Aging-associated changes begin earlier than expected in human brain

IUPUI investigators use stem cells to identify potential therapies to prevent glaucoma

Researchers elucidate mechanisms underlying impaired ciliogenesis in PKD

Scientists discover neural pathway that induces forgetting by actively erasing memories

Study points to potential way to make people behave in less selfish, more altruistic ways

New type of nerve cells appears to control feeding behaviors in mice

Innovative treatment may help prevent brain swelling, death in stroke patients

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate specific leftward asymmetry for globus pallidus volume

Manipulation of NAD could lead to potential therapy for acute kidney injury

Transcranial direct current stimulation assists chronic stroke rehabilitation

Chronic pain patients can reduce emotional response to pain through spinal cord stimulation

Brain's immune cells play direct role in development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

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Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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