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Exosomes provide a promising way to induce human stem cell differentiation

Regenerative medicine using stem cells is an increasingly promising approach to treat many types of injury. Transplanted stem cells can differentiate into just about any other kind of cell, including neurons to potentially reconnect a severed spinal cord and repair paralysis.

16 Sep 2015

USF study shows spleen may be a new target for treating stroke-induced chronic inflammation

Stroke injures the brain, but a new University of South Florida study indicates an abdominal organ that plays a vital role in immune function, the spleen, may be a target for treating stroke-induced chronic inflammation leading to further brain cell death.

16 Sep 2015

Human Brain Project aims at detailed simulations of human brain

The goal of brain simulations using supercomputers is to understand the processes in our brain. This is a mammoth task: the activity of an estimated 100 billion nerve cells - also known as neurons - must be represented .

14 Sep 2015

Study reveals why long-term use of L-DOPA leads to dyskinesia

Researchers have discovered why long-term use of L-DOPA (levodopa), the most effective treatment for Parkinson's disease, commonly leads to a movement problem called dyskinesia, a side effect that can be as debilitating as Parkinson's disease itself.

11 Sep 2015

Professor Hawking to open inaugural Cambridge Rare Disease Summit on 14 September, 2015

Professor Hawking was famously diagnosed with the rare motor neuron disease at 21, and was told science had no answers. He has of course gone on to live a long and productive life, and the Cambridge Rare Disease Summit will discuss how to make this a reality for the 3.5 million other Britons who live with a rare disease.

11 Sep 2015

Why do we sleep? An interview with Professor Wisden

It is true that we still do not know why we need to sleep every night. Sleep is essential for health. We have to do it every day. But nobody yet knows why. This fact amazes me.

8 Sep 2015

Research findings may help explain why drug treatments for addiction, depression are not always effective

New research may help explain why drug treatments for addiction and depression don't work for some patients. The conditions are linked to reward and aversion responses in the brain. Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered brain pathways linked to reward and aversion behaviors are in such close proximity that they unintentionally could be activated at the same time.

3 Sep 2015

Researchers create method to watch activity of motor neurons in real time

When you're taking a walk around the block, your body is mostly on autopilot--you don't have to consciously think about alternating which leg you step with or which muscles it takes to lift a foot and put it back down. That's thanks to a set of cells in your spinal cord that help translate messages between your brain and your motor neurons, which control muscles.

3 Sep 2015

Scientists pinpoint neurons responsible for alcohol consumption

Scientists have pinpointed a population of neurons in the brain that influences whether one drink leads to two, which could ultimately lead to a cure for alcoholism and other addictions.

3 Sep 2015

Cholinergic neurons in basal forebrain broadcast message throughout the cerebral cortex

When a large combat unit, widely dispersed in dense jungle, goes to battle, no single soldier knows precisely how his actions are affecting the unit's success or failure. But in modern armies, every soldier is connected via an audio link that can instantly receive broadcasts - reporting both positive and negative surprises - based on new intelligence. The real-time broadcasts enable dispersed troops to learn from these reports and can be critical since no solider has an overview of the entire unit's situation.

28 Aug 2015

Common gene mutation may cause brain damage associated with ALS and FTD

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered some of the first steps in how a very common gene mutation causes the brain damage associated with both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

27 Aug 2015

Brief exposure to sudden sounds or mild trauma can form long-term memories

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found how even brief exposure to sudden sounds or mild trauma can form permanent, long-term brain connections, or memories, in a specific region of the brain. Moreover, the research team, working with rats, says it was able to chemically stimulate those biological pathways in the locus coeruleus -- the area of the brain best known for releasing the "fight or flight" hormone noradrenaline -- to heighten and improve the animals' hearing.

25 Aug 2015

Researchers examine relationship between energy needs and 'pleasure' of eating in food intake

A team at the Laboratoire biologie fonctionnelle et adaptative (CNRS/Université Paris Diderot) investigated the relative role of energy needs and "pleasure" of eating in food intake. The researchers studied a group of neurons in mice. They observed that when the neuron activity is compromised, feeding behavior becomes less related to the body's metabolic needs and more dependent on food palatability.

24 Aug 2015

Transplanting mesenchymal stromal cells derived from amniotic membranes can benefit eye diseases

A team of researchers in South Korea has successfully transplanted mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from human amniotic membranes of the placenta (AMSCs) into laboratory mice modeled with oxygen-induced retinopathy (a murine model used to mimic eye disease).

20 Aug 2015

Amherst neurobiologists awarded grant to study how neurons regulate locomotion

Neurobiologist Gerald Downes, with chemist James Chambers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Amherst College neurobiologist Josef Trapani, have been awarded a three-year $824,025 collaborative research grant from the National Science Foundation to study the zebrafish brain to better understand how neurons regulate locomotion.

20 Aug 2015

Researchers reveal new pathway that governs proper sorting of essential synaptic proteins in neurons

Genetic analysis of human patients has shown that mutations in genes involved in synaptic communication can drive neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases such as autism spectrum disorder and Alzheimer's disease.

20 Aug 2015

Further understanding of genetic influence in ALS to be explored in new partnership

Biogen, the ALS Association and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) today announced a new collaboration to better understand the differences and commonalities in the ALS disease process and how genes influence the clinical features of the disease.

19 Aug 2015

Scientists map 3-D atomic structure of protein complex that controls neurotransmitter release from brain cells

Scientists have revealed never-before-seen details of how our brain sends rapid-fire messages between its cells. They mapped the 3-D atomic structure of a two-part protein complex that controls the release of signaling chemicals, called neurotransmitters, from brain cells. Understanding how cells release those signals in less than one-thousandth of a second could help launch a new wave of research on drugs for treating brain disorders.

18 Aug 2015

Neuroscientist discovers how animal's biological clock wakes up, goes to sleep

Fifteen years ago, an odd mutant fruit fly caught the attention and curiosity of Dr. Ravi Allada, a circadian rhythms expert at Northwestern University, leading the neuroscientist to recently discover how an animal's biological clock wakes it up in the morning and puts it to sleep at night.

14 Aug 2015

Study suggests potential target for treating familial form of ALS

A healthy motor neuron needs to transport its damaged components from the nerve-muscle connection all the way back to the cell body in the spinal cord. If it cannot, the defective components pile up and the cell becomes sick and dies. Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have learned how a mutation in the gene for superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), which causes ALS, leads cells to accumulate damaged materials.

13 Aug 2015

Neuron News and Research

Exosomes provide a promising way to induce human stem cell differentiation

USF study shows spleen may be a new target for treating stroke-induced chronic inflammation

Human Brain Project aims at detailed simulations of human brain

Study reveals why long-term use of L-DOPA leads to dyskinesia

Professor Hawking to open inaugural Cambridge Rare Disease Summit on 14 September, 2015

Why do we sleep? An interview with Professor Wisden

Research findings may help explain why drug treatments for addiction, depression are not always effective

Researchers create method to watch activity of motor neurons in real time

Scientists pinpoint neurons responsible for alcohol consumption

Cholinergic neurons in basal forebrain broadcast message throughout the cerebral cortex

Common gene mutation may cause brain damage associated with ALS and FTD

Brief exposure to sudden sounds or mild trauma can form long-term memories

Researchers examine relationship between energy needs and 'pleasure' of eating in food intake

Transplanting mesenchymal stromal cells derived from amniotic membranes can benefit eye diseases

Amherst neurobiologists awarded grant to study how neurons regulate locomotion

Researchers reveal new pathway that governs proper sorting of essential synaptic proteins in neurons

Further understanding of genetic influence in ALS to be explored in new partnership

Scientists map 3-D atomic structure of protein complex that controls neurotransmitter release from brain cells

Neuroscientist discovers how animal's biological clock wakes up, goes to sleep

Study suggests potential target for treating familial form of ALS

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