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Space-based investigation helps address challenges involved in learning more about the human brain

Researchers studying neurological diseases face several daunting challenges. For one thing, these conditions may take years or even decades to develop.

25 Sep 2019

The ear's sensitivity to sound is controlled by outer hair cells

The human inner ear has a type of cell called the outer hair cell. These were thought to amplify sounds from the environment. However, a new study based on hearing in gerbils shows these cells are probably involved in regulating the sensitivity of the ear to sound. This could help find ways to preserve good hearing by protecting these cells from destruction.

25 Sep 2019

Turmeric adulteration: eating your brain?

Turmeric is a brightly colored yellow spice with numerous health benefits, including anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic. However, a recent study shows that the turmeric grown in Bangladesh can contain up to 500 times the level found at the national average.

25 Sep 2019

Thinning of human brain during childhood linked with myelination

Using state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques, Vaidehi Natu at Stanford University in California, along with her colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, provide striking results that suggest the brains of children likely do not thin as much as expected.

24 Sep 2019

It’s not just insulin: Diabetes patients struggle to get crucial supplies

In the first three months after getting his Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, Ric Peralta said, he reduced his average blood sugar level by 3 percentage points.

24 Sep 2019

Advancing towards 100% effective herpes vaccine

Genital herpes, caused by the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a very common sexually transmitted infection (STI). It affects 14% of Americans aged 15-49 years. There is no herpes vaccine at present. Many failed attempts at vaccine production have centered around HSV proteins.

23 Sep 2019

Researchers use high-throughput mutagenesis approach to study ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a devastating and incurable nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control and normally death within a few years of diagnosis.

23 Sep 2019

RNA hitches lysosome rides to make proteins far away from the nucleus

Proteins inside a cell are often made at the site where they are used, rather than being shipped long distances. This is so with nerve cells which have long cell extensions in the form of axons and dendrites, up to four feet long in some case

22 Sep 2019

Advancements in pain management are giving new options to patients

Hardly a day goes by without the public being warned about the dangers of opioids. But still, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 130 people die every day of opioid overdose and the problem is getting worse.

21 Sep 2019

Targeting specific enzyme could combat Alzheimer’s disease on two fronts

UQ researchers have discovered a potential drug target for Alzheimer’s disease — an enzyme which has effects on both the immune and nervous systems.

19 Sep 2019

Turtle study offers insight into where and how movements are actually generated

With a study of the network between nerve and muscle cells in turtles, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have gained new insight into the way in which movements are generated and maintained.

19 Sep 2019

NMDAR receptor is responsible for breast-to-brain metastases, shows study

In 2018, breast cancer was the most common cancer in women worldwide, accounting for about a quarter of all reported cancers. One of the biggest problems with any type of cancer is metastasis; and when breast cancer metastasizes, the brain is a common destination.

19 Sep 2019

Research identifies key molecule that stabilizes neuronal branching for healthy brain circuitry

Neurons form circuits in our brain by creating tree-like branches to connect with each other. Newly forming branches rely on the stability of microtubules, a railway-like system important for the transport of materials in cells.

18 Sep 2019

New peptides improve memory in mice with Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects over 44 million people the world over. But now, neurologist Jack Jhamandas and his team have found two short peptides which, on daily injection into mice with symptoms of AD for just five weeks, led to a significant improvement.

18 Sep 2019

Exercise may delay brain deterioration in people at high risk for Alzheimer's

Exercising several times a week may delay brain deterioration in people at high risk for Alzheimer's disease, according to a study that scientists say merits further research to establish whether fitness can affect the progression of dementia.

18 Sep 2019

New results revealed from pilot stem cell study for stroke

Researchers led by Sean I. Savitz, MD, reported today in the journal Stem Cells that bone marrow cells used to treat ischemic stroke in an expanded Phase I trial were not only safe and feasible, but also resulted in enhanced recovery compared to a matched historical control group.

17 Sep 2019

Scientists pinpoint cause of fatal genetic disorder in children

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis appear to have solved a decades-long mystery regarding the precise biochemical pathway leading to a fatal genetic disorder in children that results in seizures, developmental regression and death, usually around age 3.

17 Sep 2019

Using everyday materials as tissue scaffolds

As the global demand for tissue and organ transplants significantly outstrips supply, tissue engineering might provide a potential solution. But one of the significant challenges in tissue engineering is growing tissue in 3D, and the scaffolds used to position cells to develop tissue-specific functions are often challenging or prohibitively expensive to develop.

17 Sep 2019

New therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes

There is a growing body of knowledge that points that type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease where the blood sugar increases, is an inflammatory disease. The levels of certain inflammatory chemicals, dubbed as cytokines, are often higher in people with type 2 diabetes, than healthy people.

16 Sep 2019

Experts offer insights into new class of migraine medications

As research continues to show progress towards minimizing the effects of headache disorders on patients' lives, Practical Neurology gathered insights from experts in the field at The American Headache Society 61st Annual Scientific Meeting this year, where new data looking at a range of approaches from nerve stimulation to monoclonal antibodies and neuromodulation devices revealed advancements in migraine treatment.

16 Sep 2019