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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.

Study suggests Golgi as potential drug target for Alzheimer's treatment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) progresses inside the brain in a rising storm of cellular chaos as deposits of the toxic protein, amyloid-beta (Aβ), overwhelm neurons. An apparent side effect of accumulating Aβ in neurons is the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus, the part of the cell involved in packaging and sorting protein cargo including the precursor of Aβ. But is the destruction the Golgi a kind of collateral damage from the Aβ storm or is the loss of Golgi function itself part of the driving force behind Alzheimer's? This was the question for Yanzhuang Wang, Gunjan Joshi, and colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as they set out to uncover the mechanism damaging the Golgi, using a transgenic mouse and tissue culture models of AD to look at what was going on.

6 Dec 2014

Genetics may play major role in Lou Gehrig's disease, study reveals

Genetics may play a larger role in causing Lou Gehrig's disease than previously believed, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all cases, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic studies to date of patients who suffer from the condition also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

6 Dec 2014

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.

6 Dec 2014

University of Utah professor develops MORE intervention program for chronic pain patients

How can people who are dependent on prescription opioids reduce their cravings? Learn to enjoy other aspects of their lives.

6 Dec 2014

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

How does the brain determine what matters? According to a new scientific article, a brain structure called the insula is essential for selecting things out of the environment that are "salient" for an individual, and dysfunction of this system is linked to brain disorders such as autism, psychosis and dementia.

5 Dec 2014

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Quitting smoking sets off a series of changes in the brain that Penn Medicine researchers say may better identify smokers who will start smoking again—a prediction that goes above and beyond today's clinical or behavioral tools for assessing relapse risk.

5 Dec 2014

Breakthrough research could lead to prosthetic retinas for people suffering from retinal damage

Scientists have developed a new light-sensitive film that could one day form the basis of a prosthetic retina to help people suffering from retinal damage or degeneration. Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers collaborated with colleagues from Tel Aviv University and Newcastle University in the research, which was published in the journal Nano Letters.

5 Dec 2014

Added benefit of nalmefene not proven for alcohol dependence

Nalmefene (trade name Selincro) has been approved since February 2013 for people with alcohol dependence who currently drink a lot of alcohol, but who do not have physical withdrawal symptoms and who do not require immediate detoxification. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care examined in a dossier assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy in this patient group.

5 Dec 2014

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Leptin, a hormone that regulates the amount of fat stored in the body, also drives the increase in blood pressure that occurs with weight gain, according to researchers from Monash University and the University of Cambridge.

5 Dec 2014

Researchers discover link between obesity and hypertension

The link between obesity and cardiovascular diseases is well acknowledged. Being obese or overweight is a major risk factor for the development of elevated blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases. But it has net been known how obesity increases the risk of high blood pressure, making it difficult to develop evidence based therapies for obesity, hypertension and heart disease.

5 Dec 2014

UB researchers explore link between behavioral symptoms and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Aggression, violence, depression, suicide. Media reports routinely link these behavioral symptoms with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative brain disease, in former football players.

5 Dec 2014

Endocrine disrupting chemicals can alter thyroid levels in pregnant women, may affect fetus

A new study led by biologist R. Thomas Zoeller of the University of Massachusetts Amherst provides "the strongest evidence to date" that endocrine disrupting chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) found in flame retardant cloth, paint, adhesives and electrical transformers, can interfere with thyroid hormone action in pregnant women and may travel across the placenta to affect the fetus.

5 Dec 2014

New research collaboration aims to collect, share research on solution-focused therapy

A new research collaboration that will for the first time bring together philosophy of mind and practical applications in terms of therapy and caring practice has been launched at the University of Hertfordshire this week.

5 Dec 2014

New drug offers hope for victims of spinal cord injury

Scientist in the U.S have developed a drug that could help paralysed victims of spinal cord injury regain their ability to move.

4 Dec 2014

New chemical compound shows promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury

Case Western Reserve scientists have developed a new chemical compound that shows extraordinary promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury. The compound, which the researchers dubbed intracellular sigma peptide (ISP), allowed paralyzed muscles to activate in more than 80 percent of the animals tested.

4 Dec 2014

UAB research suggests potential therapeutic target for patients with frontotemporal dementia

Drugs that boost the function of a specific type of neurotransmitter receptor may provide benefit to patients with the second most common type of dementia, according to research by scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.

4 Dec 2014

Researchers identify biochemical mechanism that could lead to 'chemo brain'

UNC School of Medicine researchers have found for the first time a biochemical mechanism that could be a cause of "chemo brain" - the neurological side effects such as memory loss, confusion, difficulty thinking, and trouble concentrating that many cancer patients experience while on chemotherapy to treat tumors in other parts of the body.

4 Dec 2014

New research sheds light on complexities of child sleep

New research from the University of Adelaide has helped to shed light on the complexities of child sleep, and could lead to improved diagnosis of children with sleep-related breathing problems.

4 Dec 2014

UC Berkeley scientists reveal how humans have excelled at 'relational reasoning'

When it comes to getting out of a tricky situation, we humans have an evolutionary edge over other primates. Take, as a dramatic example, the Apollo 13 voyage in which engineers, against all odds, improvised a chemical filter on a lunar module to prevent carbon dioxide buildup from killing the crew.

4 Dec 2014

Researchers identify retrieval practice as useful strategy for improving memory among youth with TBI

Brain injury researchers in New Jersey have identified retrieval practice as a useful strategy for improving memory among children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

4 Dec 2014

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Study suggests Golgi as potential drug target for Alzheimer's treatment

Genetics may play major role in Lou Gehrig's disease, study reveals

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

University of Utah professor develops MORE intervention program for chronic pain patients

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Breakthrough research could lead to prosthetic retinas for people suffering from retinal damage

Added benefit of nalmefene not proven for alcohol dependence

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Researchers discover link between obesity and hypertension

UB researchers explore link between behavioral symptoms and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Endocrine disrupting chemicals can alter thyroid levels in pregnant women, may affect fetus

New research collaboration aims to collect, share research on solution-focused therapy

New drug offers hope for victims of spinal cord injury

New chemical compound shows promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury

UAB research suggests potential therapeutic target for patients with frontotemporal dementia

Researchers identify biochemical mechanism that could lead to 'chemo brain'

New research sheds light on complexities of child sleep

UC Berkeley scientists reveal how humans have excelled at 'relational reasoning'

Researchers identify retrieval practice as useful strategy for improving memory among youth with TBI

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

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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