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UAB study shows how ion channel differentiates newborn and mature neurons in the brain

The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is part of the brain that helps form memories. It is also one of just two areas in the adult brain where new neurons are continuously formed.

13 Aug 2018

Autoimmune response drives neurodegeneration in glaucoma

A research team from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that immune cells in the eye that developed in response to early exposure to bacteria are a key contributor to progressive vision loss from glaucoma, the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.

12 Aug 2018

Autoimmune response contributes to vision loss in glaucoma patients

A research team from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and MIT has shown that immune cells in the eye that developed in response to early exposure to bacteria are a key contributor to progressive vision loss from glaucoma, the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world.

10 Aug 2018

FDA approves first targeted RNA-based treatment for rare, fatal genetic disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Onpattro (patisiran) infusion for the treatment of peripheral nerve disease (polyneuropathy) caused by hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) in adult patients.

10 Aug 2018

Glaucoma could be an autoimmune disorder, study suggests

Glaucoma, a disease that afflicts nearly 70 million people worldwide, is something of a mystery despite its prevalence. Little is known about the origins of the disease, which damages the retina and optic nerve and can lead to blindness.

10 Aug 2018

PARP inhibitors show promise for treating and preventing brain disorders

A class of cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors could be useful for treating and preventing brain disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, and some forms of frontotemporal degeneration, by halting the misplacement of specific proteins that affect nerve cells, according to a study published in Molecular Cell by researchers in the the School of Arts and Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

10 Aug 2018

Scientists make surprising discovery in nerve cells

Purkinje cells are a central part of the human cerebellum, the part of the brain that plays an important role in motor learning, fine motor control of the muscle, equilibrium and posture but also influences emotions, perception, memory and language.

10 Aug 2018

Ground-breaking discovery offers new hope for treatment of Alzheimer’s, other neurological diseases

There is new hope for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases following a ground-breaking discovery made by an Australian-Chinese research collaboration.

10 Aug 2018

Novel discovery offers hope for treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases

There is new hope for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases following a ground-breaking discovery made by an Australian-Chinese research collaboration.

10 Aug 2018

Blue light from smart phones and digital devices could raise risk of blindness

According to researchers, the blue light from laptops, smart phones and other digital devices, could raise the risk of blindness. The study appears in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

10 Aug 2018

Researchers discover genetic mutation underlying debilitating childhood brain disorder

Ashleigh Schaffer, PhD, assistant professor of genetics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and a team of global genetics experts have discovered a genetic mutation and the faulty development process it triggers, causing a debilitating brain-based disorder in children.

9 Aug 2018

New 3D-printed device could help spinal cord injury patients regain some function

Engineers and medical researchers at the University of Minnesota have teamed up to create a groundbreaking 3D-printed device that could someday help patients with long-term spinal cord injuries regain some function.

9 Aug 2018

Researchers uncover clues on how the brain separates important from unimportant information

The precise interaction of brain waves and nerve cells may be decisive for the amazing ability of our brain to separate important from unimportant information, even when we are flooded with stimuli.

9 Aug 2018

Scientists turn to C. elegans for new model of peripheral neuropathy

Studying transthyretin amyloidoses - a group of progressive nerve and cardiac degenerative diseases caused by the buildup of misfolded transthyretin proteins in the body - has long been hampered by the lack of animal models of the disease.

9 Aug 2018

New findings pave way for novel, improved drugs to treat psychiatric disorders

Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center have found new evidence of how certain transport proteins are working at the molecular level, paving the way for new, improved drugs to treat psychiatric disorders.

9 Aug 2018

New CAR T-cell immunotherapy trial targets solid tumors

Seattle Children's has opened a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy trial for children and young adults with relapsed or refractory non-central nervous system EGFR-expressing solid tumors. In the phase 1 trial, STRIvE-01, cancer-fighting CAR T cells will target the EGFR protein expressed in many childhood sarcoma, kidney and neuroblastoma tumors.

7 Aug 2018

Study: HDAC1 enzyme modifies molecular motor that drives neuron death

A biochemistry instructor curious about an enzyme discovered in the damaged neurons of people with multiple sclerosis made a leap toward a potential cure for countless neurodegenerative ills.

7 Aug 2018

Cocaine relapse is reduced in preclinical model with BDNF administration

Cocaine relapse was significantly reduced in a preclinical model when brain-derived neurotropic factor was applied to the nucleus accumbens deep in the brain immediately before cocaine-seeking behavior, report investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina in an article published online in June 2018 by Addiction Biology.

3 Aug 2018

EMA grants orphan designation to selumetinib for treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1

AstraZeneca and Merck, known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted orphan designation to selumetinib, a MEK 1/2 inhibitor, for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

3 Aug 2018

Simple pH imbalance could be a root of Alzheimer’s disease, mouse study shows

Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have found new evidence in lab-grown mouse brain cells, called astrocytes, that one root of Alzheimer's disease may be a simple imbalance in acid-alkaline - or pH - chemistry inside endosomes, the nutrient and chemical cargo shuttles in cells.

2 Aug 2018