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Study: Genetically edited form of herpes simplex virus outperforms leading vaccine candidate

A genetically edited form of a herpes simplex virus -- rewired to keep it from taking refuge in the nervous system and eluding an immune response -- has outperformed a leading vaccine candidate in a new study from the University of Cincinnati, Northwestern University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

6 Nov 2020

How do low levels of oxygen damage the brain?

In this interview, Professor Paul Tesar and Kevin Allan speak to News-Medical about how low levels of oxygen damage the brain.

6 Nov 2020

Researchers gain novel insights into the role of autophagy in neurons

It appears that autophagy protects our neurons in the brain, but evidently for entirely different reasons than previously assumed, as researchers from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) and Charité in Berlin have now shown.

5 Nov 2020

Study investigates the ebb and flow of brain ventricles

Enlarged ventricles in the brains of people with multiple sclerosis were previously considered a sign of tissue loss.

5 Nov 2020

Super-resolution images of functioning and pathologically altered nerve cells

Three experts for super-resolution microscopy jointly want to obtain better images of functioning and pathologically altered nerve cells. The European Research Council ERC is funding them with eleven million euros.

5 Nov 2020

Neuroscientists receive ERC Synergy Grant to explore the neural basis of cognition

A Norwegian-Israeli team of neuroscientists has been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant to explore the biological basis of spatial operations in the brain.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists use gene therapy to regenerate damaged optic nerve fibers

Scientists have used gene therapy to regenerate damaged nerve fibers in the eye, in a discovery that could aid the development of new treatments for glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists identify a brain structure important for decision making

Our minds can help us make decisions by contemplating the future and predicting the consequences of our actions.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists pin down a brain area crucial for predicting the consequences of choices

Predicting the outcomes of actions in order to make good decisions is a critical role of brain function. This process is thought to work through two fundamentally different mechanisms called "model-free" and "model-based" learning.

4 Nov 2020

Swelling may be important for protecting the brain after injury, study reveals

Following a brain-injuring bump or blow to the head, brain cells and blood vessels typically swell. This can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase in pressure inside the skull, and managing swelling is critical for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).

3 Nov 2020

New treatment method could be more effective for Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease, a protein (peptide) forms clumps in the brain and causes sufferers to lose their memory. In a recently published article, a research group at Uppsala University described a new treatment method that increases the body's own degradation of the building blocks that lead to these protein clumps.

3 Nov 2020

Researchers use new approach to study the mechanisms of cellular uptake of amyloid beta

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the formation of amyloid plaques--sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta--that collect between neurons in the brain.

3 Nov 2020

Study shows how brain cells influence choices

When you are faced with a choice - say, whether to have ice cream or chocolate cake for dessert - sets of brain cells just above your eyes fire as you weigh your options.

3 Nov 2020

Researchers uncover molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of neural circuits

Scientists at Korea's Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) and colleagues have uncovered some of the complex molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of the brain's neural circuits.

3 Nov 2020

New method marks receptor proteins in selected cells

Where in a nerve cell is a certain receptor protein located? Without an answer to this question, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the function of this protein.

2 Nov 2020

SARS-CoV-2 virus may target red marrow and prevent the formation of new erythrocytes

Specialists from the Department of Fundamental Medicine of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) with Russian and Japanese colleagues have probed into mechanisms of COVID-19 inside-the-body distribution linked to erythrocytes damaging.

30 Oct 2020

Researchers show how allergens are detected by the immune system

A key step in the immune system's response to allergens has been uncovered by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

30 Oct 2020

Addictive drug displays different acute pharmacology and synaptic plasticity

Nucleus accumbens in the brain play a central role in the risk-reward circuit. Their operation is based chiefly on three essential neurotransmitters: dopamine, which promotes desire; serotonin, whose effects include satiety and inhibition; and glutamate, which drives goal-directed behaviors and responses to reward-associated cues and contexts.

30 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins can directly impact the blood-brain barrier

Like a key, SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - attaches to specific molecules on the host cell surface, opening gateways into the cell interior.

30 Oct 2020

Researchers identify distinct link between autism and brain cell abnormalities

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that new experiments with genetically engineered mice have found clear connections among a range of autism types and abnormalities in brain cells whose chemical output forges platonic (non-sexual) feelings of love and sociability.

30 Oct 2020