Neuroscience News and Research

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Brains of all mammals exhibit equal connectivity, study finds

Researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Yaniv Assaf of the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Sagol School of Neuroscience and Prof. Yossi Yovel of the School of Zoology, the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, conducted a first-of-its-kind study designed to investigate brain connectivity in 130 mammalian species.

20 Jul 2020

Scientists discover promising drug target for dry age-related macular degeneration

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that the blood protein vitronectin is a promising drug target for dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older.

20 Jul 2020

Age-related hearing loss mainly caused by damage to hair cells, study shows

In a new study of human ear tissues, hearing scientists have demonstrated that age-related hearing loss, also called presbycusis, is mainly caused by damage to hair cells, the sensory cells in the inner ear that transform sound-induced vibrations into the electrical signals that are relayed to the brain by the auditory nerve.

20 Jul 2020

Study reveals the roles of non-REM and REM sleep in visual perceptual learning

Which sleep stage is most important for learning: REM or non-REM? Does sleep improve learning by enhancing skills while people snooze, or by cementing those skills in the brain so that they're less likely to forget them? Do these processes occur every time someone sleeps, or only after they have learned something new?

20 Jul 2020

Experimental therapy slows zika replication and prevents microcephaly in mice

An international group of researchers have discovered that inhibiting AHR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor), a protein with roles in regulating immunity, stem cell maintenance and cellular differentiation, enables the immune system to combat replication of zika virus in the organism far more effectively.

20 Jul 2020

Premature babies are exposed to high noise levels in the incubator, shows study

What do premature babies hear while lying in an incubator? That is the question addressed by an interdisciplinary team from the Medical University of Vienna, led by Vito Giordano (neuroscientist at the Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics at the Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics (CCP) of Medical University of Vienna) and by music physiologist Matthias Bertsch from the University of Music and the Performing Arts in the recent study "The Sound of Silence", published in the journal "Frontiers in Psychology".

20 Jul 2020

Study reveals intricate details about the biology of huntingtin protein

A new study reveals intricate details about the biology of the huntingtin protein (HTT), which is responsible for Huntington's disease.

17 Jul 2020

Researchers discover a new class of synapse-saving proteins

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have discovered a new class of proteins that protect synapses from being destroyed.

17 Jul 2020

Advances in Alzheimer's drug development offer hope for patients

Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings, UNLV research professor and a leading expert on Alzheimer's disease clinical trials, led a five-year review of all Alzheimer's drugs in the development pipeline. He says today there is more hope than ever that we'll one day solve Alzheimer's.

16 Jul 2020

Super-agers found to have increased resistance to tau and amyloid proteins

Super-agers, or individuals whose cognitive skills are above the norm even at an advanced age, have been found to have increased resistance to tau and amyloid proteins, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2020 Annual Meeting.

15 Jul 2020

Dopamine therapy improves cognitive function in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's

A study supported by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation and published today in JAMA Network Open provides the first evidence that rotigotine, a drug that acts on dopamine transmission in the brain, improves cognitive function in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

15 Jul 2020

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can enhance the cognitive performance of healthy older adults

The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center, together with the Sackler School of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, announced today that a peer-reviewed study has demonstrated for the first time that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can significantly enhance the cognitive performance of healthy older adults.

15 Jul 2020

RNA editing may repair the underlying cause of Rett Syndrome in mouse model

A genomic error that causes Rett Syndrome, a serious lifelong neurological disorder, can be corrected in the brains of mice by rewriting the genetic instructions carried by the RNA.

15 Jul 2020

Study identifies brain circuitry that plays key role in ASD-relevant behaviors

A team led by UT Southwestern researchers has identified brain circuitry that plays a key role in the dysfunctional social, repetitive, and inflexible behavioral differences that characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

15 Jul 2020

New link between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium discovered

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered a new link between impaired brain energy metabolism and delirium - a disorienting and distressing disorder particularly common in the elderly and one that is currently occurring in a large proportion of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

14 Jul 2020

COVID-19 may have an impact on the central nervous system of patients

Depressed mood or anxiety exhibited in COVID-19 patients may possibly be a sign the virus affects the central nervous system, according to an international study led by a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher.

14 Jul 2020

FAU researchers receive NSF grant to model COVID-19 spread using big data analytics

Public health efforts depend heavily on predicting how diseases like COVID-19 spread across the globe. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science in collaboration with LexisNexis Risk(R)Solutions, a global data technology and advanced analytics leader, have received a rapid research (RAPID) grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a model of COVID-19 spread using innovative big data analytics techniques and tools.

14 Jul 2020

Study may lead to new treatments for people with PTSD and memory disorders

Memories linked with strong emotions often become seared in the brain.Most people can remember where they were on 9/11, or what the weather was like on the day their first child was born. Memories about world events on Sept 10, or lunch last Tuesday, have long been erased.

14 Jul 2020

Long-studied protein can be used as biomarker for traumatic brain injury

Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research have recently demonstrated that cathepsin B, a well-studied protein important to brain development and function, can be used as biomarker, or indicator of severity, for traumatic brain injury.

13 Jul 2020

Study finds link between mental imagery and vision

Medical University of South Carolina researchers report in Current Biology that the brain uses similar visual areas for mental imagery and vision, but it uses low-level visual areas less precisely with mental imagery than with vision.

12 Jul 2020