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Age-linked cognitive decline could be slowed by immune activation

A new study published in February 2020 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), reports that activating a specific type of immune cell found in the brain could delay reduced cognition often found in older people, and even prevent neurologic degeneration of age.

5 Feb 2020

Study sheds new light on genetic relationship between three mood disorders

Researchers shed new light on the genetic relationship between three mood disorders associated with depression--major depression and bipolar disorder types 1 and 2, in a new study in the journal Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier.

5 Feb 2020

Unique neuron that computes like a compass identified

It's 5 p.m. as you leave the parking garage at work, but you realize you have no idea which way to turn to travel home. You know where you are and what street your house is on--it's just that you can't remember how to get there.

5 Feb 2020

Novela Neurotech joins hands with UCSF to break down neurodata borders

Just as computer scientists developed standards to deliver digital content across the globe to your laptop, neuroscientists are working to break down barriers in data sharing.

4 Feb 2020

People with ASD have cellular abnormality that impairs myelin production, study reveals

People with autism spectrum disorder appear to suffer malfunctions in a cell that produces a special coating around nerve fibers that facilitates efficient electrical communication across the brain.

4 Feb 2020

Flickering light triggers the brain to release signaling chemicals that may help fight Alzheimer's

For over a century, Alzheimer's disease has confounded all attempts to treat it. But in recent years, perplexing experiments using flickering light have shown promise.

4 Feb 2020

Scientists shed new light on neuronal circuits that acquire and update voluntary actions

Two types of neuronal circuit in the brain that acquire and update voluntary actions are much more intertwined than previously thought.

3 Feb 2020

New noninvasive way to monitor the health of brain cells using an infrared laser

With no way to reliably tell whether an athlete has a concussion, many may be playing with an undiagnosed injury. Likewise, 2 million people die every year because we don't have an early warning when brain cells are dying--and another 4 million experience cognitive disabilities.

3 Feb 2020

Reduced scar formation in the central nervous system

Neural stem and progenitor cells, from the so-called subventricular zone, can help to repair a brain damaged by central nervous system disorders.

3 Feb 2020

Pheromone darcin changes brains of female mice

Pheromones are chemicals that animals produce to change the behavior of another animal of the same species. Many species use these chemicals to communicate information about the location, sexual, and social status of potential partners. A team of researchers from Columbia University may have unlocked how the pheromone darcin, aids in attracting mice of the opposite sex.

2 Feb 2020

Increased brain growth, mutations and autism linked in new study

Salk Institute researchers have now found a pattern of DNA damage that is unique to brain cells derived from individuals with a single form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) called macrocephalic ASD. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell in January 2020, may offer an explanation about the developmental misstep that caused this disease.

30 Jan 2020

New genetic screen for Huntington’s disease

Huntington’s disease is a genetic disease that is debilitating and progressive leading to severe brain damage and eventual death. In patients with this autosomal dominant disease, there is presence of a protein called the Huntingtin protein that forms clumps within the brain leading to the symptoms of the disease.

30 Jan 2020

Regulating neuronal lipid metabolism helps axon regeneration after injury, study finds

Typical examples include paralysis due to a spinal cord injury and visual field atrophy or even complete blindness due to optic nerve atrophy in glaucoma patients.

30 Jan 2020

Researchers examine abnormal neuron activity in Rett syndrome

The brain undergoes dramatic change during the first years of life. Its circuits readily rewire as an infant and then child encounters new sights and sounds, taking in the world and learning to understand it. As the child matures and key developmental periods pass, the brain becomes less malleable--but certain experiences create opportunities for parts of the adult brain to rewire and learn again.

29 Jan 2020

Buck study uncovers how astrocyte senescence promotes neurodegeneration

Although a link has been established between chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, there have been many open questions regarding how cellular senescence, a process whereby cells that stop dividing under stress spew out a mix of inflammatory proteins, affects these pathologies.

29 Jan 2020

Link between autism and poor cognition

Autistic people are often brilliant, but they may also have poor cognitive skills. The relationship between autism and either condition, inside the brain, has been far from clear. However, now a new study shows that poor cognition in autism could be due to the influence of a small gene fragment.

29 Jan 2020

Advancing birth triggers an early start to neuron death, mice study shows

Moving birth a day early triggers an early start to widespread neuron death, according to new research in mice published in eNeuro.

28 Jan 2020

Findings shed new light on how striatum processes information to plan, execute movements

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have mapped how different nerve cells in the brain area striatum process information to plan and execute our movements at just the right time and with the right vigour. The results, presented in the journal Cell Reports, show that different cell types in the striatum receive signals from completely different parts of the cerebral cortex and thus respond to different types of information.

28 Jan 2020

Sound and movement are processed simultaneously in the brain, mice study suggests

New insight on how information relating to sound and movement is processed in the brain has been published today in the open-access journal eLife.

28 Jan 2020

Do biologists and physicists approach AFM differently?

This was the question at the forefront of my mind as I attended the Linz Winter Workshop back in February. Do biologists and physicists approach AFM differently and, does it matter?

From Nu Nano Ltd 28 Jan 2020