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Researchers discover brain pathway of depression in rats

Scientists' hunt for the cause of depression has implicated so many suspects and found so many treatments with different mechanisms that the condition remains an enigma.

9 Jul 2007

The brain predicts our perception of the outside world

The human brain anticipates our perception of the outside world. For example, it is capable of predicting if we are going to perceive tactile stimulation of weak intensity or, on the contrary, if a more intense stimulation will be perceived more or less painfully.

9 Jul 2007

New insight into neural stem cells

Scientists have discovered that adult neural stem cells, which exist in the brain throughout life, are not a single, homogeneous group.

9 Jul 2007

Researchers pinpoint brain region responsible for pain's ability to affect cognitive processing

Anybody who's tried to concentrate on work while suffering a headache knows that pain compellingly commands attention,which is how evolution helped ensure survival in a painful world.

9 Jul 2007

Chemical in brain acts like a fuel gauge

The concept that a drop in blood sugar triggers a craving for food is best understood just before lunchtime. But exactly how the process unfolds has proven difficult to explain, even on a full stomach.

9 Jul 2007

Fibrinogen protein may inhibit spinal cord regeneration

Fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein found in circulating blood, has been found to inhibit the growth of central nervous system neuronal cells, a process that is necessary for the regeneration of the spinal cord after traumatic injury.

4 Jul 2007

Sensing and following motion

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have shed new light on how the brain and eye team up to spot an object in motion and follow it, a classic question of human motor control.

29 Jun 2007

New type of mouse embryonic stem cell discovered

Scientists have discovered a new type of mouse embryonic stem cell that is the closest counterpart yet to human embryonic stem (ES) cells, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced.

28 Jun 2007

Early exposure to iron and later exposure to herbicide paraquat may accelerate age-related neurodegeneration

Exposure to iron during the first weeks of life in combination with exposure later in life to a common herbicide may contribute to the subsequent degeneration of brain cells associated with the onset of Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a new study in mice.

28 Jun 2007

Inhibition of return and autism

Next time you lose your car keys and enlist the family to help you search, try a little experiment.

28 Jun 2007

Scientists discover a new line of communication between nervous system cells

In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves - an insulating material called myelin - is damaged.

27 Jun 2007

Role of environmental factors in the development of Parkinson's disease

Scientists at the Buck Institute for Age Research have shown that combining two environmental toxic substances accelerated age-related degeneration in neurons associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in mice.

27 Jun 2007

New insight into the mechanism by which glial cells recognize and myelinate axons

In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves - an insulating material called myelin - is damaged.

27 Jun 2007

Autism reversed in mice

Scientists in the United States have been able to reverse the effects of autism in specially bred mice.

26 Jun 2007

MIT researchers reverse behavioral symptoms in mice

Researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT have, for the first time, reversed symptoms of mental retardation and autism in mice.

26 Jun 2007

New drug target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Researchers at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) have identified a potential new drug target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly for other degenerative neurological disorders.

23 Jun 2007

Scientists identify gene responsible for one type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder

Scientists have identified the gene responsible for one type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder, a common inherited neurological disease, thanks to the chance appearance of a strain of impaired 'pale tremor' mice in a University of Michigan research laboratory.

23 Jun 2007