Brain Cell News and Research

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Novel method enables researchers to see interaction of star-shaped brain cells in real time

An advance by UCLA neuroscientists could lead to a better understanding of astrocytes, a star-shaped brain cell believed to play a key role in neurological disorders like Lou Gehrig's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease.

4 Apr 2018

Leukemia itself may increase risk for long-term neurocognitive problems in survivors

Leukemia itself, not just side effects related to its treatment, may increase the risk for long-term problems with attention, organization and related neurocognitive skills in survivors of the most common childhood cancer, according to research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The study appears today in the journal JAMA Oncology.

29 Mar 2018

UTSW study reveals mechanisms underlying development of Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma

A delicate balance during brain development could have profound implications for understanding and treating medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor affecting children.

29 Mar 2018

Scientists demonstrate successful implementation of prosthetic memory system

Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the University of Southern California (USC) have demonstrated the successful implementation of a prosthetic system that uses a person's own memory patterns to facilitate the brain's ability to encode and recall memory.

28 Mar 2018

Frequent and public opioid users may be best candidates for naloxone training

In response to America's opioid crisis, public health departments and community organizations across the country have started to train opioid users to reverse overdoses in other users with the opioid-blocker naloxone.

26 Mar 2018

Researchers uncover link between Parkinson’s disease mutations and plaque formation in the brain

Working with lab-grown human brain cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have uncovered a much sought-after connection between one of the most common genetic mutations in Parkinson's disease and the formation of fatty plaques in the brain thought to contribute to the destruction of motor neurons that characterize the disease.

15 Mar 2018

NIH researchers explore genetic clocks to understand role of aging in neurodegeneration

To understand the link between aging and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, NIH scientists compared the genetic clocks that tick during the lives of normal and mutant flies.

14 Mar 2018

UNC gene therapy scientists uncover viral barcode to penetrate blood-brain barrier

Gene therapies promise to revolutionize the treatment of many diseases, including neurological diseases such as ALS. But the small viruses that deliver therapeutic genes can have adverse side effects at high doses.

11 Feb 2018

Discovery may offer new therapeutic approach for kids with Prader-Willi syndrome

Stem cell researchers at UConn Health have reversed Prader-Willi syndrome in brain cells growing in the lab, findings they recently published in the Human Molecular Genetics.

27 Jan 2018

Repurposed drug effectively protects against Zika virus in mouse models

In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus -- and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses.

25 Jan 2018

Study finds new brainstem changes in Parkinson’s disease

A pioneering study has found that patients with Parkinson's disease have more errors in the mitochondrial DNA within the brainstem, leading to increased cell death in that area.

4 Jan 2018

Researchers find more precise, neuroprotective approach to fix MS-damaged nerves

Gene expression in specific cells and in specific regions can provide a more precise, neuroprotective approach than traditional treatments for neurological diseases.

26 Dec 2017

Scientists elucidate why exercise slows progression of Parkinson's disease

While vigorous exercise on a treadmill has been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease in patients, the molecular reasons behind it have remained a mystery.

22 Dec 2017

Researchers explore how toxic protein clusters linked to Parkinson's disrupt brain cells

Researchers have glimpsed how the toxic protein clusters that are associated with Parkinson's Disease disrupt the membranes of healthy brain cells, creating defects in the cell walls and eventually causing a series of events that induce neuronal death.

15 Dec 2017

Scientists create atomic scale map that tracks how brain signals connect to neurons

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have used supercomputers to create an atomic scale map that tracks how the signaling chemical glutamate binds to a neuron in the brain. The findings, say the scientists, shed light on the dynamic physics of the chemical's pathway, as well as the speed of nerve cell communications.

15 Dec 2017

Harvard scientists discover hundreds of genetic switches that influence height

It's been understood for decades that a host of factors - everything from pre- and post-natal health, nutrition, and genetics - play a role in determining height, but efforts to untangle the complex web of factors that contribute to height have long been stymied.

6 Dec 2017

Lithium chloride prevents neurological damage tied to fetal alcohol syndrome, mice study shows

A single dose of lithium chloride, a drug used to treat bipolar disease and aggression, blocks the sleep disturbances, memory loss, and learning problems tied to fetal alcohol syndrome, new experiments in mice show.

5 Dec 2017

Scientists develop new method to study Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the lab

Scientists have developed a new system to study Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the laboratory, paving the way for research to find treatments for the fatal brain disorder.

20 Nov 2017

Brain astrocytes could play key role in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease

Astrocytes, the supporting cells of the brain, could play a significant role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. This is the first time researchers discovered a direct association between astrocytes and AD. Published in Stem Cell Reports, the study investigated the brain cell function of familial AD patients by using stem cell technologies.

17 Nov 2017

Sleepless nights lead to sluggish brain activity

A new study has shown that some brain cells actually slow down if a person has not got adequate sleep at night. This leads to periods of mental lapses. Researchers of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Tel Aviv University have proven this in their published study that appeared in the journal Nature Medicine online this Monday (6th of November 2017).

6 Nov 2017