Brain Cell News and Research

RSS

Inflammation in mid-life may be linked to brain shrinkage decades later

People who have biomarkers tied to inflammation in their blood in their 40s and 50s may have more brain shrinkage decades later than people without the biomarkers, according to a study published in the November 1, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The brain cell loss was found especially in areas of the brain that are affected by Alzheimer's disease.

2 Nov 2017

Alzheimer's disease could be triggered by breakdowns from other parts of the body

Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia, has long been assumed to originate in the brain. But research from the University of British Columbia and Chinese scientists indicates that it could be triggered by breakdowns elsewhere in the body.

31 Oct 2017

Researchers discover quirk of cell aging that could help detect late-onset Alzheimer's

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry and McGovern Medical School have discovered a previously unknown characteristic of brain-cell aging that could help detect late-onset Alzheimer's disease decades before symptoms begin.

30 Oct 2017

Researchers mine blood-based epigenetic data to gain insights into autism biology

Using data from blood and brain tissue, a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that they could gain insights into mechanisms that might help explain autism by analyzing the interplay between genes and chemical tags that control whether genes are used to make a protein, called epigenetic marks.

25 Oct 2017

NIH launches major effort to discover, catalog the brain's ‘parts list’

The National Institutes of Health has launched a major effort to discover and catalog the brain's "parts list." The NIH's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative Cell Census Network aims to provide researchers with a comprehensive reference of the diverse cell types in human, monkey, and mouse brain.

24 Oct 2017

Scientists find new way to produce brain cells from single iPSC

Li Gan, PhD, wants to find treatments to help patients with Alzheimer's disease. Like most researchers, she's hit a few major roadblocks.

10 Oct 2017

Impairing critical partnership between brain cells can lead to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered that impairing a critical partnership between brain cells can lead to neurodegeneration. The study published in Cell Metabolism reports a mechanism by which two types of brain cells, neurons and glia, normally support each other's functions.

30 Sep 2017

Adding, removing water from a stem cell can determine its role as bone or fat

Adding or removing water from a stem cell can change the destiny of the cell, researchers have discovered in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Sep 2017

Tulane researchers move closer to improving treatment for chronic depression

In a new study published in the journal Cell Reports, researchers associated with the Tulane Brain Institute say they have moved a step closer to improving treatment for chronic depression.

7 Sep 2017

Wayne State researchers receive $1.9 million NIH grant to better understand rare genetic disorders

A team of Wayne State University researchers recently received a $1.9 million grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health to better understand leukodystrophies (LD) and genetic Leukoencephalopathies (gLE), rare genetic disorders affecting the white matter -- myelin -- in the central nervous system.

21 Jul 2017

Biomedical engineering professor wins $2 million grant for concussion research

Barclay Morrison, professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has won a $2 million five-year grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study the underlying mechanisms of concussion.

15 Jun 2017

New protocol offers faster and more effective way to obtain astrocytes from stem cells

Neurons have long enjoyed the spotlight in neuroscience--and for good reason: they are incredibly important cellular actors. But, increasingly, star-shaped support cells called astrocytes are being seen as more than bit players in the brain's rich pageant.

6 Jun 2017

Study: Abnormal proteins in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases share similar feature

A Loyola University Chicago study has found that abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease all share a similar ability to cause damage when they invade brain cells.

23 May 2017

Drug used to treat bipolar disorder may help prevent brain cell damage in TBI patients

A drug used to treat bipolar disorder and other forms of depression may help to preserve brain function and prevent nerve cells from dying in people with a traumatic brain injury, according to a new Rutgers University study.

8 May 2017

Easing cellular traffic jams in Huntington’s disease may save brain cells

Working with mouse, fly and human cells and tissue, Johns Hopkins researchers report new evidence that disruptions in the movement of cellular materials in and out of a cell's control center - the nucleus- appear to be a direct cause of brain cell death in Huntington's disease, an inherited adult neurodegenerative disorder.

5 May 2017

Detailed images reveal how regulatory proteins affect function of brain receptors

Scientists at Columbia University have obtained the first detailed images of interactions between the AMPA receptor and molecules that regulate chemical signaling in the brain.

3 May 2017

Powerful pain medicine may help reduce vision damage of glaucoma

The tip of our optic nerve is typically the first place injured by glaucoma. Now researchers want to know if the powerful pain medicine (+)-pentazocine can help avoid the damage.

2 May 2017

Unique microscope reveals clues to destructive autoimmune disease

Using a unique microscope capable of illuminating living cell structures in great detail, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found clues into how a destructive autoimmune disease works, setting the stage for more discoveries in the future.

26 Apr 2017

Researchers use stem cells to model different genetic scenarios that underlie neurologic disease

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have successfully grown stem cells from children with a devastating neurological disease to help explain how different genetic backgrounds can cause common symptoms.

30 Mar 2017

Research findings provide new conceptual framework for understanding brain inflammation after injury

Researchers have identified a new mechanism by which inflammation can spread throughout the brain after injury. This mechanism may explain the widespread and long-lasting inflammation that occurs after traumatic brain injury, and may play a role in other neurodegenerative diseases.

8 Mar 2017