Neurons News and Research

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Could we prevent Alzheimer's disease by treating herpes?

An exciting new paper suggests that over half of all cases of Alzheimer’s disease could be traced back to herpes simplex virus 1, which causes cold sores.

19 Oct 2018

Human neurons employ highly compartmentalized signaling, study shows

Human neurons are much larger than those of model organisms mice and rats, so it's been unclear whether it's size that makes a difference in our brain's computational power.

19 Oct 2018

Newly discovered compound shows potential for treating Parkinson's disease

A joint research group centered around Professor Hideyuki Okano and Associate Professor Jun Kohyama, Department of Physiology of the Keio University School of Medicine, together with a research group of Eisai Co., Ltd. has identified a compound that has the potential to be a treatment for Parkinson's disease by using dopaminergic neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with familial Parkinson's disease.

19 Oct 2018

Sweat bees are ideal for studying the genes underlying social behavior

Those pesky bees that come buzzing around on a muggy summer day are helping researchers reveal the genes responsible for social behaviors.

19 Oct 2018

Targeting immune checkpoints in microglia could reduce out-of-control neuroinflammation

A group of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators is proposing that targeting immune checkpoints - molecules that regulate the activity of the immune system - in immune cells called microglia could reduce the inflammatory aspects of important neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

17 Oct 2018

Autonomic nervous system directly controls stem cell proliferation, study shows

Somatic stem cells are microscopic workhorses, constantly regenerating cells throughout the body: skin and the lining of the intestine, for example. And to University of Illinois neuroscientists, they represent untapped potential.

17 Oct 2018

Chronic sleep disruption in early adult life accelerates AD-related tau pathology

Lack of sleep during adolescence and early adulthood accelerates Alzheimer’s disease-related tau pathology, finds a study of male and female mice published in JNeurosci.

17 Oct 2018

Down syndrome may hold important clues to onset of Alzheimer's disease

At first glance, Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease, two severe brain abnormalities, may seem to have little in common. Down syndrome is a hereditary disease, the source of which has long been recognized--a triplication of chromosome 21.

17 Oct 2018

Environmental conditions may drive development of multiple sclerosis

A new Tel Aviv University study finds that certain environmental conditions may precipitate structural changes that take place in myelin sheaths in the onset of multiple sclerosis. Myelin sheaths are the "insulating tape" surrounding axons; axons carry electrical impulses in neurons.

16 Oct 2018

Study uses novel approach to investigate genetic origins of mental illnesses

A study in Biological Psychiatry has established a new analytical method for investigating the complex genetic origins of mental illnesses using brain cells that are grown in a dish from human embryonic stem cells.

16 Oct 2018

Researchers develop fibrin-targeting immunotherapy to protect against neurodegeneration

Normally, the blood protein fibrin does not enter the brain. But in several neurological disorders, the blood-brain barrier--which keeps large molecules in the blood from entering the brain--becomes abnormally permeable, allowing fibrin to leak into the brain and trigger inflammation.

16 Oct 2018

Birth mode may have acute effects on neurodevelopment, study suggests

Cesarean-born mice show altered patterns of cell death across the brain, exhibiting greater nerve cell death than vaginally delivered mice in at least one brain area, a finding by Georgia State University researchers that suggests birth mode may have acute effects on human neurodevelopment that may lead to long-lasting changes in the brain and behavior.

16 Oct 2018

Research points to potential new treatment for hearing loss

Researchers have taken an important step toward what may become a new approach to restore the hearing loss. In a new study, out today in the European Journal of Neuroscience, scientists have been able to regrow the sensory hair cells found in the cochlea - a part of the inner ear - that converts sound vibrations into electrical signals and can be permanently lost due to age or noise damage.

15 Oct 2018

Study: Neurons regulating reproductive hormone release have different activity in epileptic mice

Mice with epilepsy have altered patterns of neuron activity in the portion of the brain that controls the reproductive endocrine system, University of Illinois researchers report in a new study. Furthermore, the differences in neuron activity in female mice fluctuate across the reproductive cycle, the team found.

15 Oct 2018

Findings offer new insight into early changes that occur during AD pathology

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, involving memory loss and a reduction in cognitive abilities.

12 Oct 2018

Scientists reprogram mature inhibitory neurons into dopaminergic cells

Attempting to make dopamine-producing neurons out of glial cells in mouse brains, a group of researchers instead converted mature inhibitory neurons into dopaminergic cells.

12 Oct 2018

Neuroscientists unravel how two different types of brain plasticity work on synapses

The brain's crucial function is to allow organisms to learn and adapt to their surroundings. It does this by literally changing the connections, or synapses, between neurons, strengthening meaningful patterns of neural activity in order to store information. The existence of this process - brain plasticity - has been known for some time.

12 Oct 2018