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Researchers capture altered brain activity patterns of Parkinson's in mice

The tell-tale tremors of Parkinson's disease emerge from abnormal activity in a brain region crucial for voluntary movement.

19 Feb 2019

Unique gene therapy approach paves new way to tackle rare, inherited diseases

Nonsense mutations are single-letter errors in the genetic code that prematurely halt the production of critical proteins. These unfinished proteins are unable to function normally, and nonsense mutations cause 10-15 percent of all inherited genetic diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, cystic fibrosis and polycystic kidney disease.

19 Feb 2019

Autistic children with co-occurring ADHD have greater adaptive behavior impairments

A pair of new studies has provided new insight into the challenges faced by children on the autism spectrum who exhibit symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

19 Feb 2019

Heavy smoking could lead to vision loss, study finds

Smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day can damage your vision, a study co-authored by a Rutgers researcher finds.

18 Feb 2019

Activating gene that helps excite neurons reverses depression in male mice

Directly activating a gene important to exciting our excitatory neurons and associated with major depression may help turn around classic symptoms like social isolation and loss of interest, at least for males, scientists report.

18 Feb 2019

UVA scientists find potential explanation for mysterious cell death in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified a potential explanation for the mysterious death of specific brain cells seen in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

15 Feb 2019

New method for improved visualization of single-cell RNA- sequencing data

Like going from a pinhole camera to a Polaroid, a significant mathematical update to the formula for a popular bioinformatics data visualization method will allow researchers to develop snapshots of single-cell gene expression not only several times faster but also at much higher-resolution.

15 Feb 2019

Newly developed stem cell technologies show promise for treating PD patients

Cell replacement may play an increasing role in alleviating the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) in future. Writing in a special supplement to the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, experts describe how newly developed stem cell technologies could be used to treat the disease and discuss the great promise, as well as the significant challenges, of stem cell treatment.

15 Feb 2019

New mechanism for lateral inhibition of cells discovered

"The winner takes it all, the loser standing small" - that's not just true in the famous ABBA song, but also in animal development. Frequently, a group of cells starts out all being the same. But then one cell puts the brake on its neighbors, sending inhibitory signals that stop their differentiation. The "winning" cell, in the end, is different from its neighbors.

15 Feb 2019

Brain synchronization depends on the language of communication

Experts from the Basque research center BCBL have shown for the first time that the way in which the activity of two brains is connected depends on whether the dialogue takes place in the native language or in a foreign language.

15 Feb 2019

Lifetime adversity, increased neural processing during trauma combine to intensify core PTSD symptoms

Lifetime adversity and increased neural processing during a traumatic event combine to increase the frequency of intrusive traumatic memories and the distress they cause, according to a new study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

14 Feb 2019

Social threat learning has a strong effect on our decision-making

Learning what is dangerous by watching a video or being told (known as social learning) has just as strong an effect on our decision-making as first-hand experience of danger, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report.

14 Feb 2019

Researchers identify brain pathways of aversion

What happens in the brain when we feel discomfort? Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden are now one step closer to finding the answer. In a new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry they identify which pathways in the mouse brain control behavior associated with aversion.

14 Feb 2019

Antidepressant drug could save people from deadly sepsis, research suggests

An antidepressant drug used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder could save people from deadly sepsis, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests.

14 Feb 2019

Young cannabis users have increased risk of depression and suicidal behavior

Adolescent cannabis use has been linked to an increased risk of depression and suicidal behavior in young adulthood, according to the first meta-analysis by a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and McGill University, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Rutgers University-Camden, which is published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry today.

13 Feb 2019

Fundamental technology to support early differential diagnosis of concurrent ASD in patients with ADHD

Hitachi, Ltd., Jichi Medical University, International University of Health and Welfare and Chuo University have developed fundamental technology to support the early differential diagnosis of concurrent autism spectrum disorder in patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

13 Feb 2019