Neurons News and Research

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Researchers unravel molecular code that shapes complex networks in the brain

The brain is an enormously complex organ. Understanding how billions of brain cells succeed in making precise connections is a major challenge for neuroscientists.

6 Jul 2018

Targeting multiple proteins may be key to treat neurodegenerative disorders

Nearly all major neurodegenerative diseases - from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's - are defined and diagnosed by the presence of one of four proteins that have gone rogue: tau, amyloid-beta, alpha-synuclein, or TDP-43.

6 Jul 2018

Non-opioid drug shows promise for treating pain by targeting receptors on immune cells

Faced with the epidemic of opioid addiction, researchers have been charged with finding other strategies to treat pain. Their efforts largely have focused on nerve cells that transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.

6 Jul 2018

Researchers investigate role of MTSS1 protein in neuron branch development

A protein called "MetastasisMetastasis-suppressor 1"activates one pathway and inhibits another competing pathway, thus playing a dual role that determines how neuron branches in the brain form, according to research published in the journal Cell Reports.

4 Jul 2018

LLNL employs high-performance computing for better understanding of TBI

Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began in 2001, more than 350,000 cases of traumatic brain injury in servicemen and women have been reported to the Department of Defense.

3 Jul 2018

Study provides evidence that crucial brain region plays key role in converting vision into action

You see the flour in the pantry, so you reach for it. You see the traffic light change to green, so you step on the gas. While the link between seeing and then moving in response is simple and essential to everyday existence, neuroscientists haven't been able to get beyond debating where the link is and how it's made.

3 Jul 2018

Scientists develop new understanding of how psychiatric diseases manifest and can be treated

Research scientists from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, NY, in conjunction with their colleagues at Rockefeller University in New York City, have developed a new understanding of how certain psychiatric diseases - those that involve uncontrollable reactions to stimuli such as the high and low experiences attributed to bi-polar disorder, the impulsivity of an individual suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and even suicidality - manifest and potentially can be treated. These findings were published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

3 Jul 2018

Novel, stem cell-based model mimics mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists in Dresden, Germany, have been successful in mimicking mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease in a novel, stem cell-based model system that reproduces features of human brain tissue.

3 Jul 2018

Researchers track connections between retinal neurons and the brain

Most of the human brain's estimated 86 billion nerve cells, or neurons, can ultimately engage in a two-way dialogue with any other neuron.

2 Jul 2018

Researchers identify molecular mechanism leading to cortical malformation from brain-only mutations

Focal malformations of cortical development are a heterogeneous group of brain cortical abnormalities.

2 Jul 2018

Discovery may be key to directly reprogram non-neuronal cells into neurons

It was already in 2012 that a team of scientists headed by Professor Benedikt Berninger first succeeded in reprogramming connective tissue cells present in the brain into neurons.

2 Jul 2018

Psychedelics and their role in treatment of mental health disorders

Psychedelics such as LSD, magic mushrooms, mescaline etc. have garnered renewed interest in the scientific world because of the possible role they could play in mental health problems. Ketamine remains the only hallucinogen at present that is used clinically as an anesthetic agent. The others are all classified under banned drugs.

2 Jul 2018

Tau protein allows microtubules to grow and remain dynamic, shows study

A new study by researchers from Drexel University College of Medicine reverses the popular scientific dogma that the protein tau stabilizes microtubules within brain cells.

30 Jun 2018

Scientists focus on critical regulatory protein to find clues on cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

James McNew's and Michael Stern's biochemical hunt for the root cause of a rare, paralyzing genetic disorder is a 10-year quest that's taken an unexpected turn toward everyday killers such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and aging.

30 Jun 2018

Researchers discover how behavior is organized in the brain

Driving to work, typing an email or playing a round of golf--people perform actions such as these throughout the day.

29 Jun 2018

Scientists pinpoint new mechanism to explain progression of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have pinpointed minute exosomes as the main vehicle that allow the spread of toxic proteins that trigger the onset of Alzheimer's Disease across a person's brain network.

29 Jun 2018

Tiny snippets of genetic material may help with early detection of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Indiana University have found early evidence that tiny snippets of genetic material called microRNA may help with early detection of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

29 Jun 2018

Researchers reveal complexity of NMDA receptor drug discovery target

Know your target. Especially if your target is coming into focus for treating diseases such as schizophrenia and treatment-resistant depression.

28 Jun 2018

Study describes new mechanism involved in memory loss associated with aging

A study led by Luísa Lopes, Group Leader at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes and published today in the prestigious journal Molecular Psychiatry, describes a new mechanism involved in memory loss associated with aging.

28 Jun 2018

Study details role of dopamine in unlearning fear

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science have discovered a circuit in the brain that is necessary for unlearning fear. Published in Nature Communications, the study details the role of dopamine in ensuring that rats stop being afraid when there isn't anything to be afraid of anymore.

27 Jun 2018