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Newly developed technique delivers wireless power for optogenetics

A miniature device that combines optogenetics - using light to control the activity of the brain - with a newly developed technique for wirelessly powering implanted devices is the first fully internal method of delivering optogenetics.

18 Aug 2015

Commercial non-invasive brain stimulation device impairs cognitive performance

People show impaired memory after receiving low intensity electrical stimulation administered to the frontal part of the brain by a commercial, freely available, device. Psychologists Laura Steenbergen and Lorenza Colzato, with their colleagues at the Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition and fellow researchers from the Max Planck Institute on Human Development, published their findings in Experimental Brain Research.

17 Aug 2015

Determining the dynein-dynactin complex structure: an interview with Dr Gabriel C. Lander

This is a macromolecular assembly is made up of two components, dynein and dynactin, that works to move molecular cargo (organelles, RNA, vesicles, proteins, viruses) along microtubule highways within our cells.

16 Aug 2015

Neuroscientist discovers how animal's biological clock wakes up, goes to sleep

Fifteen years ago, an odd mutant fruit fly caught the attention and curiosity of Dr. Ravi Allada, a circadian rhythms expert at Northwestern University, leading the neuroscientist to recently discover how an animal's biological clock wakes it up in the morning and puts it to sleep at night.

14 Aug 2015

NSF awards EAGER grant to expand use of temperature-activated protein switches in neurons

Troy Zars, Mirela Milescu, and Lorin Milescu, faculty members of the Division of Biological Sciences and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at the University of Missouri, have been awarded an Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) from the National Science Foundation to expand the use of a temperature-activated protein switches in neurons. The new technology could lead to a better understanding of brain disorders in humans.

14 Aug 2015

3D protein structure reveals new drug targets for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

Protein Kinase C (PKC) is a family of enzymes that controls the activity of other proteins in a cell by attaching chemical tags. That simple act helps determine cell survival or death.

14 Aug 2015

Rice and UTHealth scientists awarded $1.02 million NSF grant to examine how the brain processes language

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1.02 million grant to scientists at Rice University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School to study how the brain processes language. The joint research may one day help people who lose the ability to communicate.

14 Aug 2015

CMU engineers awarded NSF grant to study neural variability in motor learning

When we move, we rarely move in the exact same way twice. The National Science Foundation has awarded Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Steven Chase and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Byron Yu, and their long-time collaborator, University of Pittsburgh Associate Professor of Bioengineering Aaron Batista, an $869,000 grant to conduct basic research that will establish how variability in movement is encoded in the brain and how this variability contributes to learning and performance.

13 Aug 2015

Northwestern University researchers identify molecular difference in male and female brains

Male and female brains operate differently at a molecular level, a Northwestern University research team reports in a new study of a brain region involved in learning and memory, responses to stress and epilepsy.

13 Aug 2015

Study suggests that eye movements during REM sleep responsible for resetting dream 'snapshots'

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, the period in which we experience vivid dreams, was discovered by scientists in the 1950s. Because REM sleep is associated with dreaming, on the one hand, and eye movement, on the other, it has been tempting to assume that each movement of the eye is associated with a specific dream image. But despite decades of intense research by leading international scientists, this intuitive hypothesis has remained unproven.

13 Aug 2015

Study suggests potential target for treating familial form of ALS

A healthy motor neuron needs to transport its damaged components from the nerve-muscle connection all the way back to the cell body in the spinal cord. If it cannot, the defective components pile up and the cell becomes sick and dies. Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have learned how a mutation in the gene for superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), which causes ALS, leads cells to accumulate damaged materials.

13 Aug 2015

Loss of critical receptor in the brain may be responsible for autism, schizophrenia

The loss of a critical receptor in a special class of inhibitory neurons in the brain may be responsible for neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and schizophrenia, according to new research by Salk scientists.

12 Aug 2015

EPFL scientists reveal that the brain is not as compact as we thought

Using an innovative method, EPFL scientists show that the brain is not as compact as we have thought all along. To study the fine structure of the brain, including its connections between neurons, the synapses, scientists must use electron microscopes. However, the tissue must first be fixed to prepare it for this high magnification imaging method.

11 Aug 2015

Sigma 1 receptor appears to play vital role in supporting the retina

A receptor that is already a target for treating neurodegenerative disease also appears to play a key role in supporting the retina, scientists report.

11 Aug 2015

Researchers report role of two gene-regulating molecules in Parkinson's disease

As Parkinson's disease progresses in patients, a puzzling dichotomy plays out in their brains. One set of neurons degenerates, while a similar population nearby is spared the same degree of damage. Why the difference? An answer to this question could clear the way for preventions and treatments for this disease, which impairs movement.

11 Aug 2015

DISC-1: schizophrenia's "Rosetta Stone" gene? An interview with Professor Kevin Fox

The DISC-1 gene has been studied intensively over the years because people with mutations in DISC1 have a high likelihood of mental illness. DISC-1 was known to be associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major clinical depression and autism.

10 Aug 2015

UNC researchers show how a genetic mutation disables molecular switch and causes autism

Last December, researchers identified more than 1,000 gene mutations in individuals with autism, but how these mutations increased risk for autism was unclear. Now, UNC School of Medicine researchers are the first to show how one of these mutations disables a molecular switch in one of these genes and causes autism.

7 Aug 2015

New fly model developed to study motor neuron degeneration

Researchers at the Babraham Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States have developed a new model to study motor neuron degeneration and have used this to identify three genes involved in the neurodegeneration process. These findings could have relevance for understanding the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other forms of motor neuron disease (MND).

7 Aug 2015

NFIX protein drives NSC differentiation toward oligodendrocytes

An international team of researchers has shown that NFIX, a protein that regulates neuronal stem cell activity (NSC), also has a role in driving NSC differentiation toward oligodendrocytes, a type of glial cell. These cells produce the myelin that surrounds and protects neurons.

7 Aug 2015

Discovery may lead to new ways to diagnose, treat brain cancer

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute have uncovered a link between the genomes of cells originating in the neural crest and development of tumors — a discovery that could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat cancer.

6 Aug 2015

Neurons News and Research

Newly developed technique delivers wireless power for optogenetics

Commercial non-invasive brain stimulation device impairs cognitive performance

Determining the dynein-dynactin complex structure: an interview with Dr Gabriel C. Lander

Neuroscientist discovers how animal's biological clock wakes up, goes to sleep

NSF awards EAGER grant to expand use of temperature-activated protein switches in neurons

3D protein structure reveals new drug targets for cancer, neurodegenerative diseases

Rice and UTHealth scientists awarded $1.02 million NSF grant to examine how the brain processes language

CMU engineers awarded NSF grant to study neural variability in motor learning

Northwestern University researchers identify molecular difference in male and female brains

Study suggests that eye movements during REM sleep responsible for resetting dream 'snapshots'

Study suggests potential target for treating familial form of ALS

Loss of critical receptor in the brain may be responsible for autism, schizophrenia

EPFL scientists reveal that the brain is not as compact as we thought

Sigma 1 receptor appears to play vital role in supporting the retina

Researchers report role of two gene-regulating molecules in Parkinson's disease

DISC-1: schizophrenia's "Rosetta Stone" gene? An interview with Professor Kevin Fox

UNC researchers show how a genetic mutation disables molecular switch and causes autism

New fly model developed to study motor neuron degeneration

NFIX protein drives NSC differentiation toward oligodendrocytes

Discovery may lead to new ways to diagnose, treat brain cancer

eBook: Advancing neurodegenerative research with iPSC-derived microglia models eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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