Synapse News and Research

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Killer competition: neurons duke it out for survival!

The developing nervous system makes far more nerve cells than are needed to ensure target organs and tissues are properly connected to the nervous system. As nerves connect to target organs, they somehow compete with each other resulting in some living and some dying.

6 May 2008

New discovery on how memory is stored

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are the first to show that the location of protein-destroying "machines" in nerve cells in the brain may play an important role in how memories are formed - a finding with potential implications for treating Alzheimer's and other brain diseases. The research is published in the current issue of Learning & Memory.

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of role of rare gene mutations in schizophrenia

Using an important new method that can be applied in the study of other psychiatric illnesses, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Washington (UW) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have identified multiple, individually rare gene mutations in people with schizophrenia that may help explain how that devastating illness is caused.

31 Mar 2008

Two-way cell talk provides clues about neuromuscular disease

It's a scientific given that neurons tell other cells what to do, but new evidence suggests that, like with any good relationship, these target cells also have much to contribute, scientists say.

17 Feb 2008

Scientists find new cellular receptor for HIV

A cellular protein that helps guide immune cells to the gut has been newly identified as a target of HIV when the virus begins its assault on the body's immune system, according to researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

11 Feb 2008

Mental and physical stimulation delays dementia in Huntington's disease

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered that mental and physical stimulation delays the onset of dementia in the fatal genetic disease, Huntington's disease.

25 Jan 2008

Deafness and seizures result when glutamate protein deleted in mice

Scientists have discovered that mice genetically engineered to lack a particular protein in the brain have profound deafness and seizures.

25 Jan 2008

Sleep plays a critical role in the brain's ability to learn

Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any more-and several hours of sleep will refresh it.

21 Jan 2008

Alzheimer's molecule is a smart speed bump on the nerve-cell transport highway

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that proteins carrying chemical cargo in nerve cells react differently when exposed to the tau protein, which plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease.

18 Jan 2008

Huntington's disease problem starts early

The damaging effects of the mutated protein involved in Huntington's disease take place earlier in cell life than previously believed, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears in the current edition of the journal Neuron.

10 Jan 2008

Novel mechanism for long-term learning identified

Practice makes perfect - or at least that's what we're told as we struggle through endless rounds of multiplication tables, goal kicks and piano scales - and it seems, based on the personal experience of many, to be true.

4 Jan 2008

Key enzyme keeps synapse on track

At its core, healthy neurological function hinges on the efficient passage of information between brain cells via the synapse.

20 Dec 2007

Breakthrough technology provides new understanding of cellular processes endocytosis and exocytosis

For the first time, scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have observed in real time a cellular mechanism that's crucial to how brain cells communicate.

17 Dec 2007

Immune system may target some brain synapses

A baby's brain has a lot of work to do, growing more neurons and connections.

14 Dec 2007

First view of synapse in real time

For the first time, scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have observed in real time a cellular mechanism that's crucial to how brain cells communicate.

14 Dec 2007

Biodegradable polymers with neurotransmitters promote nerve regrowth

Research reported December 11 in the journal Advanced Materials describes a potentially promising strategy for encouraging the regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells known as neurons.

12 Dec 2007

Missing brain protein may be one of the culprits behind autism and other brain disorders

The protein helps synapses develop. Synapses--through which neurons communicate with one other-underlie our ability to learn and remember. Now Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, has uncovered an enzyme that is key to that protein's activity.

5 Dec 2007

More evidence dopamine plays a role in obesity

A brain-imaging study of genetically obese rats conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory provides more evidence that dopamine - a brain chemical associated with reward, pleasure, movement, and motivation - plays a role in obesity.

25 Oct 2007

Immune cells can simultaneously stimulate and inhibit killer cell activity

Dendritic cells, which are responsible for teaching other immune cells to attack infected or mutated cells, face a dangerous predicament.

22 Oct 2007

Researchers restore memory process in fragile X syndrome

University of California, Irvine scientists have discovered how to reverse the learning and memory problems inherent in the most common form of mental impairment.

8 Oct 2007