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Protein parkin essential for hypothalamic neurons recovery in Parkinson's disease patients

A Michigan State University researcher is working to uncover how a protein known as parkin may help nerve cells fight off damage from Parkinson's disease, a strategy that could lead to new therapies for the degenerative ailment.

23 Jul 2010

New research identifies stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells

New research, published in the journal Development, by Dr. Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, professor of Pharmacology & Physiology and director of the newly formed GW Institute for Neuroscience, and his colleagues have identified the stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells - olfactory receptors, vomeronasal and gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons - that are responsible for enabling animals and humans, to eat, interact socially and reproduce.

22 Jul 2010

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Rui Costa, Principal Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and Xin Jin, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, describe in the latest issue of the journal Nature, that the activity of certain neurons in the brain can signal the initiation and termination of behavioural sequences we learn anew. Furthermore, they found that this brain activity is essential for learning and executing novel action sequences, many times compromised in patients suffering from disorders such as Parkinson's or Huntington's.

22 Jul 2010

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

How do mammals prepare themselves in utero for a radical modification to their respiration at the time of birth, when they move abruptly from an aquatic medium to air? CNRS researchers, working in collaboration with teams from the Universities of the Méditerranée, Paris-Sud 11 and Paul Cézanne have identified a gene in the mouse that is essential to respiration and consequently to survival at birth.

21 Jul 2010

NT-020 nutrients promote adult neural stem cell growth in aged rats: Researchers

A combination of nutrients called NT-020 promoted adult neural stem cell proliferation in aged rats and boosted their memory performance, reported University of South Florida researchers studying natural therapeutic approaches to promoting the health of neurons in the aging brain.

21 Jul 2010

Mental exercises may help reverse age-related cognitive decline

Specialized brain training targeted at the regions of a rat's brain that process sound reversed many aspects of normal, age-related cognitive decline and improved the health of the brain cells, according to a new study from researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

21 Jul 2010

Olig1 and Olig2 genes are associated with Down syndrome, scientists identify

Down syndrome is a well known cause of mental retardation and other medical problems, including early onset of Alzheimer disease. It has long been known that Down syndrome is associated with an individual having an additional copy of chromosome 21. Research findings reported in the July 18 advanced online publication of Nature Neuroscience have narrowed down the critical genetic elements responsible for some aspects of Down syndrome.

19 Jul 2010

GABA disrupts working memory in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients

Imagine if your brain lost its working memory - the ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind's eye. That's the plight faced by millions of people with neurofibromatosis type 1, or NF1. The genetic condition affects one in 3,500 people and is the most common cause of learning disabilities.Now a UCLA research team has uncovered new clues about how NF1 disrupts working memory. Published in the July 12 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings suggest a potential drug target for correcting NF1-related learning disabilities.

17 Jul 2010

Penn researchers reverse cognitive decline in fruit flies with Alzheimer's gene mutation

Investigators have found that fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) males -- in which the activity of an Alzheimer's disease protein is reduced by 50 percent -- show impairments in learning and memory as they age. What's more, the researchers were able to prevent the age-related deficits by treating the flies with drugs such as lithium, or by genetic manipulations that reduced nerve-cell signaling.

16 Jul 2010

Columbia scientists discover new way to alleviate chronic pain

Columbia scientists working to combat injury-related depression, substance abuse and suicide due to unremitting, persistent pain may have discovered a new way of treating that pain: a powerful analgesic dubbed N60 that leads to neither tolerance nor addiction.

16 Jul 2010

Skin cell samples may help discover factors behind Parkinson's disease

Researchers are applying new stem cell technology to use skin samples to grow the brain cells thought to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson's disease

14 Jul 2010

CSHL scientists reverse symptoms of Type III SMA using ASOs

The devastating, currently incurable motor-neuron disease spinal muscular atrophy might soon be treated with tiny, chemically modified pieces of RNA called antisense oligonucleotides.

13 Jul 2010

Sirtuin1 protein promotes memory, brain flexibility: MIT researchers

The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the July 11 issue of Nature.

12 Jul 2010

Researcher uses biopharmaceutical proteases to develop novel therapy for Alzheimer's disease

A University of Oklahoma researcher is developing a novel therapy for Alzheimer's disease using "biopharmaceutical proteases" to attack the toxic plaque that builds up in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient-an approach that he predicts will be lower in cost and higher in effectiveness than current therapies.

9 Jul 2010

Jasmine can be used instead of sleeping pills or mood enhancers: Study

Instead of a sleeping pill or a mood enhancer, a nose full of jasmine from Gardenia jasminoides could also help: in collaboration with Dr. Olga Sergeeva and Prof. Helmut Hass from the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, researchers from Bochum led by Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. Hanns Hatt have discovered that the two fragrances Vertacetal-coeur (VC) and the chemical variation (PI24513) have the same molecular mechanism of action and are as strong as the commonly prescribed barbiturates or propofol.

9 Jul 2010

USF granted patent for cell transplantation procedure

The University of South Florida's Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair has been granted a patent for a cell transplantation procedure combining human umbilical cord blood cells and a sugar-alcohol compound called "mannitol" that may make a big difference in treating life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke, among others.

8 Jul 2010

Japanese scientists identify long-elusive enzyme necessary for proper regulation of cilia

It's safe to say that cilia, the hairlike appendages jutting out from the smooth surfaces of most mammalian cells, have long been misunderstood - underestimated, even.

8 Jul 2010

Local anesthetics have potential therapeutic effects on IBD: Research article

Inflammatory bowel disease is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the intestines that may occur in the people who have genetic potential with a contribution of environmental factors. There has been no definitive medical treatment and drugs usually help the symptoms just to relieve.

8 Jul 2010

New insights into dendritic spine deficits in schizophrenia

Dendritic spines act as hubs for communication between nerve cells. Reductions in spines may contribute to a lack of coordination in activity between brain regions. This structural abnormality is particularly relevant in schizophrenia, where pyramidal neurons located in layer 3, the principal cell type receiving communication from other brain regions, have fewer dendritic spines.

7 Jul 2010

Research could lead to remote stimulation of cells to treat cancer or diabetes

Clusters of heated, magnetic nanoparticles targeted to cell membranes can remotely control ion channels, neurons and even animal behavior, according to a paper published by University at Buffalo physicists in Nature Nanotechnology.

7 Jul 2010

Neurons News and Research

Protein parkin essential for hypothalamic neurons recovery in Parkinson's disease patients

New research identifies stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

NT-020 nutrients promote adult neural stem cell growth in aged rats: Researchers

Mental exercises may help reverse age-related cognitive decline

Olig1 and Olig2 genes are associated with Down syndrome, scientists identify

GABA disrupts working memory in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients

Penn researchers reverse cognitive decline in fruit flies with Alzheimer's gene mutation

Columbia scientists discover new way to alleviate chronic pain

Skin cell samples may help discover factors behind Parkinson's disease

CSHL scientists reverse symptoms of Type III SMA using ASOs

Sirtuin1 protein promotes memory, brain flexibility: MIT researchers

Researcher uses biopharmaceutical proteases to develop novel therapy for Alzheimer's disease

Jasmine can be used instead of sleeping pills or mood enhancers: Study

USF granted patent for cell transplantation procedure

Japanese scientists identify long-elusive enzyme necessary for proper regulation of cilia

Local anesthetics have potential therapeutic effects on IBD: Research article

New insights into dendritic spine deficits in schizophrenia

Research could lead to remote stimulation of cells to treat cancer or diabetes

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