Neuron News and Research

RSS

Study offers clues about the biology of cells in the spinal cord that die off in ALS

New research offers clues about the biology of cells in the spinal cord that die off in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.

2 Feb 2023

UC Davis launches new institute to advance basic knowledge of psychedelics and neurotherapeutics

The University of California, Davis has launched the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, among others.

2 Feb 2023

Voles can form enduring attachments with mates and provide parental care without oxytocin receptors

The vital role of oxytocin - the "love hormone" - for social attachments is being called into question. More than forty years of pharmacological and behavioral research has pointed to oxytocin receptor signaling as an essential pathway for the development of social behaviors in prairie voles, humans, and other species, but a genetic study publishing in the journal Neuron on January 27 shows that voles can form enduring attachments with mates and provide parental care without oxytocin receptor signaling.

29 Jan 2023

Biology underlying pair bonding and parenting may not be dictated by oxytocin receptors, study shows

Turning a decades-old dogma on its head, new research from scientists at UC San Francisco and Stanford Medicine shows that the receptor for oxytocin, a hormone considered essential to forming social bonds, may not play the critical role that scientists have assigned to it for the past 30 years.

27 Jan 2023

Researchers discover how measles virus can cause a rare but fatal neurological disorder

Researchers in Japan have uncovered the mechanism for how the measles virus can cause subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, a rare but fatal neurological disorder that can occur several years after a measles infection.

27 Jan 2023

Study shows cutaneous touch neuronal cells to be critical for sexual receptiveness

Researchers studied the social relevance of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) Mrgprb4-lineage touch neurons in sexual touch and receptivity.

25 Jan 2023

New pop-up electrode device could gather more in-depth information about the brain

Understanding the neural interface within the brain is critical to understanding aging, learning, disease progression and more.

24 Jan 2023

Epidemiological evidence that Alzheimer's and Parkinson's could be caused by viral infections

A recent study published in the journal Neuron has focussed on assessing the putative associations between viral exposures and neurodegenerative disease (NDD) onset, using real-world biobank scale data.

23 Jan 2023

Research shows how Huntington’s disease affects two distinct cell populations in the striatum

In patients with Huntington's disease, neurons in a part of the brain called the striatum are among the hardest-hit.

20 Jan 2023

Brazilian study uncovers reorganization of anatomical structures in the brains of congenitally blind people

Recently published in the scientific journal Human Brain Mapping, a Brazilian study has identified for the first time the reorganization of anatomical structures in the brain of people with congenital blindness.

20 Jan 2023

$3 million NIH grant to support research on Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology will use a unique combination of imaging techniques to study Alzheimer's disease on a scale that's never been done before.

19 Jan 2023

How does the brain change with age?

Researchers discussed cellular hallmarks of brain aging and therapeutic interventions to rejuvenate cognitive brain functions.

19 Jan 2023

Could drinking tea help manage COVID-19?

Researchers summarized the content of active ingredients in different types of tea, the second most consumed beverage in the world. They also explored the possibility of using tea extracts for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention and treatment.

17 Jan 2023

Researchers develop an artificial neuron closely mimicking the characteristics of a biological neuron

Researchers reported a conductance-based organic electrochemical neuron that mimicked biological signaling in neurons, especially activation/inactivation of their sodium and potassium channels.

16 Jan 2023

Study identifies new tau regulators as viable therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's and other tauopathies

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide and as our life expectancy increases, more individuals are expected to be affected in the coming decades.

16 Jan 2023

Machine learning tools help unravel why human accelerated regions evolved so quickly

Humans and chimpanzees differ in only one percent of their DNA. Human accelerated regions (HARs) are parts of the genome with an unexpected amount of these differences.

13 Jan 2023

Do hPSC-derived retinal neurons possess intrinsic potential to form new synaptic connections after extraction from organoids?

Researchers successfully demonstrated that lab-grown retinal organoids made new synaptic connections, theoretically establishing their potential to treat blindness due to retinal degenerative diseases.