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Research shows brain cells regulate blood vessel development

Zhen Huang freely admits he was not interested in blood vessels four years ago when he was studying brain development in a fetal mouse. Instead, he wanted to see how changing a particular gene in brain cells called glia would affect the growth of neurons.

25 Jan 2013

Social isolation increases risk of addiction to amphetamine and alcohol

Rats that are socially isolated during a critical period of adolescence are more vulnerable to addiction to amphetamine and alcohol, found researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Amphetamine addiction is also harder to extinguish in the socially isolated rats.

24 Jan 2013

Research team describes how the brain controls whisker movements in mice

All parents know the infant milestones: turning over, learning to crawl, standing, and taking that first unassisted step. Achieving each accomplishment presumably requires the formation of new connections among subsets of the billions of nerve cells in the infant's brain. But how, when and where those connections form has been a mystery.

24 Jan 2013

Researchers discover unique hairpin-like structure that facilitates Abeta clumping

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of late-life dementia. The disorder is thought to be caused by a protein known as the amyloid-beta protein, or Abeta, which clumps together in the brain, forming plaques that are thought to destroy neurons. This destruction starts early, too, and can presage clinical signs of the disease by up to 20 years.

24 Jan 2013

Hyperbaric treatment restores neurological function in damaged brains

Stroke, traumatic injury, and metabolic disorder are major causes of brain damage and permanent disabilities, including motor dysfunction, psychological disorders, memory loss, and more. Current therapy and rehab programs aim to help patients heal, but they often have limited success.

23 Jan 2013

Study identifies how astrocytes regulate a neurotransmitter involved in sleep

Neuroscience researchers from Tufts University have found that our star-shaped brain cells, called astrocytes, may be responsible for the rapid improvement in mood in depressed patients after acute sleep deprivation. This in vivo study, published in the current issue of Translational Psychiatry, identified how astrocytes regulate a neurotransmitter involved in sleep.

23 Jan 2013

UB scientists propose first genomic explanation for schizophrenia

New University at Buffalo research demonstrates how defects in an important neurological pathway in early development may be responsible for the onset of schizophrenia later in life.

23 Jan 2013

CHLA, House Research Institute receive FDA approval to begin pediatric ABI clinical trial

L.A.-based House Research Institute and Children's Hospital Los Angeles announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children.

22 Jan 2013

Neurophysiologic mechanisms of deep-brain stimulation unveiled

The beneficial effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease are partly down to compensatory activation of nonmotor dopamine pathways during exercise, research suggests.

22 Jan 2013

Hope for premature babies with neurologic disabilities

Damage caused by cerebral ischemia in premature babies could be reversed or prevented with early intervention, suggests research carried out in sheep and published in Science Translational Medicine.

22 Jan 2013

Family members with rare gene mutation at high risk of developing schizophrenia

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a rare gene mutation in a single family with a high rate of schizophrenia, adding to evidence that abnormal genes play a role in the development of the disease.

22 Jan 2013

Neuronal reprogramming may help treat neurodegenerative diseases

A new finding by Harvard stem cell biologists turns one of the basics of neurobiology on its head - demonstrating that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated neuron into another within the brain.

22 Jan 2013

Itch-specific nerve cells: an interview with Associate Professor Xinzhong Dong

Itch was actually defined by a German physician more than 350 years ago. His name was Samuel Hafenreffer. He defined itch as an unpleasant sensation that makes people want to scratch. You probably think this is a very simple definition but itch is really a very complex sensory modality.

21 Jan 2013

Researchers identify and test first blood-based circulating miRNA biomarkers for Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. At present, it is usually diagnosed only when motor features are present. Hence, there is a need to develop objective and measurable biomarkers to improve PD diagnostics during its earlier stage, prior to its motor onset. In this pilot study, researchers identified and tested the first blood-based circulating microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for PD.

21 Jan 2013

Low blood flow to the premature brain disrupts cells' ability to fully mature

Physician-scientists at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital are challenging the way pediatric neurologists think about brain injury in the pre-term infant. In a study published online in the Jan. 16 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the OHSU Doernbecher researchers report for the first time that low blood and oxygen flow to the developing brain does not, as previously thought, cause an irreversible loss of brain cells, but rather disrupts the cells' ability to fully mature.

19 Jan 2013

Possible connection between mitochondrial CYP2D6 and Parkinson's

With a new insight into a model of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a novel target for mitigating some of the disease's toll on the brain.

19 Jan 2013

Scientists compare neuronal network connections in 2 worm species

Researchers in the group of Ralf Sommer at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tuebingen, Germany, have for the first time been able to identify neuronal correlates of behaviour by comparing maps of synaptic connectivity, or "connectomes", between two species with different behaviour.

19 Jan 2013

New model of tau pathology spread

Brain diseases associated with the misformed protein tau, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau pathologies, are characterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) comprised of pathological tau filaments.

19 Jan 2013

Eyes also need light to develop normally during pregnancy

New research in Nature concludes the eye – which depends on light to see – also needs light to develop normally during pregnancy.

17 Jan 2013

Some epileptic seizures may originate in glia: Study

Epileptic seizures occur when neurons in the brain become excessively active. However, a new study from MIT neuroscientists suggests that some seizures may originate in non-neuronal cells known as glia, which were long believed to play a mere supporting role in brain function.

17 Jan 2013