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Virtual brain models for epilepsy and schizophrenia

Virtual brains modeling epilepsy and schizophrenia display less complexity among functional connections, and other differences compared to healthy brain models, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine report.

15 Oct 2011

Brain stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis

The prospect of doing human clinical trials with stem cells to treat diseases like multiple sclerosis may be growing closer, say scientists at the University at Buffalo and the University at Rochester, who have developed a more precise way to isolate stem cells that will make myelin.

15 Oct 2011

Scientists characterize and isolate potential stem cells to treat MS, myelin disorders

Scientists have improved upon their own previous world-best efforts to pluck out just the right stem cells to address the brain problem at the core of multiple sclerosis and a large number of rare, fatal children's diseases.

14 Oct 2011

Researchers control itch without dulling morphine's pain-killing effects

Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. The opiate-associated itch is so common that even women who get epidurals for labor pain often complain of itching. For many years, scientists have scratched their own heads about why drugs that so effectively suppress pain also induce itch.

14 Oct 2011

Scientists reprogram skin cells of patients with mental disorders into brain cells

For many poorly understood mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or autism, scientists have wished they could uncover what goes wrong inside the brain before damage ensues.

13 Oct 2011

Folic acid in early pregnancy leads to an early talking toddler: Study

According to a new Norwegian study, women who took folic acid supplements in the first two months of pregnancy were less likely to have kids with severe language delays.

12 Oct 2011

UB scientists discover promising new drug target for Alzheimer's

A tiny piece of a critical receptor that fuels the brain and without which sentient beings cannot live has been discovered by University at Buffalo scientists as a promising new drug target for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

12 Oct 2011

Researchers gain insight on how roundworm's brain operates as it moves

Using new optical equipment, a team of 11 researchers put roundworms into a world of virtual reality, monitored both their behavior and brain activity and gained unexpected information on how the organism's brain operates as it moves.

4 Oct 2011

UCLA neuro-physicists discover optimal brain rhythm for changing synaptic strength

The brain learns through changes in the strength of its synapses -- the connections between neurons -- in response to stimuli. Now, in a discovery that challenges conventional wisdom on the brain mechanisms of learning, UCLA neuro-physicists have found there is an optimal brain "rhythm," or frequency, for changing synaptic strength. And further, like stations on a radio dial, each synapse is tuned to a different optimal frequency for learning.

4 Oct 2011

Researchers apply new approach to take a close look at amyloid plaque formation

Researchers at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and Osaka University applied a new approach to take a close look at amyloid plaque formation, a process that plays important roles in Alzheimer's disease.

4 Oct 2011

Scientists discover that DNA modifications in brain cells change due to stimulated brain activity

Johns Hopkins scientists investigating chemical modifications across the genomes of adult mice have discovered that DNA modifications in non-dividing brain cells, thought to be inherently stable, instead underwent large-scale dynamic changes as a result of stimulated brain activity.

1 Oct 2011

Novel binding assay can simplify search for potential SERT inhibitors

Many psychiatric conditions are caused by aberrant metabolism of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Researchers in the Department of Pharmacy at LMU have now developed a new screening method, which will facilitate the search for new drugs that modulate the biological activity of serotonin.

1 Oct 2011

UCLA scientists create mouse model for autism

UCLA scientists have created a mouse model for autism that opens a window into the biological mechanisms that underlie the disease and offers a promising way to test new treatment approaches.

30 Sep 2011

MU researchers examine use of propranolol to improve primary traits linked with autism

Most drug therapy interventions for people with autism have targeted psychiatric problems, including aggression, anxiety and obsessive behavior. Now, University of Missouri researchers are examining the use of propranolol to improve the primary traits associated with autism - difficulty with normal social skills, language and repetitive behaviors.

30 Sep 2011

MRI-based technique allows researchers to follow neural stem cells in vivo

Carnegie Mellon University biologists have developed an MRI-based technique that allows researchers to non-invasively follow neural stem cells in vivo.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers discover kibra protein controls sculpting of brain circuitry

Researchers working with adult mice have discovered that learning and memory were profoundly affected when they altered the amounts of a certain protein in specific parts of the mammals' brains.

29 Sep 2011

DaTscan aids doctors in diagnosing patients with Parkinson's disease

Fifty thousand to 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's disease are diagnosed in the United States each year. Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) in Winfield, Ill., is among the first medical centers in North America to be using a new technology called DaTscan, an imaging tool that aids doctors in diagnosing patients who demonstrate Parkinsonian symptoms, like Parkinson's disease.

29 Sep 2011

First developmental study of human neural stem cells in subventricular zone

Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center have identified a new pathway of stem cell activity in the brain that represents potential targets of brain injuries affecting newborns.

29 Sep 2011

Some stroke patients may benefit from treatment outside the typical 3 hour window

Stroke victims may have a longer window of opportunity to receive treatment to save their brain cells, demonstrates a literature review published by University of Alberta medical researchers in Lancet Neurology.

28 Sep 2011

IUPUI develops mathematical model of brain's neural circuitry

Researchers from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have developed a mathematical model of the brain's neural circuitry that may provide a better understanding of how and why information is not transmitted correctly in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. This knowledge may eventually help scientists and clinicians correct these misfires.

28 Sep 2011