Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Cell-hobbling fibrils found across diverse neurodegenerative diseases

Take a cell-deep tour of a brain afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, and you will find minuscule clumps of protein that seem suspicious. Ever since the 1980s, when neuroscientists began identifying these protein tangles, researchers have discovered that other brain diseases have their own tangled-protein signatures.

4 Mar 2022

New DNA test can quickly and accurately identify a range of hard-to-diagnose genetic diseases

A new DNA test, developed by researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney and collaborators from Australia, UK and Israel, has been shown to identify a range of hard-to-diagnose neurological and neuromuscular genetic diseases quicker and more-accurately than existing tests.

4 Mar 2022

Study may pave the way for better multiple sclerosis drugs

Investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have discovered how a drug for multiple sclerosis interacts with its targets, a finding that may pave the way for better treatments.

4 Mar 2022

New policy brief outlines recommendations for testing methods to detect endocrine disruptors

A new policy brief outlines recommendations for tests to identify endocrine disruptors (EDs). The brief has been published by EURION, a cluster of projects working on emerging ED research.

4 Mar 2022

Combination treatment could benefit smokers who also drink heavily

One in five people who smoke also drink heavily, but they show worse outcomes than non-heavy drinkers in quitting smoking and are often excluded from smoking cessation trials.

4 Mar 2022

Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption associated with reductions in overall brain volume

The science on heavy drinking and the brain is clear: The two don't have a healthy relationship. People who drink heavily have alterations in brain structure and size that are associated with cognitive impairments.

4 Mar 2022

Researchers take pioneering efforts to optimize the functionality of pancreatic cells produced from stem cells

Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki) Insulin is a vital hormone produced by pancreatic beta cells. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of these cells, which results in patients having to replace the lost insulin with multiple daily injections.

4 Mar 2022

When teens blow off parents’ pleas to get vaccinated, the consequences can be deadly

Kennedy Stonum, a high school junior, deflected repeated entreaties from her father to please just get vaccinated against covid-19.

4 Mar 2022

New 3D model of living brain cancer overcomes a major challenge in tissue engineering

As a potential alternative for drug testing without lab animals, researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology developed and successfully tested a 3D model of living brain cancer that surmounts one of the biggest challenges in tissue engineering.

4 Mar 2022

Texas A&M team continues research on the potential cure for Menkes disease

A life-saving cure solution for Menkes Disease, a copper deficiency in young children, is at the center of a licensing agreement by the The Texas A&M University System, through the Intellectual Property and Commercialization office of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, and a California-based biopharmaceutical company, Engrail Therapeutics.

3 Mar 2022

Blood groups play a key role in whether people develop severe COVID-19, study suggests

A new study has analyzed over 3000 proteins to identify which are causally linked to the development of severe COVID-19.

3 Mar 2022

Increased levels of dopamine play an important role in transition to REM sleep, mice study suggests

What triggers the mammalian sleep cycle's shift between non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep? A new study in mice suggests increased levels of dopamine in a key region of the brain during NREM sleep play an important role in this transition.

3 Mar 2022

Novel MRI approach can identify brain cell damage in people at early stages of Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease usually is diagnosed based on symptoms, such as when a person shows signs of memory loss and difficulty thinking.

2 Mar 2022

Discovery provides a more precise picture of the retina's optical properties

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have discovered that power-producing organelles in the eye's photoreceptor cells, called mitochondria, function as microlenses that help channel light to these cells' outer segments where it's converted into nerve signals.

2 Mar 2022

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Cell-hobbling fibrils found across diverse neurodegenerative diseases

New DNA test can quickly and accurately identify a range of hard-to-diagnose genetic diseases

Study may pave the way for better multiple sclerosis drugs

New policy brief outlines recommendations for testing methods to detect endocrine disruptors

Combination treatment could benefit smokers who also drink heavily

Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption associated with reductions in overall brain volume

Researchers take pioneering efforts to optimize the functionality of pancreatic cells produced from stem cells

When teens blow off parents’ pleas to get vaccinated, the consequences can be deadly

New 3D model of living brain cancer overcomes a major challenge in tissue engineering

Texas A&M team continues research on the potential cure for Menkes disease

Blood groups play a key role in whether people develop severe COVID-19, study suggests

Increased levels of dopamine play an important role in transition to REM sleep, mice study suggests

Novel MRI approach can identify brain cell damage in people at early stages of Alzheimer's

Discovery provides a more precise picture of the retina's optical properties

Researchers propose potential fixes to develop evidence-based diagnostic criteria for FMDs

Nicotinamide riboside supplement shows promise as a potential therapy for Parkinson’s disease

Peripubertal stress leads to increase in adipose tissue and reduces sociability

Aggressive brain tumor in children can be identified by analyzing cerebrospinal fluid

Study focuses on the potential indirect effects of COVID-19 on tinnitus severity

Novel drug candidate protects lab mice against cognitive decline by reducing brain inflammation

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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