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Mutated enzyme impairs communication between neurons and causes motor defects in SCA34 model

In one type of a rare, inherited genetic disorder that affects control of body movement, scientists have found a mutation in an enzyme that impairs communication between neurons and what should be the inherent ability to pick up our pace when we need to run, instead of walk, across the street.

17 Aug 2021

Transcranial focused ultrasound shows promise to treat forms of chronic pain

Neuromodulation comprises a range of therapeutic approaches to relieving symptoms, such as pain or tremors, or to restore movement or function.

16 Aug 2021

Simple roundworm may hold the key to understanding cell death processes

A biologist at The University of Texas at Arlington hopes that a simple roundworm might hold the key to understanding novel cell death processes. Such knowledge could lead to improved therapies to treat a variety of conditions in humans, including cancer and neurological injuries.

14 Aug 2021

Researchers identify genetic program in fruit fly that protects neurons from degeneration

Researchers at the University of Bonn have identified a previously unknown genetic program in the fruit fly. The genetic material involved controls the development of the neurons while also protecting them from degeneration.

13 Aug 2021

Scientists find clues to how a specific synapse type regulates anxiety-like behavior

The mechanisms behind the organization of neuronal synapses remain unclear owing to the sheer number of genes, proteins, and neuron types involved.

12 Aug 2021

Novel mechanistic insights on how ketamine exerts antidepressant effects

The discovery that the anaesthetic ketamine can help people with severe depression has raised hopes of finding new treatment options for the disease.

10 Aug 2021

Study uncovers link between corticosteroid receptors and ciliary, neuroplasticity genes in the brain

Chronic stress is a well-known cause for mental health disorders. New research has moved a step forward in understanding how glucocorticoid hormones ('stress hormones') act upon the brain and what their function is.

6 Aug 2021

Neural network model unravels why people with autism have difficulty interpreting facial expressions

People with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty interpreting facial expressions.

5 Aug 2021

Researchers use tiny worm to trace the development of human brain

Researchers at Sinai Health have used a tiny worm to track how an animal’s brain changes throughout its lifetime, shedding new light on how human brains develop.

5 Aug 2021

Study confirms dual beneficial effect of physical activity in depression

The dual beneficial effect of physical activity in depression is confirmed by a study at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Ruhr-Universität Bochum at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe campus: physical activity not only reduces depressive symptoms.

4 Aug 2021

Research shows how neurons learn to pick the most energy-efficient perturbations

Brains have evolved to do more with less. Take a tiny insect brain, which has less than a million neurons but shows a diversity of behaviors and is more energy- efficient than current AI systems.

3 Aug 2021

New understanding of the brain’s relay station could change medical treatment for brain disorders

New research shows cells gather more data than once believed inside the thalamus, a relay station of sensory and motor abilities in the brain. That could change how medicine treats schizophrenia, epilepsy and other brain disorders.

30 Jul 2021

Mount Sinai researchers use cerebral organoids to study frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementias are a group of fatal and debilitating brain disorders for which there are no cures.

26 Jul 2021

'Background noise' in neurotransmission helps keep nerve connections young

Neurons communicate through rapid electrical signals that regulate the release of neurotransmitters, the brain's chemical messengers.

20 Jul 2021

Study finds sex differences in astrocyte-mediated synaptic connectivity during brain development

During development, brain cells may find different ways to connect with each other based on sex, according to researchers at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

19 Jul 2021

Component derived from turmeric essential oil exhibits neuroprotective effects

Researchers from Kumamoto University, Japan have found that a component derived from turmeric essential oil, aromatic turmerone (ar-turmerone), and its derivatives act directly on dopaminergic nerves to create a neuroprotective effect on tissue cultures of a Parkinson's disease model.

14 Jul 2021

Bacteroides-dominant gut microbiome linked with advanced cognition and language skills in infant boys

The University of Alberta-led research followed more than 400 infants from the CHILD Cohort Study (CHILD) at its Edmonton site. Boys with a gut bacterial composition that was high in the bacteria Bacteroidetes at one year of age were found to have more advanced cognition and language skills one year later. The finding was specific to male children.

13 Jul 2021

UCR scientists receive additional federal funding to boost research on brain injury

Earlier this year, Viji Santhakumar, an associate professor of molecular, cell and systems biology at the University of California, Riverside, received funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disaster and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to further pursue research on moderate concussive brain injury.

12 Jul 2021

Researchers discover new genetic driver of autism and other developmental disorders

A research group including Kobe University's Professor TAKUMI Toru (also a Senior Visiting Scientist at RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research) and Assistant Professor TAMADA Kota, both of the Physiology Division in the Graduate School of Medicine, has revealed a causal gene (Necdin, NDN) in autism model mice that have the chromosomal abnormality called copy number variation.

9 Jul 2021

Research can contribute to earlier diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy

Research conducted at Cruzeiro do Sul University in São Paulo, Brazil, can contribute to earlier diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy, a disorder characterized by damage to peripheral nerves, with symptoms such as pain and paresthesia (pricking, burning and numbness), mainly in the legs and feet.

7 Jul 2021