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Frontotemporal dementia disrupts empathy for pain, study reveals

Study reveals diminished brain activity related to empathy for pain in individuals with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), using task-based fMRI. Findings show a stark reduction in neural responses tied to affective empathy, highlighting early bvFTD impacts on social cognition.

5 Dec 2024

Discovery of leptin-responsive neurons offers new hope for obesity treatment

Obesity affects a staggering 40 percent of adults and 20 percent of children in the United States. While some new popular therapies are helping to tackle the epidemic of obesity, there is still so much that researchers do not understand about the brain-body connection that regulates appetite.

5 Dec 2024

Ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate restores protein balance and targets Alzheimer’s-linked aggregates

Scientists identify β-hydroxybutyrate as a key regulator of protein solubility, offering a novel pathway to combat neurodegeneration in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

4 Dec 2024

Immune cells play a key role in movement control and metabolic balance

Immune cells have a surprising and critical role in controlling movement and bridging neural activity with metabolic demands, concludes a groundbreaking study published in Nature by researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Imperial College London.

4 Dec 2024

Scientists identify molecular mechanism behind idiopathic autism

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in communication and social behavior. Approximately 20% of cases are linked to a specific genetic mutation, but the origin of the remaining 80%, known as idiopathic autism, remains a mystery.

4 Dec 2024

Brain signature of resilience suggests a new way to recovery from trauma

Researchers at UCSF find a brain signature of resilience in mice that suggests a new way of treating severe depression.

4 Dec 2024

The heart has a mini-brain that controls its rhythm

New research from Karolinska Institutet and Columbia University shows that the heart has a mini-brain - its own nervous system that controls the heartbeat.

4 Dec 2024

SRF awards $230,000 grant to advance research on SYNGAP1-Related Disorders

The SynGAP Research Fund (SRF) has awarded a $230,000 grant to The Jackson Laboratory Rare Disease Translational Center to characterize a mouse model for SYNGAP1-Related Disorders, (SRD), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder marked by seizures, intellectual disabilities, and motor and behavioral challenges.

4 Dec 2024

Spider brain studies lead to breakthrough in understanding human brain diseases

Researchers from Saint Michael's College and the University of Vermont have made a groundbreaking new discovery that provides a better understanding of how Alzheimer's disease develops in the human brain.

4 Dec 2024

Behavioral chaos in Alzheimer’s disease mice decoded by machine learning

Researchers use machine learning to identify behavioral disruptions in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models, highlighting a potential therapeutic target in fibrinogen-microglia interactions.

3 Dec 2024

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein found lingering in brain regions

Researchers find that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein persists in the skull-meninges-brain axis, driving neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and heightened vulnerability to brain injuries.

3 Dec 2024

Research sheds light on how mutated PSEN2 accelerates familial Alzheimer's disease progression

Alzheimer's disease is a debilitating condition that slowly robs people of their memory and cognitive abilities, affecting millions of people worldwide.

3 Dec 2024

Hypothalamic deep brain stimulation restores walking after spinal cord injury

Scientists have identified neurons in the lateral hypothalamus that can be targeted through deep brain stimulation to improve walking after spinal cord injury (SCI). This innovative approach shows promise in both animal models and initial human trials, paving the way for groundbreaking treatments.

2 Dec 2024

Hypothalamic DBS therapy improves recovery of lower limb movements after spinal cord injury

Researchers at EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), led by professors Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, have achieved a major milestone in the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI).

2 Dec 2024

Boosting endocannabinoids could reduce opioid addiction risk

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs' ability to relieve pain, according to Weill Cornell Medicine investigators working with researchers from The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian.

2 Dec 2024

Study challenges long-standing understanding of axon structure

Biology textbooks may need a revision, say Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists, who present new evidence that an armlike structure of mammalian brain cells may be a different shape than scientists have assumed for more than a century.

2 Dec 2024

New dropletronic devices could transform bioengineering and medicine

Oxford University researchers have made a significant step towards realizing a form of 'biological electricity' that could be used in a variety of bioengineering and biomedical applications, including communication with living human cells.

28 Nov 2024

New model can explain neural and behavioral differences in autism spectrum disorder

Researchers Dr. Yuval Hart and Oded Wertheimer from the Psychology department and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Science (ELSC) at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new computational model to explain neural and behavioral differences in autism spectrum disorder.

28 Nov 2024

TRiC mutations found to cause developmental brain malformations in children

In 1992, Judith Frydman, PhD, discovered a molecular complex with an essential purpose in all of our cells: folding proteins correctly.

27 Nov 2024

Unveiling INST10's role in neural development and cell identity

The Wistar Institute's Alessandro Gardini, Ph.D., and lab have shed new light on how certain biological processes determine the development of neural cells. Their findings on a molecular "bridge" complex demonstrate a new level of detail in the understanding of early neural development - which is fundamental for the further understanding of neurodevelopmental syndromes.

27 Nov 2024