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.

Researchers identify a new type of odor neuron in flies

The stink of ammonia in urine, sweat, and rotting meat repels humans, but many insects find ammonia alluring. Now, UConn researchers have figured out how the annoying insects smell it, a discovery that could lead to better ways to make them buzz off.

24 Jun 2021

Scientists use new technology to optimize drug development for brain diseases

Dr. Hayder Amin and Dr. Caghan Kizil from the DZNE's Dresden site aim to speed up developing drugs against brain diseases through cutting-edge technology.

24 Jun 2021

Biomarker of chronic cellular stress is associated with Huntington's disease, shows study

A new University of California, Irvine-led study finds that the persistence of a marker of chronic cellular stress, previously associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), also takes place in the brains of Huntington's disease (HD) patients.

24 Jun 2021

New antibody conjugate delivers drugs to bone tumors and inhibits metastasis

Bone cancer is hard to treat and prone to metastasis. Research teams at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have a new strategy to attack it.

23 Jun 2021

Tips of cancer survivors' tongues are less sensitive to tastes, study finds

Most survivors of squamous cell head and neck cancers report that their sense of taste is dulled, changed or lost during radiation treatment, causing them to lose interest in eating and diminishing their quality of life.

23 Jun 2021

Flavoring can change how the brain responds to nicotine e-cigarettes

Flavoring can change how the brain responds to e-cigarette aerosols that contain nicotine, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

23 Jun 2021

Researchers unravel new mechanism that enables cancer development

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered a new mechanism that activates specific genes, leading to the development of cancers.

23 Jun 2021

Molecule derived from tarantula venom may help relieve chronic IBS pain

For patients who have inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS), the condition is literally a pain in the gut. Chronic -- or long-term -- abdominal pain is common, and there are currently no effective treatment options for this debilitating symptom.

23 Jun 2021

Cedars-Sinai receives $11.99 million from CIRM to launch ALS clinical trial

Cedars-Sinai has been awarded $11.99 million by California's stem cell agency to launch a clinical trial testing a potential gene and stem cell therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

23 Jun 2021

Heidelberg researchers replicate rare genetic defect in fish model

A rare genetic defect that affects the so-called ALG2 gene can cause serious metabolic diseases in humans. It does so through the defective formation of proteins and sugar molecules.

23 Jun 2021

Epstein-Barr virus reactivation may be the cause of long COVID symptoms

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) reactivation resulting from the inflammatory response to coronavirus infection may be the cause of previously unexplained long COVID symptoms -- such as fatigue, brain fog, and rashes -- that occur in approximately 30% of patients after recovery from initial COVID-19 infection.

23 Jun 2021

Can antioxidants help manage neurological complications in COVID-19?

In a recent study published in Antioxidants, researchers evaluated the use of antioxidants as potential adjuvants for the treatment of COVID-19.

23 Jun 2021

Study: Subconscious changes in day-to-day movements can predict Alzheimer’s disease

As people go about their daily activities, complex fluctuations in their movement occur without conscious thought. These fluctuations -- known as fractal motor activity regulation (FMAR) -- and their changes are not readily detectable to the naked eye, but FMAR patterns can be recorded using a wristwatch-like device known as an actigraph.

23 Jun 2021

Study involving virtual patients is as effective as traditional clinical trials

A study involving virtual rather than real patients was as effective as traditional clinical trials in evaluating a medical device used to treat brain aneurysms, according to new research.

23 Jun 2021

MMRI expert receives diversity grant for research on autism, heart disease

Does a connection exist between the development of heart disease and autism? That's a question Dr. Maria Kontaridis, Executive Director and Gordon K. Moe Professor at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI), and her team have been actively investigating thanks to a grant from the American Heart Association (AHA).

23 Jun 2021

Modulating the rap1 mechanism can help control blood sugar levels

Managing type 2 diabetes typically involves losing weight, exercise and medication, but new research by Dr. Makoto Fukuda and colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions suggests that there may be other ways to control the condition through the brain.

23 Jun 2021

New project aims to identify quantitative biological features common across diseases

Building on the success of innovative research by the PRISM project, the Innovative Medicine Initiative 2, a joint undertaking between the EU and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), has backed the program with funding for a new project to explore the underlying biology of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

23 Jun 2021

Study provides treatment guidance for children and adolescents with multisystem inflammatory syndrome

An analysis conducted by a group of investigators including Tamara Bradford, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, found that children and adolescents with Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) initially treated with intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) plus glucocorticoids had a lower risk of new or persistent cardiovascular dysfunction than IVIG alone.

22 Jun 2021

RDM Positive Impact Foundation funds $1.25 million research project to study SYNGAP1

The RDM Positive Impact Foundation is funding an ambitious $1.25 million research project at the UC Davis MIND Institute to study SYNGAP1.

22 Jun 2021

Molecular study reveals signs of inflammation in brains of people who died of COVID-19

The most comprehensive molecular study to date of the brains of people who died of COVID-19 turned up unmistakable signs of inflammation and impaired brain circuits.

22 Jun 2021