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.

UIC Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics receives $8.2 million NIH grant

The University of Illinois at Chicago received $8.2 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to continue the Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics and its research on how alcohol affects genes through epigenetics -- chemical changes to DNA, RNA or proteins that alter the expression of genes without directly modifying them.

4 Jun 2020

Natural molecules that stimulate dopamine production may help reverse Parkinson's disease

Investigators have identified two molecules naturally produced by the body that stimulate the production of dopamine, the molecule that is in short supply in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease.

4 Jun 2020

Study reveals parts of the brain linked to facial and scene recognition

Using "sub-millimeter" brain implants, researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, have been able to determine which parts of the brain are linked to facial and scene recognition.

4 Jun 2020

Intranasal delivery of MSC-EVs shows promise for treating Alzheimer's disease

In the search for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer much promise, thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

4 Jun 2020

Study reveals biochemical alterations in patients with Lesch-Nyhan disease

An international study by the Institute of Neuroscience of the UAB, Emory University and Hospital Universitario La Paz, published in the PNAS journal, shows that patients suffering from Lesch-Nyhan, a rare neurological disease, present biochemical alterations in skin cells (fibroblasts), urine and cerebrospinal fluid.

4 Jun 2020

DFG to establish ten new Collaborative Research Centers

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is establishing ten new Collaborative Research Centres to further support top-level research in German universities.

4 Jun 2020

Researchers find link between stroke-related brain blood vessel abnormality and gut bacteria

In a nationwide study, NIH funded researchers found that the presence of abnormal bundles of brittle blood vessels in the brain or spinal cord, called cavernous angiomas (CA), are linked to the composition of a person's gut bacteria.

4 Jun 2020

Nicotine promotes spread of lung cancer cells into the brain, study finds

Researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine have discovered that nicotine promotes the spread of lung cancer cells into the brain, where they can form deadly metastatic tumors.

4 Jun 2020

COVID-19 can increase stroke risk in young healthy people

Young patients with no risk factors for stroke may have an increased risk if they have contracted COVID-19, whether or not they are showing symptoms of the disease.

4 Jun 2020

Effects of chronic stress associated with increased inflammatory signaling within brain circuits

Anxiety and depression are significantly heightened during times of great stress such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 Jun 2020

COVID-19 pandemic may cause long-term effects and increase healthcare costs, says GlobalData

As many COVID-19 patients may experience long-term complications from the illness such as intensive care unit delirium, post-traumatic stress disorder, lung damage, heart damage and possible neurological issues, GlobalData expects the market for these treatments to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic as recovered patients may need long-term care for these issues after being released from the intensive care unit and the hospital.

4 Jun 2020

Excruciating cluster headaches often misdiagnosed

A headache is a painful sensation in any part of the head and can have a multitude of causes that are not necessarily due to underlying illness. They result from signals interacting among the brain, surrounding nerves, and blood vessels.

4 Jun 2020

Researchers treat TMC1-related deafness with gene therapy

When Wei Hsi (Ariel) Yeh was a young undergraduate student, one of her close friends went from normal hearing to complete deafness in the span of one month.

4 Jun 2020

Brain activity studies are not as useful as previously thought

Hundreds of published studies over the last decade have claimed it's possible to predict an individual's patterns of thoughts and feelings by scanning their brain in an MRI machine as they perform some mental tasks.

3 Jun 2020

AFFiRiS announces preclinical results of monoclonal antibody mAB C6-17 in Huntington's

AFFiRiS, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel disease-modifying specific active immunotherapies, today announced that detailed preclinical results with its monoclonal antibody mAB C6-17 to treat Huntington's Disease were published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurobiology of Disease.

3 Jun 2020

Scientists uncover why developing nerve cells take a wrong turn

A group of scientists from CECAD, the Cluster of Excellence 'Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases,' have found a mechanism by which neurodevelopmental diseases concerning neurons can be explained: The loss of a certain enzyme, UBE2K, impeded the differentiation of stem cells by silencing the expression of genes important for neuronal differentiation and, therefore, the development and generation of neurons.

3 Jun 2020