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.

Study reveals multiple correlations between brain complexity and locomotion pattern in vertebrates

Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, have uncovered multi-level relationships between locomotion - the ways animals move - and brain architecture, using high-definition 3D models of lizard and snake brains.

5 Dec 2019

Scientists discover how specific genetic mutation causes intellectual disability, autism

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered why a specific genetic mutation causes intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder in children.

5 Dec 2019

Exposure to extreme environmental conditions can affect the human brain

Members of a polar research expedition have provided researchers from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development with an opportunity to study the effects of social isolation and extreme environmental conditions on the human brain. The researchers found changes to the dentate gyrus, an area of the hippocampus responsible for spatial thinking and memory.

5 Dec 2019

Study of gene network could lead to new treatment for different neurological disorders

A mutated gene found in people with intellectual disabilities that could be targeted for treatment has been identified by an international team including University of Queensland researchers.

5 Dec 2019

Goethe University researchers develop new method to measure acute cellular changes

When cells are stressed, they initiate a complex and precisely regulated response to prevent permanent damage. One of the immediate reactions to stress signals is a reduction of protein synthesis (translation). Until now, it was difficult to measure such acute cellular changes. As reported in the latest online issue of the renowned journal Molecular Cell, researchers at Goethe University have now developed a method overcoming this hurdle.

5 Dec 2019

Researchers reveal why granule cells and interneurons process information differently

The dentate gyrus is the "input point" for the hippocampus part of the brain. It transmits information from the short term memory to the long term. It consists of granule cells, which are especially dense in this area of the brain, and interneurons, which are linked up in the central or peripheral nervous system between several nerve cells and have an inhibiting effect on their activity. Both types of cell process information and differentiate closely-related memories.

5 Dec 2019

UPV researchers develop new methodology to monitor patients with glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor in adults. Now, it can be treated with neurosurgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Still, the median life expectancy of patients affected with this pathology is no longer than 15 months.

5 Dec 2019

Drug used to treat Parkinson’s shows potential as a dementia treatment

Drug used to treat hallucinations and delusions in Parkinson's shows promise as treatment for dementia-related psychosis (DRP).

5 Dec 2019

DNA testing for siblings of children with ASD may be predictive of future diagnosis

One of the key priorities of interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is starting early, with some evidence showing infants as young as seven months old could benefit.

5 Dec 2019

Sight deprivation alters neuronal networks, shifts mice's sensitivity to different frequencies

Scientists have known that depriving adult mice of vision can increase the sensitivity of individual neurons in the part of the brain devoted to hearing.

4 Dec 2019

Molecular makeup of abnormal proteins in brain diseases shows structural diversity

Parkinson's and multisystem atrophy - both of them neurodegenerative diseases - are associated with the accumulation of alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain.

4 Dec 2019

Telemedicine may be as effective as in-person visit for people with many neurologic disorders

For people with many neurologic disorders, seeing the neurologist by video may be as effective as an in-person visit, according to a review of the evidence conducted by the American Academy of Neurology

4 Dec 2019

Epigenomic techniques used to fight disease

Humans differ from one another in many ways, including how they react to disease, because of their DNA blueprint, as well as the difference in the environments they face. These factors combine to make each person unique. Now a new study published in the journal Nature Protocols reports the development of a promising technology to uncover the process by which the body fights diseases in different ways.

4 Dec 2019

Gabapentin – a drug for nerve pain could help patients with spinal injury finds study

A preclinical study with mice has shown that Gabapentin, a drug that is commonly used in nerve pain could be useful for patients with spinal cord injury. Use of the drug showed improvement in upper limb function among the mice models of spinal cord injury, wrote the researchers. The study titled, “Gabapentinoid treatment promotes corticospinal plasticity and regeneration following murine spinal cord injury,” was published this week in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

4 Dec 2019

Scientists create artificial neurons that help cure chronic diseases

Artificial brain cells could now be implanted in the brain to repair the damage caused by chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, thanks to a team of scientists who created bionic neurons that work like the real thing.

4 Dec 2019

Baylor researchers report creation of an 'epigenetic couch potato' mouse

Why is it that some people love to exercise, and others hate it? Most people would assume it's all due to genetics, but a new Baylor College of Medicine led study in mice shows for the first time that a different molecular level of regulation - epigenetics - plays a key role in determining one's innate drive to exercise.

4 Dec 2019

Long-term exposure to hydrocarbons may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke

Long-term exposure to hydrocarbons in the air may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke development, according to a study published December 4, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Han-Wei Zhang of China Medical University, Taiwan, and colleagues.

4 Dec 2019

People can enhance attention by controlling their own alpha brain waves, study shows

Having trouble paying attention? MIT neuroscientists may have a solution for you: Turn down your alpha brain waves.

4 Dec 2019

Key brain region found to be smaller in birth control pill users

Researchers studying the brain found that women taking oral contraceptives, commonly known as birth control pills, had significantly smaller hypothalamus volume, compared to women not taking the pill, according to a new study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

4 Dec 2019

Findings could lead to new approach to treating alcohol use disorder

A single infusion of ketamine, combined with outpatient behavioral therapy, helped alcohol-dependent individuals abstain from drinking for a few weeks after the treatment, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York State Psychiatric Institute have found.

4 Dec 2019

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Study reveals multiple correlations between brain complexity and locomotion pattern in vertebrates

Scientists discover how specific genetic mutation causes intellectual disability, autism

Exposure to extreme environmental conditions can affect the human brain

Study of gene network could lead to new treatment for different neurological disorders

Goethe University researchers develop new method to measure acute cellular changes

Researchers reveal why granule cells and interneurons process information differently

UPV researchers develop new methodology to monitor patients with glioblastoma

Drug used to treat Parkinson’s shows potential as a dementia treatment

DNA testing for siblings of children with ASD may be predictive of future diagnosis

Sight deprivation alters neuronal networks, shifts mice's sensitivity to different frequencies

Molecular makeup of abnormal proteins in brain diseases shows structural diversity

Telemedicine may be as effective as in-person visit for people with many neurologic disorders

Epigenomic techniques used to fight disease

Gabapentin – a drug for nerve pain could help patients with spinal injury finds study

Scientists create artificial neurons that help cure chronic diseases

Baylor researchers report creation of an 'epigenetic couch potato' mouse

Long-term exposure to hydrocarbons may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke

People can enhance attention by controlling their own alpha brain waves, study shows

Key brain region found to be smaller in birth control pill users

Findings could lead to new approach to treating alcohol use disorder

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