Hippocampus News and Research

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The hippocampus is a part of the forebrain, located in the medial temporal lobe. It belongs to the limbic system and plays major roles in short term memory and spatial navigation. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain.

Molecular imaging pinpoints inflammation in the brains of schizophrenics and migraine sufferers

Inflammatory response of brain cells-as indicated by a molecular imaging technique-could tell researchers more about why certain neurologic disorders, such as migraine headaches and psychosis in schizophrenic patients, occur and provide insight into how to best treat them, according to two studies published in the November issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

31 Oct 2009

Scientists test rapamycin's effectiveness at rescuing impaired nerve cells

Johns Hopkins scientists report having used a commercially available drug to successfully "rescue" animal brain cells that they had intentionally damaged by manipulating a newly discovered gene that links susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and autism.

28 Oct 2009

Rutgers scientist receives 2009 Gruber International Research Award

For the first time, it now is possible for researchers to peer into those internal processes in a rodent brain. Eva Pastalkova, a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University, Newark and her advisor, Professor Gy-rgy Buzsaki, have developed a method for studying internally generated brain activity in rats.

28 Oct 2009

Susceptibility to schizophrenia and autism may have common genetic fingerprints, says researchers

28 Oct 2009

Discovery of molecular pathway in brain may reverse cognitive impact of sleep deprivation

A research collaboration led by biologists and neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has found a molecular pathway in the brain that is the cause of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation.

27 Oct 2009

Antidepressants are not effective for many people

More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief.

24 Oct 2009

Research in specific cells and circuitry affected by addiction may help guard against relapse

New research using animal models is enabling a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of compulsive drug addiction in humans - knowledge that may lead to more effective treatment options to weaken the powerful cravings that cause people to relapse.

22 Oct 2009

Federal grant for ecstasy research

A so-called "club drug" - typically not used all that often by those who take it - can still have the potential to cause a lot of damage among some users, say University of Cincinnati researchers. Trials are underway to trace the effects of ecstasy and to see who's most at risk. The study is supported by $471,000 in federal stimulus funds awarded by the National Institutes of Health and spread out over two years.

19 Oct 2009

Exercise prevents memory decline post brain radiation treatments

Exercise is a key factor in improving both memory and mood after whole-brain radiation treatments in rodents, according to data presented by Duke University scientists at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.

19 Oct 2009

Brain's mapping system uncovered

Through the power of Google Earth, you can travel the globe from the comfort of your computer screen, peering down on everything from above. But once you change your perspective - if you go into one of the buildings that you've looked down on - you have to upload a new map.

7 Oct 2009

New findings on Alzheimer's disease suggest a possible way for treatment

The action of a small protein that is a major villain in Alzheimer's disease can be counterbalanced with another brain protein, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study.

7 Oct 2009

New treatment for Alzheimer's disease may be in the offing

Oleocanthal, a naturally-occurring compound found in extra-virgin olive oil, alters the structure of neurotoxic proteins believed to contribute to the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's disease. This structural change impedes the proteins' ability to damage brain nerve cells.

30 Sep 2009

DISC1 linked to proper development and migration of neurons in the brain

Scientists now have a better understanding of a perplexing gene that is associated with susceptibility for a wide spectrum of severely debilitating mental illnesses. Two independent research studies published by Cell Press in the September 24th issue of the journal Neuron provide fascinating insight into the molecular mechanisms that link disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) with the proper development and migration of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory and associated with the pathology of schizophrenia.

24 Sep 2009

Neurodegenerative disorders are the second-leading cause of early-onset dementia, says report

Neurodegenerative disorders called frontotemporal dementias (FTD) are the second-leading cause of early-onset dementia in persons under age 65 and can emerge sometimes as early as age 20.

21 Sep 2009

Molecular link between intelligence and curiosity discovered

Scientists from the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto have discovered a molecular link between intelligence and curiosity, which may lead to the development of drugs to improve learning.

17 Sep 2009

UJI's current research study on early detection of Alzheimer's Disease using fMRI

The Universitat Jaume I (UJI) of Castelló is working on the early detection of Alzheimer's Disease by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. The study is being carried out within the framework of a national project called MIND, which approaches Alzheimer's disease from a multidisciplinary perspective and involves twelve biomedicine companies and the corresponding public research organisations associated with them.

16 Sep 2009

Mechanism during sleep responsible for memory formation identified

A Rutgers University, Newark and Coll-ge de France, Paris research team has pinpointed for the first time the mechanism that takes place during sleep that causes learning and memory formation to occur.

16 Sep 2009

ADDF's grant to Abiant for developing accurate imaging diagnostic approach

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today that it is providing a grant of $200,000 to Abiant, Inc. (Deerfield, IL), for the development of a highly accurate imaging diagnostic for Alzheimer's Disease.

9 Sep 2009

Prevalence of cortical gray matter atrophy may be overestimated in healthy aging brain

The belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, according to new research. As a result, previous findings may have overestimated atrophy and underestimated normal size for the older brain.

8 Sep 2009

Early schizophrenia symptoms include unusually high CA1 subfield activity

In the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of its kind, neurologists and psychiatrists at Columbia University have identified an area of the brain involved in the earliest stages of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.

7 Sep 2009