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Stem cell therapy can repair brain damage and improve memory function in mice

A one-time injection of an experimental stem cell therapy can repair brain damage and improve memory function in mice with conditions that replicate human strokes and dementia, a new UCLA study finds.

21 Apr 2021

Research sheds light on a new neuroprotective mechanism to control damage following brain injury

When the brain suffers injury or infection, glial cells surrounding the affected site act to preserve the brain's sensitive nerve cells and prevent excessive damage.

26 Mar 2021

Star-shaped brain cells impact the length and depth of sleep in mice

For something we spend one-third of our lives doing, we still understand remarkably little about how sleep works -- for example, why can some people sleep deeply through any disturbance, while others regularly toss and turn for hours each night? And why do we all seem to need a different amount of sleep to feel rested?

22 Mar 2021

Researchers reprogram glial cells into new neurons to heal spinal cord injury

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have successfully reprogrammed a glial cell type in the central nervous system into new neurons to promote recovery after spinal cord injury--revealing an untapped potential to leverage the cell for regenerative medicine.

8 Mar 2021

How does SARS-CoV-2 infect brain cells?

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco, Gladstone Institutes in the USA, and The Aga Khan University in Pakistan investigated if human neural cells can be infected by SARS-CoV-2.

20 Jan 2021

Study reveals how loss of protein arginine methyltransferase affects proper brain development

Normal brain development requires a precise interplay between neuronal and non-neuronal (also called glial) cells.

24 Sep 2020

Chaperone-mediated autophagy could be a new therapeutic target for spinocerebellar ataxia

A research team from Kumamoto University, Japan has developed an animal model that reproduces motor dysfunction and cerebellar neurodegeneration similar to that in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) by inhibiting chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) in cerebellar neurons.

23 Sep 2020

New study can advance scientific understanding of the function of astrocytes

New research from Oregon Health & Science University for the first time documents the presence of astrocytes in zebrafish, a milestone that will open new avenues of research into a star-shaped type of glial cell in the brain that is critical for nearly every aspect of brain assembly and function.

9 Sep 2020

Brain estrogen critical for astrocyte activation and neuroprotection

When the brain isn't getting enough oxygen, estrogen produced by neurons in both males and females hyperactivates another brain cell type called astrocytes to step up their usual support and protect brain function.

1 Sep 2020

Researchers to investigate the role of Connexin 26 protein controlled breathing

The protein Connexin 26 has been previously identified as being directly sensitive to Carbon dioxide and linked to conditions such as KIDS syndrome and deafness.

13 Aug 2020

CU researchers discover key role of specific brain cells during development

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified how specific brain cells interacting during development could be related to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including some that occur later in life.

9 Jul 2020

Scientists receive grant to study cerebrovascular changes during healthy and Alzheimer's aging

Scientists often focus on abnormal accumulations of proteins called plaques in the brain in efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. But the effects of these plaques have not been clear.

7 Jul 2020

Experts debate over future Parkinson’s disease trial involving growth factors

Growth factors such as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) were initially thought to be exciting new treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD), but trials have been disappointing.

5 Jun 2020

A protein critical for wound healing and neural repair following spinal cord injury identified

Plexin-B2, an axon guidance protein in the central nervous system (CNS), plays an important role in wound healing and neural repair following spinal cord injury (SCI), according to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in Nature Neuroscience. T

2 Mar 2020

Promising molecule could stop or slow Parkinson’s

A promising molecule has offered hope for a new treatment that could stop or slow Parkinson’s, something no treatment can currently do.

14 Feb 2020

New insights into globular glial tauopathy could aid in the design of better drugs

Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the accumulation of phospho-tau, in other words tau associated to phosphate groups.

27 Jan 2020

Biodegradable bridge for nerve injuries

Researchers have successfully tried a biodegradable bridge like device (biodegradable polycaprolactone PCL conduit) in vivo for management of nerve injuries. The team published their findings in a paper titled, “Long-gap peripheral nerve repair through sustained release of a neurotrophic factor in nonhuman primates,” in the latest issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

26 Jan 2020