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.

Scientists find novel form of brain plasticity

Scientists have known for years that neurogenesis takes place throughout adulthood in the hippocampus of the mammalian brain. Now Columbia researchers have found that under stressful conditions, neural stem cells in the adult hippocampus can produce not only neurons, but also new stem cells.

14 Jun 2011

University of Mississippi grants ChromaDex global rights to pterostilbene

ChromaDex Corp. and the University of Mississippi today announced the university has granted the natural products company the exclusive worldwide patent rights to a potential new therapeutic use for pterostilbene (tero-STILL-bean) as an anxiolytic or anti-anxiety agent. ChromaDex' pTeroPure® is an ultra-pure formulation of pterostilbene, a compound found in blueberries and demonstrated to have multiple health benefits.

9 Jun 2011

New neurons may take over six months to mature

New neurons take more than six months to mature in adult monkeys and that time is likely even longer in humans, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Illinois, and Pennsylvania State University.

8 Jun 2011

SPI and Neuralstem sign licensing agreement for major depression drug, NSI-189

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive agency licensing agreement with Summit Pharmaceuticals International Corporation, of Tokyo, Japan (SPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation Group.

8 Jun 2011

Study: Stress may trigger Alzheimer's disease

Stress promotes neuropathological changes that are also seen in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that the increased release of stress hormones in rats leads to generation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in the brain and ultimately, memory loss.

27 May 2011

Leukemia protein plays a role in Alzheimer's disease

After decades of studying the pathological process that wipes out large volumes of memory, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research discovered a molecule called c-Abl that has a known role in leukemia also has a hand in Alzheimer's disease.

25 May 2011

Neurochemical basis for sleep deprivation's effects on memory

From high-school students to surgeons, anyone who has pulled an all-nighter knows there is a price to be paid the next day: trouble focusing, a fuzzy memory and other cognitive impairments. Now, researchers at Penn have found the part of the brain and the neurochemical basis for sleep deprivation's effects on memory.

18 May 2011

New technique can reveal fat distribution in healthy human brain

Mapping the fat distribution of the healthy human brain is a key step in understanding neurological diseases, in general, and the neurodegeneration that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in particular. Antonio Veloso and colleagues, from the University of the Basque Country in Leioa, Spain, find a new technique to reveal the fat distribution of three different areas of the healthy human brain.

5 May 2011

Penn State launches unique oral hygiene approach for dementia patients

Nurses who care for patients with dementia now have a tailored approach to dental hygiene for their charges, thanks to a pilot study by a team of nurses.

2 May 2011

New study reveals a novel gene linked with major depression

A new study reveals a novel gene associated with major depression. The research, published by Cell Press in the April 28 issue of the journal Neuron, suggests a previously unrecognized mechanism for major depression and may guide future therapeutic strategies for this debilitating mood disorder.

28 Apr 2011

Anti-depressants spur creation and survival of new brain cells after brain injury

Anti-depressants may help spur the creation and survival of new brain cells after brain injury, according to a study by neurosurgeons at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

19 Apr 2011

Scientists link increase of calcium influx in brain neurons to long-term memory

Using advanced imaging technology, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a change in chemical influx into a specific set of neurons in the common fruit fly that is fundamental to long-term memory.

15 Apr 2011

Study finds association between C-reactive protein and memory decline

High levels of a protein associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation in the brain correlate with aspects of memory decline in otherwise cognitively normal older adults, according to a study led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

15 Apr 2011

Researchers pinpoint effects of enhanced adult neurogenesis in hippocampus

Adult mice engineered to have more newborn neurons in their brain memory hub excelled at accurately discriminating between similar experiences - an ability that declines with normal aging and in some anxiety disorders.

4 Apr 2011

Researchers develop new way to stimulate neuron production in adult brain

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have developed a new way to stimulate neuron production in the adult mouse brain, demonstrating that neurons acquired in the brain's hippocampus during adulthood improve certain cognitive functions.

4 Apr 2011

Insight into traumatic brain injury

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have described for the first time how the brain's memory center repairs itself following severe trauma - a process that may explain why it is harder to bounce back after multiple head injuries.

1 Apr 2011

How brain's memory center repairs itself after severe trauma

1 Apr 2011

Amyloid plaques in normal older individuals may be early signs of Alzheimer's

Researchers using two brain-imaging technologies have found that apparently normal older individuals with brain deposits of amyloid beta - the primary constituent of the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients - also had changes in brain structure similar to those seen in Alzheimer's patients.

31 Mar 2011

Mother's gene variation can influence alcohol-related disorders in fetus

Exposure to alcohol in the womb doesn't affect all fetuses equally. Why does one woman who drinks alcohol during pregnancy give birth to a child with physical, behavioral or learning problems -- known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder -- while another woman who also drinks has a child without these problems?

24 Mar 2011

Gut bacteria and state of immune system influence personality

Researchers at McMaster University discovered that the "cross-talk" between bacteria in our gut and our brain plays an important role in the development of psychiatric illness, intestinal diseases and probably other health problems as well including obesity.

24 Mar 2011