Myelin News and Research

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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

Virtual reality could aid in early detection of MS balance problems

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often have a greatly increased risk of falling and injuring themselves even when they feel they're able to walk normally.

11 Mar 2020

New C. elegans model will accelerate study of a rare disease

The model will permit to accelerate and reduce the price of the research, which is studying the mechanisms and the possible pharmacological targets for the neuronal alterations of this disease.

20 Feb 2020

An enriched environment helps heal young, injured brains

An enriched environment--with increased opportunities for physical activity, socialization and exploring novel stimuli--helped lessen functional, anatomical and cellular deficits in an experimental model of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation at birth.

19 Feb 2020

Circulating ceramide ratios may be useful predictors of future dementia risk

Novel blood-based biomarkers for dementia could identify disease at an early preclinical stage, serve as surrogate outcomes for clinical trials of investigational therapies and even identify future potential therapeutic targets.

13 Feb 2020

Nerve insulation renewed to create long-term learning

A new study published in February 2020, in the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that short-term learning occurs rapidly, but for it to become a long-term memory, brain cells must form more myelin, an insulating fatty material.

10 Feb 2020

People with ASD have cellular abnormality that impairs myelin production, study reveals

People with autism spectrum disorder appear to suffer malfunctions in a cell that produces a special coating around nerve fibers that facilitates efficient electrical communication across the brain.

4 Feb 2020

Blood test can be used to gauge a person's risk for cerebral small vessel disease

A UCLA-led study has found that levels of six proteins in the blood can be used to gauge a person's risk for cerebral small vessel disease, or CSVD, a brain disease that affects an estimated 11 million older adults in the U.S. CSVD can lead to dementia and stroke, but currently it can only be diagnosed with an MRI scan of the brain.

3 Feb 2020

FDA approves new drug that could aid MS diagnoses for clinical trials

A new drug that could make it easier for doctors to diagnose multiple sclerosis in its earlier stages has been approved for its first human trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

27 Jan 2020

Novel technique used to show how electrical impulses travel with high speed in the brain

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience used a new technique to show how electrical impulses are traveling with high speed in the brain.

24 Jan 2020

Injecting nanoparticles into the bloodstream to reduce brain swelling after traumatic brain injury

After a traumatic brain injury, the most harmful damage is caused by secondary swelling of the brain compressed inside the skull. There is no treatment for this.

22 Jan 2020

Study shows how gene therapy may help protect against vision loss in multiple sclerosis

New research by Dorothy P. Schafer, PhD, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, reveals the molecular process in which synaptic connections in the brain are damaged in multiple sclerosis and how this contributes to neurodegenerative symptoms.

21 Jan 2020

A molecular switch for repairing damage in central nervous system disorders discovered

A molecular switch has the ability to turn on a substance in animals that repairs neurological damage in disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Mayo Clinic researchers discovered.

11 Jan 2020

Researchers demonstrate a novel method for treating multiple sclerosis

Measuring changes in the speed of electrical signals along nerves connecting the eyes to the brain may accurately reflect recovery from myelin loss in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and could be used to evaluate new treatments for the disease.

17 Dec 2019

The sympathetic nervous system can modulate action of defense cells in autoimmune disease

The results of a study conducted in Brazil suggest that the sympathetic nervous system - the part of the autonomous nervous system that controls responses to danger or stress - can modulate the action of defense cells in patients with autoimmune diseases.

16 Dec 2019

Study advances understanding of mechanisms involved in functional neurological disorder

Individuals with functional neurological disorder have symptoms not explained by traditional neurological conditions, including limb weakness, tremor, gait abnormalities, seizures and sensory deficits.

27 Nov 2019

Researchers discover molecular underpinnings of Alexander disease

Scientists have known that genetic mutations leading to the production of a defective protein called GFAP cause Alexander disease (AxD), a debilitating neurodegenerative condition that can present during infancy, adolescence, or adulthood.

21 Nov 2019

Blocking a molecule could delay the progression of multiple sclerosis

Over 77,000 Canadians are living with multiple sclerosis, a disease whose causes still remain unknown. Presently, they have no hope for a cure.

14 Nov 2019

Study shows how myelinated mammalian nerves propagate nerve impulses at high frequencies

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers, for the first time ever, have achieved patch-clamp studies of an elusive part of mammalian myelinated nerves called the Nodes of Ranvier.

6 Nov 2019

Celiac disease may now be curable with biodegradable nanoparticles

A phase 2 trial just concluded shows that people with celiac disease may now be able to hope for a cure, through a treatment that makes the immune system tolerant towards gluten. This could eventually make it possible for such individuals to eat gluten-containing foods without fear.

22 Oct 2019

New treatment shows promise to reverse celiac disease

Results of a new phase 2 clinical trial using technology developed at Northwestern Medicine show it is possible to induce immune tolerance to gluten in individuals with celiac disease. The findings may pave the way for treated celiac patients to eventually tolerate gluten in their diet.