Myelin News and Research

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Myelin is the fatty substance that covers and protects nerves.

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.

22 Oct 2019

Autism spectrum disorder could be triggered by low placental steroid levels

A recent experimental study has shown that one reason for the occurrence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be the deficit of a placental steroid hormone called allopregnanolone. The reason is that this hormone plays a critical role in the normal development of the brain in fetal life.

21 Oct 2019

Insufficient placental steroid may increase autism spectrum disorder risk

A study in experimental models suggests that allopregnanolone, one of many hormones produced by the placenta during pregnancy, is so essential to normal fetal brain development that when provision of that hormone decreases or stops abruptly - as occurs with premature birth - offspring are more likely to develop autism-like behaviors.

20 Oct 2019

Neuroscientists to introduce new approach to assess brain damage in Parkinson's patients

TSU neuroscientists and their colleagues from SibSMU plan to introduce a new approach to studying brain damage in patients with Parkinson's disease

18 Oct 2019

Rapid and sensitive tracking of fat molecules in the body

Fats have earned a bad name as the source of all that is wrong with our hearts and blood vessels, not to mention our appearance. The dysfunctional handling of lipids or fats in the body is deeply involved in a multitude of metabolic upsets, such as obesity and cancer.

14 Oct 2019

New study blames vascular rather than nerve injury for concussion

Brain concussion occurs when the soft cottage cheese-like brain tissue is slammed against the hard skull surface, sustaining transient and reversible injury which causes brain dysfunction for a period.

14 Oct 2019

New study could change the way traumatic brain injuries are treated

Traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, can be caused by anything from sports injuries to battlefield trauma.

14 Oct 2019

Researchers shed light on abnormal neuronal activities caused by myelin impairment

The neural circuit basis for motor learning tasks when myelination is impaired has been illuminated for the first time by an international collaboration of university research teams.

11 Oct 2019

UVA researchers uncover key contributor to multiple sclerosis

Cells that scientists have largely ignored when studying multiple sclerosis are actually key contributors to MS development, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine shows.

8 Oct 2019

Antibody that targets CXCR6 prevents and reverses multiple sclerosis in mouse model

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder, is known to be driven by "helper" T cells, white blood cells that mount an inflammatory attack on the brain and spinal cord. A new study from Boston Children's Hospital pinpoints the specific subgroup of helper T cells that cause MS, as well as a protein on their surface, called CXCR6, that marks them.

4 Oct 2019

Scientists uncover the cause of a rare fatal nerve disease

A new study has revealed the cause of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher syndrome and how simply adding a chemical that binds to iron, so it can be removed from the cell, enables the sick cells to grow back.

4 Oct 2019

New smartphone app can help detect early signs of eye diseases in children

A Baylor University researcher's prototype smartphone app -- designed to help parents detect early signs of various eye diseases in their children such as retinoblastoma, an aggressive pediatric eye cancer -- has passed its first big test.

4 Oct 2019

Eating fish in pregnancy could improve attentiveness in children

A study published on October 3, 2019, in the International Journal of Epidemiology shows that babies whose mothers ate more seafood in the first three months of pregnancy showed greater attention capacity at eight years of age.

3 Oct 2019

New insight into cause of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

The nervous system is the body’s control center, which is extremely fast in decoding messages from the different nerves in the body. This network should be intact and healthy. When something is wrong with the network, it affects the brain’s main functions.

1 Oct 2019

Does the brain thin as children grow?

Neuroscientists have long held that the brains of children thin down over time. However, this was on the basis of older imaging techniques. Now, using cutting-edge technology in the form of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI), a team of researchers has found that the apparent thinning is due in part to myelin formation around the cortical nerve fibers. These very interesting findings, published in the journal PNAS on September 23, 2019, will drive further research on the link between cortical function and structure.

25 Sep 2019

Thinning of human brain during childhood linked with myelination

Using state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques, Vaidehi Natu at Stanford University in California, along with her colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, provide striking results that suggest the brains of children likely do not thin as much as expected.

24 Sep 2019

Researchers eliminate need for anti-rejection drugs in mice with transplanted glial cells

In experiments in mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have developed a way to successfully transplant certain protective brain cells without the need for lifelong anti-rejection drugs.

16 Sep 2019

Traumatic brain injuries could be healed using peptide hydrogels

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) –– defined as a bump, blow or jolt to the head that disrupts normal brain function –– sent 2.5 million people in the U.S. to the emergency room in 2014, according to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

27 Aug 2019

Scientists identify specific gene that plays key role in several psychiatric conditions

Scientists have identified a specific gene they believe could be a key player in the changes in brain structure seen in several psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism.

21 Aug 2019

Researchers reverse stem cell aging process

Scientists have shown that older stem cells can be reverted to a younger state. The discovery has important implications for degenerative disease research.

15 Aug 2019