Neuron News and Research

RSS

RNA interference can be used to silence genes selectively - potential for Huntington's disease therapy

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have designed tiny RNA molecules that shut off the gene that causes Huntington's disease without damaging that gene's healthy counterpart, which maintains the health and vitality of neurons.

12 Apr 2009

New insights into perception - sensory processing of visual and tactile motion use overlapping neural circuits

In the classic waterfall illusion, if you stare at the downward motion of a waterfall for some period of time, stationary objects - such as rocks - appear to drift upward.

12 Apr 2009

New common pathway in neurodegenerative disease is a possible door to a point of no return

A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS going - until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them - may largely come down to poor conversational skills.

9 Apr 2009

Genetic variation found to increase risk of schizophrenia

Rutgers geneticist Linda Brzustowicz and her colleagues have identified a specific DNA change that is likely to increase risk for developing schizophrenia in some people.

8 Apr 2009

Researchers regenerate axons necessary for voluntary movement

For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

6 Apr 2009

New type of probe enables visualization of single ribonucleic acid

Biomedical engineers have developed a new type of probe that allows them to visualize single ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules within live cells more easily than existing methods.

6 Apr 2009

Rare window on spinal muscular atrophy genetics

Caused by a mutation of the SMN gene, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an infantile and juvenile neurodegenerative disorder where motor neuron loss causes progressive paralysis.

6 Apr 2009

How the retina works: Like a multi-layered jigsaw puzzle of receptive fields

About 1.25 million neurons in the retina -- each of which views the world only through a small jagged window called a receptive field -- collectively form the seamless picture we rely on to navigate our environment.

6 Apr 2009

Scientists show how a neuron gets its shape

Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: When Abraham Lincoln was asked how long a man's legs should be, he absurdly replied, "Long enough to reach the ground."

6 Apr 2009

Researchers find direct link between bursting activity of midbrain dopamine neurons and behavior

Researchers are one step closer to understanding the neurobiology that allows people to successfully learn motivated behaviors by associating environmental cues with rewarding outcomes, according to a study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ' online Early Edition.

6 Apr 2009

55 proteins found to interact with nicotine

Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.

6 Apr 2009

Alzheimer's disease linked to mitochondrial damage

Investigators at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated that attacks on the mitochondrial protein Drp1 by the free radical nitric oxide-which causes a chemical reaction called S-nitrosylation-mediates neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease.

5 Apr 2009

What drives brain changes in macular degeneration?

In macular degeneration, the most common form of adult blindness, patients progressively lose vision in the center of their visual field, thereby depriving the corresponding part of the visual cortex of input.

2 Apr 2009

A new theory on autism put forward

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.

1 Apr 2009

Basic guides to PCR, labeling neurons featured in Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Along with new cutting-edge methods, Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is home to an in-depth library of basic laboratory methods.

1 Apr 2009

Activation of the prefrontal cortex improves working memory

Psychologists and neurologists invest considerable effort in the study of working memory.

1 Apr 2009

Experimental brain tools developed by Hebrew University scientists

An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed a new analytical tool to answer the question of how our brain cells record outside stimuli and react to them.

1 Apr 2009

How microglia diagnose damaged circuits in an in vivo brain

Microglia, immune cells in the brain, is suggested to be involved in the repair of damaged brain, like a medical doctor.

1 Apr 2009

CSHL neuroscientists propose project to comprehensively map mammalian brain circuits

Thirty-seven scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and 20 other major research institutions in the U.S. and Europe have issued a major challenge to the neuroscience community.

1 Apr 2009

Model brain explains limitations of working memory

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet (KI) have constructed a mathematical activity model of the brain's anterior and superior parts, to increase the understanding of the capacity of the working memory and of how the billions of neurons in the brain interact.

31 Mar 2009