Neurons News and Research

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Autoantibody aids identification of hyperexcitability disorders

Researchers have found that testing for a glycine receptor autoantibody aids the identification of a broad spectrum of autoimmune brainstem/spinal cord hyperexcitability disorders.

29 Oct 2012

Scientists identify grid cells in the brains of rhesus monkeys

Primates' brains see the world through triangular grids, according to a new study published online Sunday in the journal Nature.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers use baker's yeast to identify new therapies for Lou Gehrig's disease

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastatingly cruel neurodegenerative disorder that robs sufferers of the ability to move, speak and, finally, breathe.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers investigate unique features of arcuate neurons in the hypothalamus

Maintaining a healthy body weight may be difficult for many people, but it's reassuring to know that our brains and bodies are wired to work together to do just that-in essence, to achieve a phenomenon known as energy balance, a tight matching between the number of calories consumed versus those expended. This careful balance results from a complex interchange of neurobiological crosstalk within regions of the brain's hypothalamus, and when this "conversation" goes awry, obesity or anorexia can result.

29 Oct 2012

Mouse model may provide clues on mechanism that links diabetes and aging to Alzheimer's

Growing evidence suggests that there may be a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological mechanisms by which diabetes impacts brain function and cognition are not fully understood. In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show, for the first time, that diabetes enhances the development of aging features that may underlie early pathological events in Alzheimer's.

29 Oct 2012

Study describes how Dbr1 gene halts toxic buildup of TDP-43-a protein

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how modifying a gene halts the toxic buildup of a protein found in nerve cells. These findings point to a potential new tactic for treating a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease)-a fatal disease for which there is no cure.

29 Oct 2012

Video-article details new laser-activated bio-adhesive polymer

A new video-article in JoVE, Journal of Visualized Experiments, details the use of a new laser-activated bio-adhesive polymer. The chitosan-based polymer, SurgiLux, was developed by scientists at the University of New South Wales.

26 Oct 2012

Study identifies essential mechanism that regulates calcium flow into mitochondria

Most healthy cells rely on a complicated process to produce the fuel ATP. Knowing how ATP is produced by the cell's energy storehouse - the mitochondria -- is important for understanding a cell's normal state, as well as what happens when things go wrong, for example in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and many rare disorders of the mitochondria.

26 Oct 2012

Scientists create new compounds that could slow progression of Parkinson's

In an early-stage breakthrough, a team of Northwestern University scientists has developed a new family of compounds that could slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.

25 Oct 2012

Social or daily drinking may be more harmful to brain health

Drinking a couple of glasses of wine each day has generally been considered a good way to promote cardiovascular and brain health. But a new Rutgers University study indicates that there is a fine line between moderate and binge drinking - a risky behavior that can decrease the making of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent.

25 Oct 2012

Dementia: A National Crisis – a review of the Manchester 2012 conference

It was clear from the title – Dementia: A National Crisis – that the conference would focus on the important challenges facing many people living with dementia in the country today.

24 Oct 2012

Novel approach to assemble the 'connectome' via genetic barcoding

A team of neuroscientists has proposed a new and potentially revolutionary way of obtaining a neuronal connectivity map (the "connectome") of the whole brain of the mouse. The details are set forth in an essay published October 23 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

24 Oct 2012

Max Planck scientists aim to analyze the whole mouse brain under electron microscope

What happens in the brain when we see, hear, think and remember? To be able to answer questions like this, neuroscientists need information about how the millions of neurons in the brain are connected to each other.

24 Oct 2012

GSU project to study how the body's internal clock is reset

Georgia State University's H. Elliott Albers, the Regents' Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, has received a four-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how the body's internal clock is "reset," a key to understanding more about sleep and other disorders affecting human health.

23 Oct 2012

Study still implicates amyloid beta in causing Alzheimer's dementia

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a key difference in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and those who are cognitively normal but still have brain plaques that characterize this type of dementia.

23 Oct 2012

Glioblastoma multiforme can originate from cortical neurons

Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. In a paper published October 18 in Science Express, however, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

23 Oct 2012

VEGF produced by NPCs plays a strong role in influencing microglial behavior

The brain's key "breeder" cells, it turns out, do more than that. They secrete substances that boost the numbers and strength of critical brain-based immune cells believed to play a vital role in brain health. This finding adds a new dimension to our understanding of how resident stem cells and stem cell transplants may improve brain function.

22 Oct 2012

UCI, Brown work advances quest for novel treatments for inherited disorder

UC Irvine and Brown University researchers have created a new fruit fly model of inherited epilepsy that's providing insights into the mechanisms underlying temperature-dependent seizures while establishing a platform from which to develop therapies for these disorders.

20 Oct 2012

Scientists build first atlas of white-matter microstructure in human brain

A European team of scientists have built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain. The project's final results have the potential to change the face of neuroscience and medicine over the coming decade.

20 Oct 2012

Dartmouth neurobiologist investigates brain's nerve cells that establish one's location and direction

The Who asked "who are you?" but Dartmouth neurobiologist Jeffrey Taube asks "where are you?" and "where are you going?" Taube is not asking philosophical or theological questions. Rather, he is investigating nerve cells in the brain that function in establishing one's location and direction.

20 Oct 2012