Neurons News and Research

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Nicotine protects against Parkinson's disease

If you've ever wondered if smoking offered society any benefit, a new research report published in The FASEB Journal offers a surprising answer. Nicotine protects us from Parkinson's disease, and the discovery of how nicotine does this may lead to entirely new types of treatments for the disease.

2 Aug 2011

New software tools for fast, accurate reconstruction of neural networks

The human brain is the most complex of all organs, containing billions of neurons with their corresponding projections, all woven together in a highly complex, three-dimensional web. To date, mapping this vast network posed a practically insurmountable challenge to scientists.

30 Jul 2011

Researchers examine drug that has potential to stop Parkinson's progression

Researchers from Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, Van Andel Research Institute and the Translational Genomics Research Institute are investigating a drug that has the potential to not only alleviate Parkinson's symptoms but also halt the disease's progression.

30 Jul 2011

Scientist discovers novel way to convert human skin cells into neurons

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered a novel way to convert human skin cells into brain cells, advancing medicine and human health by offering new hope for regenerative medicine and personalized drug discovery and development.

29 Jul 2011

Drug to prevent brain ageing: Study

A new study shows that some chemicals given to rhesus macaques blocked a brain molecule that slows the firing of the brain's nerve cells, or neurons, as they age—prompting those nerve cells to act young again.

28 Jul 2011

New research shows unique nature of human brain aging

Brains shrink in humans, potentially causing a number of health problems and mental illnesses as people age, but do they shrink to the same extent in the closest living relatives to humans--the chimpanzees? New research says no, making the extreme amount of brain shrinkage resulting from normal aging in humans unique.

28 Jul 2011

University of Pittsburgh to honor Synthetic Genomics CEO with Dickson Prize

The scientist-entrepreneur who led efforts to map the first draft of the human genome as well as the complete diploid genome and to construct the first synthetic bacterium has been named this year's recipient of the University of Pittsburgh's Dickson Prize in Medicine.

28 Jul 2011

Virtual reality study to address alcohol abuse issues in veterans

The spoils of war for returning veterans may include addictions, injury and the constant images of horrific events they witnessed. Now a University of Houston joint study funded by the Veterans Health Administration Rehabilitation Research and Development service looks to address these issues through the use of virtual reality.

27 Jul 2011

Study reveals several compounds that block cancer cell invasion

Metastasis-the spread of cancer from the place where it first started to another place in the body-is the most common reason that cancer treatments fail. To metastasize, some types of cancer cells rely on invadopodia, cellular membrane projections that act like feet, helping them "walk" away from the primary tumor and invade surrounding tissues.

27 Jul 2011

Biogen Idec's FAMPYRA receives EU conditional approval for treating functional impairment in MS

Biogen Idec announced today it has received conditional approval from the European Commission for FAMPYRA® (prolonged-release fampridine tablets) to improve walking in adult patients with multiple sclerosis who have walking disability.

25 Jul 2011

Myelin regulates key protein involved in sending long-distance signals

The development of a new cell-culture system that mimics how specific nerve cell fibers in the brain become coated with protective myelin opens up new avenues of research about multiple sclerosis. Initial findings suggest that myelin regulates a key protein involved in sending long-distance signals.

22 Jul 2011

Insight into Fragile X Syndrome and autism

Researchers now have a much clearer understanding of how mutations in a single gene can produce the complex cognitive deficits characteristic of Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability.

22 Jul 2011

UCSF neurosurgery shows promise against severe epilepsy

Two-thirds of people with severe and otherwise untreatable epilepsy were completely cured of their frequent seizures after undergoing neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, according to a new study that examined 143 of these patients two years after their operations.

22 Jul 2011

Microglia prune connections between neurons

Gardeners know that some trees require regular pruning: some of their branches have to be cut so that others can grow stronger. The same is true of the developing brain: cells called microglia prune the connections between neurons, shaping how the brain is wired, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, discovered.

22 Jul 2011

New strategy for improving development of induced pluripotent stem cells

University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have developed a new strategy to improve the development of induced pluripotent stem cells.

21 Jul 2011

Three flutemetamol clinical abstracts to be presented at 2011 Alzheimer's Association ICAD

Recent clinical research data reported that the investigational amyloid imaging agent [18F]Flutemetamol showed highly consistent image interpretation1 and showed comparable in vitro binding to the Pittsburgh Compound-B investigational imaging agent3.

21 Jul 2011

Intense visual stimulation renders nerve cells more receptive to subsequent learning

Dr. Ed Ruthazer is a mapmaker but, his landscape is the developing brain - specifically the neuronal circuitry, which is the network of connections between nerve cells. His research at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro at McGill University, reveals the brain as a dynamic landscape where connections between nerves are plastic, changing and adapting to the demands of the environment.

21 Jul 2011

Humans and zebrafish share mechanisms that regulate the circadian system

Circadian rhythms - the natural cycle that dictates our biological processes over a 24-hour day - does more than tell us when to sleep or wake. Disruptions in the cycle are also associated with depression, problems with weight control, jet lag and more. Now Prof. Yoav Gothilf of Tel Aviv University's Department of Neurobiology at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences is looking to the common zebrafish to learn more about how the human circadian system functions.

21 Jul 2011

PrioNet Canada awards University of Western Ontario $600,000 to study neurodegenerative disorders

The University of Western Ontario is one of nine universities which will share 2.9 million dollars in research grants announced by PrioNet Canada to study Prion diseases and neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's.

21 Jul 2011

Scientists discover cholesterol moves far slower within and between cells

Neutrons have shown the movement of cholesterol between and within cells takes far longer than previously thought. Findings could impact the treatment of a range of diseases linked to abnormal rates of cholesterol transfer.

19 Jul 2011