Neurons News and Research

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Study reveals how MMSET gene enables disease-causing mutations to occur

For several decades, researchers have been linking genetic mutations to diseases ranging from cancer to developmental abnormalities. What hasn't been clear, however, is how the body's genome sustains such destructive glitches in the first place.

3 Feb 2011

International scientist team identifies gene mutation strongly linked to schizophrenia

In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to the brain disorder - and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with existing compounds.

3 Feb 2011

Cedars-Sinai receives California Institute grant to develop new technique for specific diseases

A team of scientists from the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to fund development of a new technique to aid pharmaceutical discoveries for specific diseases.

3 Feb 2011

Defective nucleoli linked to Parkinson's disease

"Nucleolus", or small nucleus, is the term coined by early biologists for the tiny structure within the nucleus which they saw under the microscope. In this structure within the nucleus, RNA molecules and proteins are assembled to form ribosomes, the true protein factories of cells.

2 Feb 2011

Walk briskly to boost memory

Researchers have found that older adults who took a brisk walk three times a week did better on memory tests and increased the size of their hippocampus, a portion of the brain involved with memory formation.

1 Feb 2011

Venture philanthropist invests $3.5 million to thwart Alzheimer's disease

Retired San Francisco real estate developer Douglas Rosenberg says he has a new job - helping to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Through the Ellen and Douglas Rosenberg Foundation, the venture philanthropist is betting at least $3.5 million that Buck faculty Dale Bredesen, MD has the correct take on how to thwart the memory robbing disease that affects over 5 million Americans.

31 Jan 2011

Research shows nestin regulates formation of neuromuscular junction

In a study published in the Jan. 30, 2011, advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience, Salk Institute of Biological Studies investigators led by Kuo-Fen Lee, PhD., show that nestin has reason for being in a completely different cell type--muscle tissue.

30 Jan 2011

New research shows mini-stroke creates lasting damage to brain cells

Each year, approximately 150,000 Canadians have a transient ischemic attack, sometimes known as a mini-stroke. New research published today in Stroke, the journal of the American Heart Association shows these attacks may not be transient at all. They in fact create lasting damage to the brain

29 Jan 2011

UMMS, Lundbeck announce research collaboration to develop targeted therapy for HD

The University of Massachusetts Medical School and Lundbeck Inc. today announced a research collaboration aimed at further development of a targeted therapy to slow or halt the progression of Huntington's disease.

29 Jan 2011

Connectome remains dynamic during development, says Scripps Research

Connected highways of nerve cells carry information to and from different areas of the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Scientists are trying to draw a complete atlas of these connections-sometimes referred to as the "connectome"-to gain a better understanding of how the brain functions in health and disease.

28 Jan 2011

Taxol drug promotes regeneration of nerve cells in CNS after spinal cord injury: Study

In a study published today in Science, a global research team reports that the cancer drug Taxol promotes the regeneration of injured nerve cells in the central nervous system after spinal cord injury.

28 Jan 2011

New molecular player responsible for regulation of appetite and metabolism

A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida and Washington University School of Medicine adds a new twist to the body of evidence suggesting human obesity is due in part to genetic factors. While studying hormone receptors in laboratory mice, neuroscientists identified a new molecular player responsible for the regulation of appetite and metabolism.

28 Jan 2011

Protein Erk necessary for nerve fibers to be wrapped with myelin

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have pinpointed a crucial function for a key player in the development of the nervous system. They found that this player - a protein called Erk - is necessary for nerve fibers to be wrapped with an insulating substance called myelin, which allows messages to be sent from the brain to the peripheral limbs and back again.

28 Jan 2011

UMMS, Lundbeck enter research collaboration to develop targeted therapy for HD

The University of Massachusetts Medical School and Lundbeck today announced a research collaboration aimed at further development of a targeted therapy to slow or halt the progression of Huntington's disease.

28 Jan 2011

As recording technology rapidly improves, neurons give up their secrets cell by cell

Scientists at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), designated the "#1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America" by U.S. News & World Report since 1991, report that, thanks to improvements in technology and data analysis, our understanding of the functional principles that guide the development and operation of the brain could improve drastically in the next few years.

27 Jan 2011

Scientists discover new mechanism neurons use to fine-tune electrical output

Scientists in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, have discovered a new mechanism that nerve cells (neurons) use to fine-tune their electrical output. The exciting discovery, published this week in the prestigious journal Nature Neuroscience, provides new insights about how the activity of the nervous system is regulated at the cellular level.

27 Jan 2011

First three-dimensional projectome map of intact brain

It would be hard to understand how a city is organized without knowledge of the course of all of its streets. Scientists confront the same problem when trying to understand the functioning of the brain. In the case of vertebrates, we only have fragmentary knowledge of which nerve cells send their connections, so-called axons, into certain regions of the brain.

27 Jan 2011

Molecular mechanism in nerve fibers ensures rapid conductance of nervous system impulses

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine describes a key molecular mechanism in nerve fibers that ensures the rapid conductance of nervous system impulses.

27 Jan 2011

Triggering CD45 molecule blocks early development of AD

A new target for the prevention of adverse immune responses identified as factors in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been discovered by researchers at the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.

27 Jan 2011

Researchers discover new sensory neurons that mediate BP and metabolism regulation in liver

For 60 years, scientists have puzzled over the possibility of a hepatic osmoreceptor that influences blood pressure regulation. Now, researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch, the Experimental and Clinical Research Center of the MDC and Charit- and the Hannover Medical School appear to have made a breakthrough discovery.

27 Jan 2011