Neurons News and Research

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Rutgers scientist receives 2009 Gruber International Research Award

For the first time, it now is possible for researchers to peer into those internal processes in a rodent brain. Eva Pastalkova, a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University, Newark and her advisor, Professor Gy-rgy Buzsaki, have developed a method for studying internally generated brain activity in rats.

28 Oct 2009

Susceptibility to schizophrenia and autism may have common genetic fingerprints, says researchers

Johns Hopkins scientists report having used a commercially available drug to successfully "rescue" animal brain cells that they had intentionally damaged by manipulating a newly discovered gene that links susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and autism.

28 Oct 2009

Mosquitoes are attracted by naturally produced, dominant odor in humans

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases.

27 Oct 2009

Discovery of molecular pathway in brain may reverse cognitive impact of sleep deprivation

A research collaboration led by biologists and neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has found a molecular pathway in the brain that is the cause of cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation.

27 Oct 2009

Enzyme Mst3b is essential for regenerating damaged axons in live animal model, say researchers

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report that an enzyme known as Mst3b, previously identified in their lab, is essential for regenerating damaged axons (nerve fibers) in a live animal model, in both the peripheral and central nervous systems.

26 Oct 2009

Supplemental oxygen during stroke is effective to combat brain tissue damage

Scientists have countered findings of previous clinical trials by showing that giving supplemental oxygen to animals during a stroke can reduce damage to brain tissue surrounding the clot.

26 Oct 2009

APC enzyme may be effective for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A chemical cousin of a drug currently used to treat sepsis dramatically slows the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, in mice. The results offer a bit of good news in efforts to develop a therapy to stop or slow the progression of a disease that generally kills its victims within just a few years.

26 Oct 2009

Antidepressants are not effective for many people

More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief.

24 Oct 2009

University neurologists launch multiple sclerosis research study

Neurologists at the University at Buffalo are beginning a research study that could overturn the prevailing wisdom on the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS).

24 Oct 2009

Scientists demonstrate how second set of cells carry signals from the inner ear to the brain

Deep in the ear, 95 percent of the cells that shuttle sound to the brain are big, boisterous neurons that, to date, have explained most of what scientists know about how hearing works. Whether a rare, whisper-small second set of cells also carry signals from the inner ear to the brain and have a real role in processing sound has been a matter of debate.

23 Oct 2009

New technique developed to transform regular body cells into artificial stem cells

Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could be potentially harmful. The research, published in STEM CELLS, suggests that cells taken from a patient's eye can be "reprogrammed" to replace or restore cells lost to degenerative diseases.

23 Oct 2009

Brain inflammation not linked to Alzheimer's disease

In a surprising reversal of long-standing scientific belief, researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have discovered that inflammation in the brain is not the trigger that leads to buildup of amyloid deposits and development of Alzheimer's disease.

23 Oct 2009

Researchers discover neurons that precisely keep time in the primate brain

Groups of neurons that precisely keep time have been discovered in the primate brain by a team of researchers that includes Dezhe Jin, assistant professor of physics at Penn State University and two neuroscientists from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

23 Oct 2009

Intellectual property covering compounds that have utility in treating SMA licensed

Repligen Corporation announced today that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA) for intellectual property covering compounds which may have utility in treating Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

23 Oct 2009

Scientists explore new molecular insights for treating anxiety disorders

There are increasingly precise molecular insights into ways that stress exposure leads to fear and through which fear extinction resolves these fear states. Extinction is generally regarded as new inhibitory learning, but where the inhibition originates from remains to be determined.

22 Oct 2009

iPierian to participate in $3.7 million NIH grant awarded to The Johns Hopkins University

iPierian, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on changing the paradigm of drug discovery and development through the application of cellular reprogramming, today announced that it has been selected to participate in a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grand Opportunities (GO) grant awarded to The Johns Hopkins University.

22 Oct 2009

NIH awards $3.7 million to Johns Hopkins scientists for research on stem cells developed from ALS patients' skin

Johns Hopkins scientists have been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to learn more about the nerve and muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using stem cells developed from ALS patients' skin. The award, given over a two-year span, will be shared with three other laboratories, including one at Harvard University and two at Columbia University.

22 Oct 2009

Research may facilitate improved understanding of music perception in human nervous system

Music serves as a natural and non-invasive intervention for patients with severe neurological disorders to promote long-term memory, social interaction and communication. However, there is currently no plausible explanation of its neural basis for why and how music affects physical and psychosocial responses.

21 Oct 2009

Vitamin D and progesterone combination for treating traumatic brain injury

As doctors begin to test progesterone for traumatic brain injury at sites across the country, researchers are looking ahead to optimizing the hormone's effectiveness.

20 Oct 2009

Scientists find mechanism that protects neurons from calcium overload

Tsuruta et al. find that a lipid kinase directs a voltage-gated calcium channel's degradation to save neurons from a lethal dose of overexcitement. The study appears in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org).

20 Oct 2009

Neurons News and Research

Rutgers scientist receives 2009 Gruber International Research Award

Susceptibility to schizophrenia and autism may have common genetic fingerprints, says researchers

Mosquitoes are attracted by naturally produced, dominant odor in humans

Discovery of molecular pathway in brain may reverse cognitive impact of sleep deprivation

Enzyme Mst3b is essential for regenerating damaged axons in live animal model, say researchers

Supplemental oxygen during stroke is effective to combat brain tissue damage

APC enzyme may be effective for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Antidepressants are not effective for many people

University neurologists launch multiple sclerosis research study

Scientists demonstrate how second set of cells carry signals from the inner ear to the brain

New technique developed to transform regular body cells into artificial stem cells

Brain inflammation not linked to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers discover neurons that precisely keep time in the primate brain

Intellectual property covering compounds that have utility in treating SMA licensed

Scientists explore new molecular insights for treating anxiety disorders

iPierian to participate in $3.7 million NIH grant awarded to The Johns Hopkins University

NIH awards $3.7 million to Johns Hopkins scientists for research on stem cells developed from ALS patients' skin

Research may facilitate improved understanding of music perception in human nervous system

Vitamin D and progesterone combination for treating traumatic brain injury

Scientists find mechanism that protects neurons from calcium overload

Neuroscience - Second Edition eBook

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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