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DZNE scientists find new mechanism that allows damaged neurons to regenerate

Injuries to the spinal cord can cause paralysis and other permanent disabilities because severed nerve fibers do not regrow. Now, scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases have succeeded in releasing a molecular brake that prevents the regeneration of nerve connections.

7 Oct 2016

Mathematical model helps explain how the brain forms new memories without wiping out old ones

Columbia scientists have developed a new mathematical model that helps to explain how the human brain's biological complexity allows it to lay down new memories without wiping out old ones -- illustrating how the brain maintains the fidelity of memories for years, decades or even a lifetime.

4 Oct 2016

Researchers identify process in the brains of mice that may explain repetitive actions in Rett patients

Three-year-old Naomi slaps her forehead a few times, bites her fingers and toddles across the doctor's office in her white and pink pajamas before turning her head into a door with a dull thud.

27 Sep 2016

Six NIH-funded projects aim to identify biological factors that affect neural regeneration

The National Institutes of Health will fund six projects to identify biological factors that affect neural regeneration in the retina.

2 Sep 2016

SSRI treatment improves cognitive and social functioning in young children with fragile X

Treatment with sertraline may provide nominal but important improvements in cognition and social participation in very young children with fragile X syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability and the leading single-gene cause of autism, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.

26 Aug 2016

NIPS researchers reveal new mechanisms by which microglia sculpt neural circuits

Microglia are cells that combat various brain diseases and injuries by swallowing foreign or disruptive objects and releasing molecules that activate repair mechanisms.

26 Aug 2016

Neuroscientists demonstrate revolutionary new way of mapping the brain at single-neuron resolution

Neuroscientists today publish in Neuron details of a revolutionary new way of mapping the brain at the resolution of individual neurons, which they have successfully demonstrated in the mouse brain.

19 Aug 2016

Research shines more light on role of proteins in maintaining synaptic transmission

Synapses are the power junctions that allow living creatures to function. Popularly associated with learning and memory, they play a more fundamental role in our existence by regulating everything from breathing, sleeping and waking and other bodily functions.

17 Aug 2016

MPFI researchers induce and visualize formation of new synapses in real time in live animals

The formation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses between neurons during early development gives rise to the neuronal networks that enable sensory and cognitive functions in humans.

11 Aug 2016

Researchers identify reason why antidepressants take so long to work

An episode of major depression can be crippling, impairing the ability to sleep, work, or eat. In severe cases, the mood disorder can lead to suicide. But the drugs available to treat depression, which can affect one in six Americans in their lifetime, can take weeks or even months to start working.

29 Jul 2016

New research elucidates details about architecture of synaptic transmission

For more than a century, neuroscientists have known that nerve cells talk to one another across the small gaps between them, a process known as synaptic transmission.

28 Jul 2016

Scientists demonstrate synapses between specific neuron types form clusters

The cerebral cortex resembles a vast switchboard. Countless lines carrying information about the environment, for example from the sensory organs, converge in the cerebral cortex.

21 Jul 2016

Study shows parvalbumin-interneurons in the amygdala influence fear memory encoding

Fear memory encoding, the process responsible for persistent reactions to trauma-associated cues, is influenced by a sparse but potent population of inhibitory cells called parvalbumin-interneurons (PV-INs) in the amygdala, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online July 14 in the journal Neuron.

14 Jul 2016

Shire’s Xiidra receives FDA approval for treating dry eye disease in adult patients

Shire plc announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xiidra (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution) 5%, a twice-daily eye drop solution indicated for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease in adult patients.

12 Jul 2016

Medical student at Rowan University develops first known MOOC on osteopathic medicine

Realizing there is a gap in the public's understanding of osteopathic medicine, Timothy Tsai, a fourth-year medical student at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, has led a collaborative effort to create a free massive open online course (MOOC) that is the first known course of its kind to focus on osteopathic medicine.

11 Jul 2016

AMPK protein activated during fasting regulates hunger neurons in the brain

Neurons in the brain that control hunger are regulated by AMPK, a protein activated during fasting, report researchers from Tufts University School of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Neuron on July 6, 2016.

6 Jul 2016

Researchers discover surprising mismatch on either side of dopaminergic synapses

Neurons are cells that transmit nerve impulses. Dopamine neurons are the main source of the chemical dopamine in the central nervous system and are few in number compared to other types of neurons in the brain.

1 Jul 2016

Researchers examine effect of GluD2 receptor on parallel fibre regeneration

Nerves in the central nervous system of adult mammals do not usually regenerate when injured. The granule cell, a nerve cell located in the cerebellum, is different.

30 Jun 2016

New ONF electronic device emulates energy consumption, morphology of biological synapses

Creation of an artificial intelligence system that fully emulates the functions of a human brain has long been a dream of scientists. A brain has many superior functions as compared with super computers, even though it has light weight, small volume, and consumes extremely low energy.

21 Jun 2016

Scientists study fundamentals of tumour surveillance by immune system in mice models

The body's defences detect and eliminate not only pathogens but also tumour cells. Natural killer cells (NK-Cells) are specifically activated by chemical messengers, the Cytokines, to seek and destroy tumour cells.

20 Jun 2016