news, journals and articles from all over the world.
Neurobiologists have found that identifiable brain pathways are linked with specific debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The findings could help form the basis for improving therapeutic strategies for precise symptoms of Parkinson’s at various levels of disease progression.
Article title: Music-selective neural populations arise without musical training Authors: Dana Boebinger, Samuel Norman-Haignere, Josh H. McDermott, Nancy Kanwisher From the authors: “We show that music-selective neural populations are clearly present in people without musical training, demonstrating that they are a fundamental…
An Canadian molecular biologist a discovers a new function for BMI1, which is known to counteract brain aging.
New research published ahead of print in the journal Function details the impact of hydrogen sulfide on increased expression of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) in the brain. Hydrogen sulfide has been identified recently as a new gasotransmitter—gaseous molecules involved in…
An international study has shown, for the first time, that the capacity of the human brain to recover and rewire itself peaks around two weeks after a stroke and diminishes over time.
Researchers identified spinal cord neurons responsible for an itchy sensation after an epidural morphine injection and found a drug that may fix the problem without reducing morphine’s pain-killing effects.
A lack of a protein in the brain that keeps our tissues healthy as we age is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have identified new mechanisms in neurons that cause Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, they discovered that changes in the structure of chromatin, the tightly coiled form of DNA, trigger neurons to lose their specialized function and revert to an earlier cell state. This results in the loss of synaptic connections, an effect associated with memory loss and dementia.
New York University researchers have created a “developmental atlas” of gene expression in neurons, using gene sequencing and machine learning to categorize more than 250,000 neurons in the brains of fruit flies. Their study, published in Nature, finds that neurons exhibit the most molecular diversity during development and reveals a previously unknown type of neurons only present before flies hatch.
A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University and the University of Florida has identified networks of genes that regulate the process responsible for determining whether neurons will regenerate in certain animals, such as zebrafish.
Parkinson’s disease is most commonly treated with levodopa, but the benefits wear off as the disease progresses and high doses can result in dyskinesia, which are involuntary and uncontrollable movements. To better understand the underlying reasons behind these effects, researchers created a model of the interactions between levodopa, dopamine, and the basal ganglia, an area of the brain that plays a crucial role in Parkinson’s disease. They discuss their findings in the journal Chaos.
in a study with potential impacts on a variety of neurological diseases, Virginia Tech researchers have provided the first experimental evidence from a living organism to show that an abundant, star-shaped brain cell known as an astrocyte is essential for blood-brain barrier health.
While studied for nearly a century, little is known about how cavefish brains differ. A study is the first to look inside their brains with millimeter resolution to start to understand how the individual neurons and brain regions that drive complex behaviors, including sleep and feeding have evolved. This work has broad implications for the understanding of how brains evolve in many different animal models and is hoped to be widely used by the scientific community.
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A research team highlights the mechanisms underlying memory and learning capacity – specifically, how our brains process, store and integrate information.
When animal, insect or human embryos grow in a malnourished environment, their developing nervous systems get first pick of any available nutrients so that new neurons can be made.
Chronic stress is associated with the pathogenesis of psychological disorders such as depression. A study is the first to identify the role of a neuronal receptor that straddles the intersection between social stress, inflammation, and anxiety in rodent models of stress. Findings suggest the possibility of developing better medications to treat the consequences of chronic stress by limiting inflammatory signaling not just generally, which may not be beneficial in the long run, but to specific brain circuits.
An interdisciplinary research team establishes a new technological pipeline to build a 3D map of the neurons in the heart, revealing foundational insight into their role in heart function and cardiac disease
Winter may be behind us, but do you remember the challenge of waking up on those cold, dark days? Temperature affects the behavior of nearly all living creatures, but there is still much to be learned about the link between sensory neurons and neurons controlling the sleep-wake cycle.
Biologists studying bacterial communities have discovered that these simple organisms feature a robust memory capacity. Using light, they were able to encode memory patterns and visualize cells with memory. The discovery reveals parallels between low-level organisms and sophisticated neurons.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that the neurons involved in Pavlovian learning shift their behavior and become more synchronized when a memory is being formed – a finding that helps better understand memory mechanisms and provides clues for the development of future therapies for memory-related diseases like dementia, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A Rutgers-led team has created better biosensor technology that may help lead to safe stem cell therapies for treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other neurological disorders. The technology, which features a unique graphene and gold-based platform and high-tech imaging, monitors the fate of stem cells by detecting genetic material (RNA) involved in turning such cells into brain cells (neurons), according to a study in the journal Nano Letters.
Edwin Chapman of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of Wisconsin–Madison reports that halting production of synaptotagmin 17 (syt-17) blocks growth of axons. Equally significant, when cells made more syt-17, axon growth accelerated. A wide range of neurological conditions could benefit from the growth of axons, including spinal cord injuries and some neurodegenerative diseases.
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