Researchers have clarified, for the first time, the mechanism behind a very rare brain disorder called MICPCH (microcephaly, disproportionate pontine and cerebellar hypoplasia) syndrome in animal models. Information gleaned from this study could also inform research into other, more common neurological diseases such as mental retardation, epilepsy, and autism. MICPCH has only affected a total […]
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A new molecular player involved in T cell activation
When bacteria or viruses enter the body, proteins on their surfaces are recognized and processed to activate T cells, white blood cells with critical roles in fighting infections. During T-cell activation, a molecular complex known as the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) moves to a central location on the surface of the T-cell. Microtubules have several important […]
New platform based on biology and nanotechnology carries mRNA directly to target cells: Combined platform provides safe, effective passage for therapies treating cancer and other diseases, researchers say
Delivering an effective therapeutic payload to specific target cells with few adverse effects is considered by many to be the holy grail of medical research. A new Tel Aviv University study explores a biological approach to directing nanocarriers loaded with protein “game changers” to specific cells. The groundbreaking method may prove useful in treating myriad […]
Unique patterns of neural communications found in brains of children with autism
Think of the brain as a complex transportation hub, a place where neural traffic heads off in any number of directions to make connections while processing something as simple as a mother’s smile. Now consider the same center in a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). At a time different parts of the brain […]
Breathing through the nose aids memory storage
The way we breathe may affect how well our memories are consolidated (i.e. reinforced and stabilised). If we breathe through the nose rather than the mouth after trying to learn a set of smells, we remember them better, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in The Journal of Neuroscience. Research into how breathing affects […]
Expanding the optogenetics toolkit
Controlling individual brain cells using light-sensitive proteins has proven to be a powerful tool for probing the brain’s complexities. As this branch of neuroscience has expanded, so has the demand for a diverse palette of protein tools. A multidisciplinary team of 14 researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus and other institutions […]
Nerve cells in the human brain can ‘count’
How do we know if we’re looking at three apples or four? Researchers at the Universities of Bonn and Tübingen are now one step closer to answering this question. They were able to demonstrate that some brain cells fire mainly for quantities of three, others for quantities of four and others for other quantities. A […]
Misfolded proteins serve as ‘inherited memory’ of toxic insults
Protein aggregates have a bad reputation in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but in bacteria, inheritance of aggregates by daughter cells may help protect against the same toxic stresses that triggered them in parental cells, according to a new study publishing 28 August in the open access journal PLOS Biology, by Sander […]
Effects of deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease: Improved effects on motor function and fewer side effects possible
Researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin have studied motor and cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Their results show that the adverse cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation are linked to a different neural pathway than that responsible for the treatment’s desired motor effects. This finding will help optimize treatments […]
Traumatic brain injury recovery via petri dish: Synchronized brain-like activity created, recorded and influenced by electrical stimulation
Researchers in the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center have succeeded in reproducing the effects of traumatic brain injury and stimulating recovery in neuron cells grown in a petri dish. This makes them the first known scientific team in the country to do so using stem cell-derived neurons. The procedure, detailed in a new paper […]