Tag: Neuroscience
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Research shows positive outcome for early epilepsy surgery
There are important, long-term gains from hastening the processes around surgical interventions against epilepsy, before the disease has had too much negative impact on brain functions and patients’ lives. These are some of the findings of a thesis for which more than 500 patients were studied and followed up. “Around one third of those undergoing…
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Analysis of interactome of Zika virus infected neural cells shows altered expression of more than 500 proteins
Zika virus (ZIKV) interferes with the cellular machinery controlling cell division and alters the expression of hundreds of genes responsible for guiding the formation and development of brain cells, according to findings of research published in Scientific Reports. Zika virus structure. Credit: Wikipedia / David Goodwill The association between Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and microcephaly has…
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Protein Wnt5a is important in sustaining adult neuron structure in mice hippocampus
Humans and other vertebrates depend on a portion of the brain called the hippocampus for learning, memory and their sense of location. Nerve cell structures in the adult hippocampus are sustained by factors whose identities have remained largely mysterious so far. Now, research led by a Johns Hopkins University biologist Dr. Kuruvilla sheds light on…
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Using focused magnetic stimulation of brain to improve precision memory
Northwestern Medicine scientists showed for the first time that non-invasive brain stimulation can be used like a scalpel, rather than like a hammer, to cause a specific improvement in precise memory. This is an individual receiving noninvasive brain stimulation (‘high-frequency, repetitive, transcranial electromagnetic stimulation’). Credit: Northwestern University Precise memory, rather than general memory, is critical…
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Researchers develop in vitro model of brain for research
Harvard University researchers have developed a multiregional brain-on-a-chip that models the connectivity between three distinct regions of the brain. The in vitro model was used to extensively characterize the differences between neurons from different regions of the brain and to mimic the system’s connectivity. The research was published in the Journal of Neurophysiology. Image of…
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Squalamine shows promise as potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease in lab studies
A naturally-occurring compound has been found to block a molecular process thought to underlie Parkinson’s Disease and to suppress its toxic products, scientists have reported. The findings, although only preliminary, suggest that the compound, called squalamine, could be exploited in various ways as the basis of a potential treatment for Parkinson’s Disease. Credit: Geralt/pixabay The…
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Role of retroviruses in evolution of human brain
Over millions of years, retroviruses have been incorporated into our human DNA, where they today make up almost 10 percent of the total genome. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now discovered a mechanism through which these retroviruses may have an impact on gene expression. This means that they may have played…
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Concussion and Alzheimer’s disease link
New research has found concussions accelerate Alzheimer’s disease-related brain atrophy and cognitive decline in people who are at genetic risk for the condition. The findings, which appear in the journal Brain, show promise for detecting the influence of concussion on neurodegeneration. Brain. Ashton University Moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury is one of the strongest environmental risk…
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Stress, cortisol and perceptual learning process
Neuroscientists of the Ruhr University Bochum found that stress has adverse impact on our learning process. Usually when we train our senses, we sharpen them and thereby improve our perceptual performance. However during stressful situations we produce a hormone called cortisol, which completely blocks this important ability. These findings are reported in Journal “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Stress…
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Research shows musicians have faster reaction to sensory stimuli
According to a new study by Université de Montréal’s School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, part of UdeM’s medical faculty learning to play musical instrument help elderly to react faster and to stay alerted. The study is published in journal Brain and Cognition. The study shows that musicians have faster reaction times to sensory stimuli than…
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