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Researcher Discovers Role of Gene Variant Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease in Damage to Brain Circulation, Function

Neuroscience News — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:03:05 +0000

A gene variant responsible for vascular damage to the brain is a promising new target for drug therapy to fight Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to research published on May 16 in Nature. Berislav Zlokovic, deputy director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is the corresponding author [...]

Zebrafish Study Isolates Gene Related to Autism, Schizophrenia and Obesity

Neuroscience News — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:12:40 +0000

What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then [...]

Paralyzed Individuals Use Thought Controlled Robotic Arm to Reach and Grasp

Neuroscience News — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:10:06 +0000

NIH-funded study shows progress in brain-computer interface technology. In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own – for the first time in nearly 15 years – by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the [...]

Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning and Memory

Neuroscience News — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:37:19 +0000

This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory. Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid. A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows [...]

Surgeons Restore Some Hand Function to Quadriplegic Patient

Neuroscience News — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:58:02 +0000

Technique could help those with C6, C7 spinal cord injuries. Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working [...]

New Type of Retinal Prosthesis Could Better Restore Sight to Blind

Neuroscience News — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:04:04 +0000

Using tiny solar-panel-like cells surgically placed underneath the retina, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a system that may someday restore sight to people who have lost vision because of certain types of degenerative eye diseases. This device — a new type of retinal prosthesis — involves a specially designed pair [...]

Smoked Cannabis Reduces Some Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

Neuroscience News — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:06:20 +0000

Controlled trial shows improved spasticity, reduced pain after smoking medical marijuana. A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease. The [...]

Let There Be Light: It’s Good for Our Brains

Neuroscience News — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:18:36 +0000

EPFL scientists have proven that light intensity influences our cognitive performance and how alert we feel, and that these positive effects last until early evening. Tests conducted in EPFL’s Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory (LESO) have confirmed the hypothesis that light influences our subjective feeling of sleepiness. The research team, led by Mirjam Münch, [...]

Revealing the Stars of Brain Adaptability

Neuroscience News — Fri, 11 May 2012 23:22:34 +0000

Star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes are found to bridge the gap between global brain activity and localized circuits. Global network activity in the brain modulates local neural circuitry via calcium signaling in non-neuronal cells called astrocytes, according to research led by Hajime Hirase of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute. The finding clarifies the link between [...]

Maternal Antibodies to Gluten Linked to Schizophrenia Risk in Children

Neuroscience News — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:57:13 +0000

Babies born to women with sensitivity to gluten appear to be at increased risk for certain psychiatric disorders later in life, according to research by scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore. The team’s findings, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, add to a growing body of evidence that [...]