Neurons News and Research

RSS

Stem cell model sheds new light on neurodegeneration process

A new study published today in Neuron led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute's Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., creates astrocytes - an integral support cell in the brain - from stem cells and shows that in disease-like environments, these normally helpful cells can turn into neuron-killers.

2 Jun 2020

Gut-brain connection may help treat neurological diseases

Researchers are not clear whether mucus is the first line of defense against bad bacteria in the human gut.

2 Jun 2020

Toxic tau may spread in the brain via connected neurons

Toxic versions of the protein tau are believed to cause the death of neurons of the brain in Alzheimer's disease.

1 Jun 2020

Research identifies how neuronal transmission is disrupted in ALS

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, lose muscle control as nerve cells or neurons in the brain and spinal cord degenerate and can no longer send signals to muscles.

29 May 2020

Study highlights crucial role of immune-system molecule in Huntington's disease

More than a decade before people with Huntington's disease show symptoms, they can exhibit abnormally high levels of an immune-system molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6), which has led many researchers to suspect IL-6 of promoting the eventual neurological devastation associated with the genetic condition.

28 May 2020

Making opioids safer and more effective

Dr. John Streicher speaks to AZoLifeSciences about his research on improving opioid drugs to make them safer and more effective.

From University of Arizona 28 May 2020

Fruit fly study helps explain why it is so hard to wake up on a winter morning

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 learn about the link between sensory neurons and neurons controlling the sleep-wake cycle.

26 May 2020

Gene associated with thinness may play a role in resisting weight gain

Some people can remain slim easily, irrespective of their diet, while others might be dieting and working out at the gym to maintain their shape.

25 May 2020

Innovative two-photon microscopy enables in vivo subcellular imaging of the retina

Retina is the only part of the central nervous system that can be visualized noninvasively with optical imaging approaches.

21 May 2020

Aging neurons build up DNA damage, study finds

MIT neuroscientists have discovered that an enzyme called HDAC1 is critical for repairing age-related DNA damage to genes involved in memory and other cognitive functions.

18 May 2020

Researchers discover group of genes with altered expression in autism

Autism has long been associated only with behavioral and environmental factors, but the role of genetics in its development is now increasingly evident. Some 100 genes have been found to play a role in autism spectrum disorder, and another thousand are being studied to the same end.

15 May 2020

New weight loss amphetamine could avoid side effects of older treatments

Researchers developed a new weight loss amphetamine that could potentially avoid the side effects of older treatments.

14 May 2020

New approach provides closer look at the development of multicellular organisms

Highly complex organisms can arise from a single cell, which is one of the true miracles of nature. Substances known as morphogens have an important role in this development, namely by signaling to cells where they should go and what they should do.

13 May 2020

Research shows how a fly’s brain learns to focus on more important odors

Quantitative biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSH) have discovered how the brain of a fly learns to focus on more significant odors by ignoring tremendously prevalent, ordinary ones.

12 May 2020

Foxg1 gene works like a molecular knob to modulate electrical activity of the neurons

It works like a very fine "molecular knob" able to modulate the electrical activity of the neurons of our cerebral cortex, crucial to the functioning of our brain.

8 May 2020

New tool may shed more light on neurodegenerative diseases

About 350 years ago, Robert Hooke provided an initial description of a cell in Micrographia, and since then, microscopy has played a major role in figuring out life’s rules.

6 May 2020

Molecular basis of rare neurodevelopmental condition reveals possible treatment

Like people, neurons need to talk to one another. But instead of turning thoughts into words, these cells convert electrical signals into chemical ones. For nearly 30 years, biochemist Edwin Chapman has studied how one protein triggers this crucial conversion.

4 May 2020