Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Reveals Cellular Changes in Early Alzheimer's Disease

An analysis of more than 1.6 million brain cells from older adults has captured the cellular changes that occur in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, potentially revealing new routes for preventing the most common cause of dementia in older individuals.

29 Aug 2024

Nutrient Deprivation Strategy Kills Breast Cancer Cells by Blocking Adaptive Pathways

Cancer cells have voracious appetites. And there are certain nutrients they can't live without. Scientists have long hoped they might stop tumors in their tracks by cutting off an essential part of cancer cells' diet. But these cells are crafty and often find a new way to get what they need. How? By reprogramming their metabolism and switching to backup food supplies.

29 Aug 2024

Clock Genes Drive Evolutionary Split in Two Moth Species

Investigating moth speciation, this research highlights the impact of clock genes on behavior, providing a rare glimpse into evolutionary processes.

28 Aug 2024

Stem Cell Research Sheds Light on Rare Pediatric Condition

Scientists have identified mutations in the DENND5A gene that cause severe neurodevelopmental issues in infants, leading to improper brain cell division during development.

28 Aug 2024

Cryo-EM Study Sheds Light on HSV Drug Resistance Mechanisms Through Protein Movement

All organisms -; from fungi to mammals -; have the capacity to evolve and adapt to their environments. But viruses are master shapeshifters with an ability to mutate greater than any other organism. As a result, they can evade treatments or acquire resistance to once-effective antiviral medications.

28 Aug 2024

CDCA7's Role in DNA Methylation Maintenance Revealed in Recent Study

DNA methylation is a process in which a methyl group is attached to the cytosine base of the DNA molecule, and a major way that DNA is epigenetically marked. Epigenetic modifications can act as on-off switches to regulate gene expression and help generate diverse cell types without changing the underlying DNA sequence. It is how the body ensures that brain-related genes don't get turned on in heart cells, for example.

28 Aug 2024

EMBL Researchers Develop Novel Photoacoustic Probes to Monitor Brain Activity

To understand the brain better, we need new methods to observe its activity.

28 Aug 2024

Innovative Stem Cell Research Unveils Glial Cell Dynamics in Multiple Sclerosis

Researchers from The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Case Western Reserve University have discovered novel ways in which glia, by using the largest known collection of stem cell models from MS patients, essential brain support cells contribute to the disease.

27 Aug 2024

Insights into Hmmr's Role in Cognitive Decline and Lifespan

The authors investigate the physiological functions of Terc-53 by creating transgenic mice that overexpress this noncoding RNA. They observe that Terc-53 overexpression affects normal aging in mammals, contributing to cognitive decline and shortened lifespan.

27 Aug 2024

Computational Modeling and Experimental Findings on Nucleosome Constraining in Mitosis

Individual cells divide through a process called mitosis, during which the cell's copied DNA is separated between two resulting daughter cells. Despite recent advances in cell biology, the mechanism by which DNA condenses during mitosis is still poorly understood. Researchers recently tracked small stretches of DNA wound around histone proteins, called nucleosomes, to better characterize nucleosome behavior during cell division.

27 Aug 2024

New Discovery in Mitochondrial DNA Regulation May Halt Heritable Disease Onset

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a mechanism in DNA that regulates how disease-causing mutations are inherited.

23 Aug 2024

Mitochondrial DNA 'Jumps' to Chromosomes, Potentially Impacting Lifespan

As direct descendants of ancient bacteria, mitochondria have always been a little alien.

23 Aug 2024

Efficient and Reproducible BBB Modeling for Drug Development

Scientists at Southwest Research Institute have developed a new screening method to identify drug formulations that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), to facilitate treatment of brain diseases and conditions.

23 Aug 2024

Mother's Gut Microbiome Key to Baby's Brain Development

A study in mice has discovered that the presence of Bifidobacterium breve bacteria in the mother's gut during pregnancy promotes healthy brain development in the fetus.

22 Aug 2024

Mitochondrial DNA Enzymes Prevent Disease Mutations

Researchers at the University of Queensland have identified a mechanism in DNA that controls the inheritance of disease-causing mutations.

22 Aug 2024

Enzyme Therapy Shows Promise for Parkinson's Disease

A preclinical investigation conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers has shown an unexpectedly important role for an enzyme called PGK1 in the synthesis of chemical energy in brain cells.

22 Aug 2024

Revealing Neural Basis of Categorizing and Remembering Novel Information

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have pinpointed the brain cells involved in remembering specific details of events.

22 Aug 2024

New AI Tool Predicts Protein Behavior in Cellular Context

A fish on land can still wave its fins, but the outcomes are very different when the creature is in water. The comparison, attributed to prominent computer scientist Alan Kay, is used to demonstrate the importance of context in clarifying research issues.

19 Aug 2024

Harnessing Proteomics to Explore the Role of Probiotic Bacteria in Human Health

The currently available proteomics strategies can be used to identify and quantify probiotic bacterial proteins.

19 Aug 2024

Electrical Recordings Illuminate Neural Basis of Inferential Reasoning

It takes brains to infer how any two things in the world relate to each other, whether it's the way bad weather links to commuting delays or how environmental conditions lead to the evolution of species.

16 Aug 2024