Bilingualism acts as a cognitive reserve factor against dementia

The conclusions of a study carried out by Víctor Costumero, as the first author, Marco Calabria and Albert Costa (died in 2018), members of the Speech Production and Bilingualism (SPB) group at the Cognition and Brain Center (CBC) of the Department of Information Technology and the Communications (DTIC) of the UPF, together with researchers from […]

Drug Offers Hope Against Tough-to-Treat Chronic Cough

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2020 — Anywhere from 4% to 10% of adults have troublesome chronic cough, defined as an unexplained cough lasting more than eight weeks. But a new drug may offer some long-sought relief. Reporting Feb. 25 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, British researchers said the experimental drug, called gefapixant, blocks a cellular receptor […]

Gene therapy can protect against ALS and SMA-related cell death

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Milan in Italy have identified a gene in human neurons that protects against the degeneration of motor neurons in the deadly diseases ALS and SMA. Gene therapy in animal models of these diseases was shown to protect against cell death and increase life expectancy. The […]

Will a surgical mask really protect you against the coronavirus?

Toward the end of January, the CDC confirmed that the novel coronavirus, which is making headlines around the world, has spread between two people in the U.S, which marked the first time direct transmission happened on U.S. shores. But the CDC has also said that the transmission happened between a coronavirus patient and her husband, […]