A virtual brain bank could maximize the potential of brain donation by extending the core physical bank to include existing repositories of clinical tissues and data, according to the authors of a Perspective published today by the Medical Journal of Australia. Dr. Amanda Rush, from the NSW Health Statewide Biobank, and Associate Professor Greg Sutherland, […]
Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitoes and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed […]
Skeletal muscles enable voluntary movements and are controlled by a special type of neurons called motor neurons, which make direct contact with skeletal muscles through so-called neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). It is through NMJs that skeletal muscles receive signals making them contract or relax. In certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), NMJs are […]
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a form of progressive dementia interfering with daily living. It is caused by the decline in the number of brain cells resulting in the deterioration of our mental abilities. One of the main reasons for the worsening brain cells condition and even the brain shrinkage are molecules having a specific structure […]
One in three survivors of COVID-19, those more commonly referred to as COVID-19 long-haulers, suffered from neurologic or psychiatric disability six months after infection, a recent landmark study of more than 200,000 post-COVID-19 patients showed. Researchers looked at 236,379 British patients diagnosed with COVID-19 over six months, analyzing neurologic and psychiatric complications during that time […]
The slurred speech, poor coordination, and sedative effects of drinking too much alcohol may actually be caused by the breakdown of alcohol products produced in the brain, not in the liver as scientists currently think. That is the finding of a new study led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) […]
Powerful algorithms used by Netflix, Amazon and Facebook can 'predict' the biological language of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, scientists have found. Big data produced during decades of research was fed into a computer language model to see if artificial intelligence can make more advanced discoveries than humans. Academics based at St John's College, […]
When scientists need to understand the effects of new infant formula ingredients on brain development, it’s rarely possible for them to carry out initial safety studies with human subjects. After all, few parents are willing to hand over their newborns to test unproven ingredients. Enter the domestic pig. Its brain and gut development are strikingly […]
Higher levels of physical activity at midlife are not linked to more positive cognitive outcomes, new research suggests. Results from a cohort study of more than 1700 women showed no significant association between midlife activity and concurrent cognitive performance or with subsequent cognitive decline. The findings diverge from those of previous research that suggested a […]
A team led by scientists at the UNC School of Medicine identified a molecule called microRNA-29 as a powerful controller of brain maturation in mammals. Deleting microRNA-29 in mice caused problems very similar to those seen in autism, epilepsy, and other neurodevelopmental conditions. The results, published in Cell Reports, illuminate an important process in the […]
