Latest Neuron Stories

In a study just published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, researchers have found a new way to increase the survival of stem cells injected into the brain. The discovery might one day prove useful in developing new treatments for neurological disorders — especially brain lesions, which among other things can provoke seizures and indicate multiple sclerosis or certain forms of cancer. Durham, NC (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 Researchers have found a new way to increase the survival of stem...

HAYWARD, Calif., May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists at the Center for Learning and Memory, Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the California-based biopharmaceutical company Magceutics, Inc. (www.magceutics.com) have demonstrated a novel therapy for reversing memory decline in mice with Alzheimer's Disease. By increasing brain magnesium levels, they find significant cognitive improvement in advanced stage AD mice. The study is the first to demonstrate a mechanism for reversing...

Research opens door to new drug therapies for Parkinson’s disease McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, and  Dr. Kalle Gehring  in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, have discovered the three-dimensional structure of the protein Parkin. Mutations in Parkin cause a rare...

A key type of human brain cell developed in the laboratory grows seamlessly when transplanted into the brains of mice, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that these cells might one day be used to treat people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, as well as and complications of spinal cord injury such as chronic pain and spasticity. "We think this one type of cell may be useful in treating several types of neurodevelopmental and...

Virginia Tech scientists bring clarity to how most Alzheimer's drugs sharpen brain performance Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have discovered how the predominant class of Alzheimer's pharmaceuticals might sharpen the brain's performance. One factor even more important than the size of a television screen is the quality of the signal it displays. Having a life-sized projection of Harry Potter dodging a Bludger in a Quidditch match is of little use if the...

NIH-supported study suggests cell therapy may be a viable approach More than two million people in the United States suffer from epilepsies, a group of neurological disorders caused by abnormal nerve cell firing in the brain which often produce debilitating seizures. Although anti-epileptic drugs and other therapies reduce seizures in about two-thirds of patients, the remaining one-third do not respond to any form of therapy and those who take drugs can experience harmful side effects. NIH...

Brain's elusive motor neurons are dressed in fluorescence so scientists can find them and study why they die A small group of elusive neurons in the brain's cortex play a big role in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. But the neurons have always been difficult to study because there are so few of them and they look so similar to other neurons in the cortex. In a new preclinical study, a Northwestern Medicine®...

Research published in the May 2013 journal GENETICS may shed light on the root cause of some neurodegenerative diseases Scientists have identified a gene that keeps our nerve fibers from clogging up. Researchers in Ken Miller's laboratory at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) found that the unc-16 gene of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a gatekeeper that restricts flow of cellular organelles from the cell body to the axon, a long, narrow extension that neurons use...

This past weekend teams from the National Football League used statistics like height, weight and speed to draft the best college players, and in a few weeks, armchair enthusiasts will use similar measures to select players for their own fantasy football teams. Neuroscientists at Carnegie Mellon University are taking a similar approach to compile "dream teams" of neurons using a statistics-based method that can evaluate the fitness of individual neurons. After assembling the teams, a...

Neurons in the nose could be the key to early, fast, and accurate diagnosis, says a TAU researcher A debilitating mental illness, schizophrenia can be difficult to diagnose. Because physiological evidence confirming the disease can only be gathered from the brain during an autopsy, mental health professionals have had to rely on a battery of psychological evaluations to diagnose their patients. Now, Dr. Noam Shomron and Prof. Ruth Navon of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of...