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.

Research reports distinct patterns of reward-seeking behavior between OCD and problem gambling

Shinsuke Suzuki at The University of Melbourne, Australia reports distinct patterns of reward-seeking behavior between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and problem gambling, in a study publishing in the open access journal PLOS Biology on March 14th. OCD is associated with lower-than-normal learning rates when rewards are less than expected. On the other hand, people with problem gambling exhibit boosted and blunted learning from rewards higher and lower than expected, respectively.

15 Mar 2023

Significance of astrocyte–neuron interactions in fine-tuning brain function

Humans learn to handle a variety of skilled movements throughout their lives, from driving a car to swinging a tennis racket. Neurons are not the only ones who implement this learning, but a new study from The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT shows that astrocytes play an important role as well.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 14 Mar 2023

Analyzing the antimicrobial resistance profile of the main agent of urinary tract infections

The human intestine is an environment inhabited by many bacteria and other microorganisms collectively known as the gut microbiome, gut microbiota or intestinal flora. In most people, it contributes to wellness. A healthy gut indicates a stronger immune system, improved metabolism, and a healthy brain and heart, among other functions.

14 Mar 2023

Protecting normal cells from chemotherapy, while eliminating drug-resistant cancer cells

A new review paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on March 11, 2023, entitled, "Selective protection of normal cells from chemotherapy, while killing drug-resistant cancer cells."

14 Mar 2023

Study investigates schizophrenia risk across African ancestry

Researchers have identified two previously unknown genes linked to schizophrenia and newly implicated a third gene as carrying risk for both schizophrenia and autism. Led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the multi-center study further demonstrated that the schizophrenia risk conferred by these rare damaging variants is conserved across ethnicities. The study may also point to new therapeutics.

14 Mar 2023

Novel model tracks hippocampal synaptic plasticity to reveal molecular mechanisms

The accumulation of amyloid beta proteins, which encourage synaptic malfunction, causes cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to scientific evidence.

10 Mar 2023

Scientists shed new light on aging processes in the brain

Scientists from the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) have shed new light on aging processes in the brain.

9 Mar 2023

Small group of airway neurons plays a key role in alerting the brain about infection

A new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School illuminates how the brain becomes aware that there is an infection in the body.

9 Mar 2023

Monitoring the development and maturation of cardiomyocytes using tissue-embedded devices

Research in animal models has demonstrated that stem-cell derived heart tissues have promising potential for therapeutic applications to treat cardiac disease. But before such therapies are viable and safe for use in humans, scientists must first precisely understand on the cellular and molecular levels which factors are necessary for implanted stem-cell derived heart cells to properly grow and integrate in three dimensions within surrounding tissue.

9 Mar 2023

Study findings reveal drug development possibilities for brain diseases

Nearly two dozen experimental therapies targeting the immune system are in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease, a reflection of the growing recognition that immune processes play a key role in driving the brain damage that leads to confusion, memory loss and other debilitating symptoms.

9 Mar 2023

Liver-produced hormone protects mice against the harmful effects of intoxication

A shot of a liver-produced hormone called FGF21 sobered up mice that had passed out from alcohol, allowing them to regain consciousness and coordination much faster than those that didn't receive this treatment, UT Southwestern researchers report in a new study.

8 Mar 2023

Study pinpoints a splicing deregulation that causes therapeutic vulnerability in pediatric AML

Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia or pAML is a childhood blood cancer, one that has proved confounding to clinicians and researchers, with a high relapse rate and relatively few identified genetic mutations (compared to the adult version) that might explain its cause.

8 Mar 2023

LDL-mediated nanoparticle drug delivery could potentially circumvent high-grade gliomas

New research has shown that the blood vessels that feed aggressive brain tumors have receptors that could allow a new type of drug-containing nanoparticle to be used to starve the tumors of the energy they use to grow and spread, and also cause other disruptions to their adapted existence, even killing themselves.

8 Mar 2023

Revolutionary drug blocks a gene associated with driving the spread of bone cancer

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have developed a new drug that works against all of the main types of primary bone cancer.

8 Mar 2023

Study pinpoints a key cause of metastasis from an aggressive form of pediatric brain cancer

New research pinpoints a key cause of metastasis from an aggressive form of brain cancer in children and provides a potential new therapy for treating these tumors in the future.

7 Mar 2023

First wiring map of neurons in insect brain complete

Researchers have built the first ever map showing every single neuron and how they’re wired together in the brain of the fruit fly larva.

6 Mar 2023

Using nanoparticles to carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier

Brain tumors are notoriously hard to treat. One reason is the challenge posed by the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels and tissue with closely spaced cells.

3 Mar 2023

Uncovering the complete 3D structure of p53 protein

By inducing cell repair or self-destruction, the tumor suppressor protein p53, often known as “the guardian of the genome,” shields the body’s DNA from daily stress or long-term damage.

2 Mar 2023

Novel way to block the death of nerve cells in MND

Scientists have found a novel way to block the transportation of mutant RNA and subsequent production of toxic repeat proteins which lead to the death of nerve cells in the most common subtypes of motor neurone disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

2 Mar 2023

Researchers find methods to awaken and revive neural stem cells

Some areas of the adult brain contain quiescent, or dormant, neural stem cells that can potentially be reactivated to form new neurons. However, the transition from quiescence to proliferation is still poorly understood. A team led by scientists from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Lausanne (UNIL) has discovered the importance of cell metabolism in this process and identified how to wake up these neural stem cells and reactivate them. Biologists succeeded in increasing the number of new neurons in the brain of adult and even elderly mice. These results, promising for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, are to be discovered in the journal Science Advances.

2 Mar 2023

Brain News and Research

Research reports distinct patterns of reward-seeking behavior between OCD and problem gambling

Significance of astrocyte–neuron interactions in fine-tuning brain function

Analyzing the antimicrobial resistance profile of the main agent of urinary tract infections

Protecting normal cells from chemotherapy, while eliminating drug-resistant cancer cells

Study investigates schizophrenia risk across African ancestry

Novel model tracks hippocampal synaptic plasticity to reveal molecular mechanisms

Scientists shed new light on aging processes in the brain

Small group of airway neurons plays a key role in alerting the brain about infection

Monitoring the development and maturation of cardiomyocytes using tissue-embedded devices

Study findings reveal drug development possibilities for brain diseases

Liver-produced hormone protects mice against the harmful effects of intoxication

Study pinpoints a splicing deregulation that causes therapeutic vulnerability in pediatric AML

LDL-mediated nanoparticle drug delivery could potentially circumvent high-grade gliomas

Revolutionary drug blocks a gene associated with driving the spread of bone cancer

Study pinpoints a key cause of metastasis from an aggressive form of pediatric brain cancer

First wiring map of neurons in insect brain complete

Using nanoparticles to carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier

Uncovering the complete 3D structure of p53 protein

Novel way to block the death of nerve cells in MND

Researchers find methods to awaken and revive neural stem cells

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