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New technologies reveal cross-cutting breakdowns in Alzheimer’s disease

A figure from the paper depicts pathways perturbed in Alzheimer's disease. Below examples are listed for each pathway by major brain cell type. Image Credit: The Picower Institute.

4 Jan 2023

Research team discovers “trapped” unknown insect genus

Micro-computed tomography was used in a significant work by Professor Javier Alba-Tercedor of the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada to produce sharp pictures that allowed the insect to be examined and identified.

12 Oct 2022

Interactional closeness with a dog can increase prefrontal brain activity

Researchers led by Rahel Marti at the University of Basel in Switzerland report that viewing, feeling, and touching real dogs leads to increasingly higher levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.

6 Oct 2022

The deep relationship between Tob gene and common mental health conditions

The Tob gene is well known for its connection to cancer. Scientists have discovered that this gene also has a significant role in lowering depression, fear, and anxiety in a multidisciplinary study that blends molecular biology with neuroscience.

12 Sep 2022

Cedars-Sinai builds bio-realistic and intricate computer models of brain cells

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai have produced an unprecedented number of bio-realistic and intricate computer models of individual brain cells.

11 Aug 2022

Scientists develop microscopy technology that observes how new neurons struggle to reach their developmental destination

With organoids to model early growth, scientists employed a developing microscopy technology to observe that new neurons find it hard to reach their developmental goal.

From Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1 Aug 2022

Scientists pinpoint importance of certain type of neural connections in identifying consciousness

Science might be a step nearer to comprehending where consciousness is located in the brain. A new research study demonstrates the significance of particular types of neural connections in locating consciousness.

1 Aug 2022

Research identifies the main gene that causes developmental disability syndrome

A single gene that was previously discovered to be the main factor in a rare disease associated with epilepsy, autism, and developmental delay has been named as a key player in the development of healthy neurons.

1 Jul 2022

Researchers discover how the protein content of centrosomes may vary on cell type

The centrosome is the organelle that organizes the cytoskeleton during cell division, which is an important role in species ranging from yeast to humans. Due to its broad functions, scientists previously considered that the centrosome was quite similar in all cells.

17 Jun 2022

Scientists develop tiny probe for minimally invasive interfacing with neural circuits

Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a tiny neural probe that can be implanted for longer time periods to record and stimulate neural activity, while minimizing injury to the surrounding tissue.

From UC San Diego 10 Jun 2022

Scientists propose a theory of brain map formation

Maps have played an important role in scientific progress. Claudius Ptolemaeus transformed our understanding of the world with his map of Earth and Tycho Brahe our understanding of the Universe with his map of the stars.

29 Apr 2022

Alzheimer’s patients tend to have differed and increased genetic changes, says study

Errors present in DNA can get accumulated inside brain cells as one is aging. However, in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, these errors called somatic mutations may increase at a quicker rate.

21 Apr 2022

Researchers analyze single-cell DNA sequencing for having a significant role in Alzheimer’s disease

The loss of functional neurons in the brain is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. What, on the other hand, is the source of this loss?

21 Apr 2022

Genomics provides a deeper understanding of the cause of hydrocephalus

The cerebral ventricles—four linked cavities of the brain that are packed with cerebrospinal fluid—become enlarged in hydrocephalus, or “water on the brain;” however, the cause is unknown in many instances.

20 Apr 2022

Microglia regulate the intrinsic excitability of neuronal subtypes differently

A new study reports that immune cell responses to bacteria affect the intrinsic excitability of rat neuronal subtypes differently.

20 Apr 2022

Critical signaling pathways in immune cells could reduce Alzheimer’s progression

According to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers, inhibiting a critical signaling route in brain-resident immune cells may reduce brain inflammation and hence halt the progression of the disease in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders.

15 Apr 2022

Mice study explains why humans expressing CHT gene variant exhibit attentional vulnerabilities

Mutant mice are providing scientists with a new neurobiological framework to understand the brain changes observed in distractible humans who carry a common gene variant whose frequency has been associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

8 Apr 2022

Study finds surprisingly few connections between far-reaching regions of the brain

Understanding how the brain functions, particularly how information is processed during different activities, is difficult without knowing how many axons are in the brain and how many connect different functional regions.

25 Mar 2022

Salk researchers present novel technology to assist in examining single brain cells

Researchers at the Salk Institute have created a novel genomic technology that enables them to study DNA, RNA, and chromatin from a single cell at the same time.

11 Mar 2022

Study takes a deep dive into the molecular biology of the brain in bipolar disorder patients

In a comprehensive study involving one of the largest-ever samples of post-mortem brains, scientists at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, in collaboration with researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, have pinpointed significant differences in gene expression in two specific regions of the brains of hundreds of patients who had bipolar disorder.

8 Mar 2022