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Brain waves guide us in spotlighting surprises
By measuring thousands of neurons along the surface, or cortex, of the brain in animals as they reacted to predictable and surprising images, the researchers observed that low frequency alpha and beta brain waves, or rhythms, originating in the brain’s frontal cognitive regions tamped down neural activity associated with predictable stimuli. That paved the way […]
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Pregnancy stress may shape baby brain
Infants’ brains may be shaped by levels of stress their mother experiences during pregnancy, a study has revealed. Stress levels in mothers – measured by a hormone linked to anxiety and other health problems – is related to changes in areas of the infant brain associated with emotional development, the study suggests. Doctors say the […]
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Team uses copper to image Alzheimer’s aggregates in the brain
A proof-of-concept study conducted in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease offers new evidence that copper isotopes can be used to detect the amyloid-beta protein deposits that form in the brains of people living with – or at risk of developing – Alzheimer’s.
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Stronger memories can help us make sense of future changes
New research found the stronger a memory is first encoded, the easier it is for a person to notice subsequent changes and to integrate them into their updated understanding. “The bigger the discrepancy is between a previous memory and what happens the next time,” Zacks said, “the stronger the signal is that you need to […]
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Scientists Identify Brain Cells that Help Drive Bodily Reaction to Fear, Anxiety
Rodríguez-Romaguera, Ung, Stuber and colleagues examined a brain region within the amygdala called the BNST (bed nucleus of the stria terminalis), which has been linked in prior research to fear and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Increasingly, scientists view this region as a promising target for future psychiatric drugs. In this case, the researchers zeroed in […]
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Two-phase theory applies to diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, muscle atrophy
Researchers in Rice’s Department of BioSciences, propose that degeneration, at the cellular level, occurs in two distinct phases that are marked by very different activities of protein signaling pathways that regulate basic cell functions. “We would like clinicians and other researchers to understand that the two phases of degeneration represent distinct entities, with distinct alterations […]
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JAX, UMaine scientists lead discovery of new connection between Alzheimer’s dementia and existing gene
By studying the memory and brain tissue from a large group of genetically diverse mice, the team found that the expression of the gene Dlgap2 is associated with the degree of memory loss in mice and risk for Alzheimer’s dementia in humans. Further research will ascertain how the gene influences dementia and mental function. Dlgap2, […]
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潜伏的威胁：异常蛋白质释放神经退行性疾病中的潜在毒性
韩国大邱庆北科技大学的科学家在《Journal of Cell Biology》上发表的最新研究中，发现了异常蛋白质实际上在神经元中释放一种固有但通常潜在的天然蛋白质的毒性，这会导致树突状缺陷（神经元的分支部分连接到下一个神经元）。 因此，他们的结果部分解释了患病神经元的机理。 尽管研究人员专注于马查多-约瑟夫病（MJD），但其研究结果与其他疾病也有关联
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记忆创造出“指纹”，揭示大脑的运作方式
一项新的研究展示了如何在大脑活动中监测并量化人们重新构想常见情景之间的差异。 这些独特的神经系统特征最终可以用于理解，研究甚至改善诸如阿尔茨海默氏病等疾病的治疗。 Feng（Vankee）Lin博士称：“当人们想象相似类型的事件时，每个人想象的方式各有不同，因为他们各自有不同的经历。我们的研究表明，可以解码人脑中与日常生活相关的复杂信息，并识别每个人所记住的经历所特有的神经“指纹”。
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唐氏综合症患者中阿尔茨海默氏病的早期征兆
瑞典卡罗林斯卡学院研究了唐氏综合症患者大脑中阿尔茨海默氏症生物标记物的发病率和区域分布。研究结果为痴呆的早期诊断和预防治疗带来了新的可能性。这项研究发表在《Molecular Neurodegeneration》杂志上。 该研究目前研究了患有或不患有阿尔茨海默氏病的唐氏综合症患者以及死于阿尔茨海默氏病但无其他功能障碍的人的脑组织中Tau和淀粉样蛋白的范围和分布。 分析显示，患有唐氏综合症和阿尔茨海默病的人的脑组织中Tau蛋白的存在要高于患有阿尔茨海默病但没有唐氏综合症的人，这表明Tau蛋白会在唐氏综合症中发生早期变化。