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干细胞可用于修复受帕金森病影响的脑回路
成年人的大脑并不具备很强的自我修复能力，在发生脑梗、外伤或帕金森病时，便会显得无能为力。而由威斯康星大学的张素春教授所带领的团队则发现，将由干细胞分化成的多巴胺能神经元植入小鼠的中脑便能有效修复由帕金森病所造成的损伤。在植入数月后，新的神经元会与大脑中的运动区域以及调节区域建立联系，完美复原原有的神经回路，提高小鼠的运动机能。张教授认为，干细胞的这种修复作用不但适用于帕金森病，也可用于治疗其他的神经类疾病。唯一需要注意的是，每种病变所影响的脑区、神经种类以及大脑回路都不一样，因此，干细胞所需分化成的神经元类型也应该根据具体的疾病而做相应的调整，如果是谷氨酸能神经元就无法用于帕金森病的治疗。接下来，张教授还将带领团队试验该理论在灵长类动物体内是否可行，以期最终能将这一疗法应用于脑疾病的临床治疗。
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研究发现与脑萎缩有关的160个基因
德克萨斯大学的一个研究团队最近对45,000名健康成年人的脑成像图及其基因序列进行了统计分析，并发现了会影响大脑皮层厚度、表面积和体积的160个基因。鉴于不同脑区受退行性病变的影响不同，该研究将34个大脑区域都纳入了考量。为了确保有效性，还使用大样本对实验结果进行了验证。所发现的这160个基因被证实与大脑发育、血管病变、大脑退行性病变以及精神类疾病有着密切的联系。在未来，该团队还打算将拉丁裔等其他种族也纳入样本进行分析，以完善与脑萎缩有关的基因资料。这些基因的发现有助于研究人员对大脑的正常衰老和退行性病变进行更深入的研究，并有望助力于相关靶向药的研发。
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睡眠时长少于6小时的失眠症患者具有较高的老年痴呆症风险
全美约25%的人口有着某种睡眠问题，而患有慢性失眠症的则有10%。先前已有研究表明，睡眠障碍不但会影响到患者的精神状况，还与心血管疾病以及代谢类疾病的发病具有紧密的联系。因此，将具有失眠问题的人群进行细分，找到会促使身体状况恶化的因素就变得尤为重要。虽然失眠症具体可分为入睡困难、睡眠维持困难以及早起等多种情况，但研究人员发现，辨别一位失眠症患者是否有心血管疾病和认知障碍方面的风险只要对其整体的睡眠时长进行评估就已足够。如果睡眠时长不足6小时，那么患认知障碍的风险就会比正常人高上两倍。此外，这种认知方面的问题常常伴随心血管和代谢类疾病一同出现，意味着睡眠缺乏很可能会通过影响心脑血管以及糖脂代谢危害到脑功能的正常运作。
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Stanford scientists solve secret of nerve cells marking a form of schizophrenia
When nerve cells aren’t busy exchanging information, they’re supposed to keep quiet. If they’re just popping off at random, like in a noisy classroom, it obscures the signals they’re supposed to be transmitting. But in the most common genetic cause of schizophrenia, it seems that nerve cells won’t shut up, Stanford University School of Medicine […]
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Multiple Unapproved Drugs Found in “Brain Boosting” Supplements
Supplements that claim to improve mental focus and memory may contain unapproved pharmaceutical drugs and in potentially dangerous combinations and doses, according to a new study published in the September 23, 2020, online issue issue of Neurology Clinical Practice, an official journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers found five such drugs not approved […]
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How the brain balances emotion and reason
Navigating through life requires balancing emotion and reason, a feat accomplished by the brain region “area 32” of the anterior cingulate cortex. The area maintains emotional equilibrium by relaying information between cognitive and emotional brain regions, according to new research in monkeys published in JNeurosci.
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Research confirms link between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s disease
New research has confirmed long-suspected links between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s disease, finding identical signs of brain damage in both conditions. While the cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, amyloid plaques that are toxic to brain cells are known indicators of the disease. The new research showed these plaques start in the same place […]
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Evolutionary and heritable axes shape our brain
Every region has its place in the brain. However, it has been unclear why brain regions are located where they are. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich have defined two main axes along which brain regions are genetically organized, stretching from posterior […]
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TCCI® Director, Professor Ying Mao Introduces New Technologies for Epilepsy Treatment in a Paper Published in the Journal Nature, Biomedical Engineering
On September 28, Professor Ying Mao, Director of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Translational Research, and Professor Cong Li from the School of Pharmacy at Fudan University, published a paper, titled ” An electric-field-responsive paramagnetic contrast agent enhances the visualization of epileptic foci in mouse models of drug-resistant epilepsy” in the journal Nature […]
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Nerve cells let others “listen in”
How many “listeners” a nerve cell has in the brain is strictly regulated. This is shown by an international study led by the University College London and the universities of Bonn, Bordeaux and Milton Keynes (England). In the environment of learning neurons, certain processes are set in motion that make signal transmission less exclusive. The […]