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Becoming a nerve cell: Timing is of the essence
Mitochondria are small organelles that provide the energy critical for each cell in our body, in particular in the high fuel-consuming brain. In this week’s edition of Science, a Belgian team of researchers led by Pierre Vanderhaeghen (VIB-KU Leuven, ULB) finds that mitochondria also regulate a key event during brain development: how neural stem cells […]
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Young children would rather explore than get rewards
Young children will pass up rewards they know they can collect to explore other options, a new study suggests.Researchers found that when adults and 4- to 5-year-old children played a game where certain choices earned them rewards, both adults and children quickly learned what choices would give them the biggest returns.
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Clear Contrast: Q&A with Mikhail Shapiro, Ph.D
One of the most challenging aspects of studying the brain is that it’s so hard to access within living organisms. Mikhail G. Shapiro, PhD, TCCI®-affiliated, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator was recently interviewed by the Dana Foundation about his team’s recent discovery of an “erasable” contrast agent which makes it easier to study […]
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Stress, sleep, and immunity
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Stanford University have pinpointed the circuit in the brain that is responsible for sleepless nights in times of stress—and it turns out that circuit does more than make you toss and turn. Their study, done in mice, ties the same neuronal connections that trigger insomnia to stress-induced […]
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Vitamin B1 Deficiency a Key Factor in the Development of Alcohol-Related Dementia
Researchers hypothesize vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency may play a significant role in dementia associated with alcohol use disorder. It is known iron deposits in the brain contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. Those with AUD have elevated levels of both iron in their blood and thiamine deficiency. Thiamine is vital for maintaining the blood-brain barrier. Thiamine deficiency […]
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Imagery reveals autism-related brain differences
People with autism spectrum disorder have lower levels of a protein that regulates the amount of serotonin in the brain, a paper from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry reports. For their study, the researchers used a molecular brain imaging technique to compare people with and without autism; their results offer […]
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Children Use Both Brain Hemispheres to Understand Language, Unlike Adults
Infants and young children have brains with a superpower, of sorts, say Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists. Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one or the other of their brain’s two hemispheres, youngsters use both the right and left hemispheres to do the same task. The finding suggests a possible […]
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Investigational Drug Stops Toxic Proteins Tied to Neurodegenerative Diseases
An investigational drug that targets an instigator of the TDP-43 protein, a well-known hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), may reduce the protein’s buildup and neurological decline associated with these disorders, suggests a pre-clinical study from researchers at Penn Medicine and Mayo Clinic. Results were published in Science Translational Medicine.
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First ‘Plug and Play’ Brain Prosthesis Demonstrated in Paralyzed Person
In a significant advance, researchers working toward a brain-controlled prosthetic limb at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences have shown that machine learning techniques helped a paralyzed individual learn to control a computer cursor using their brain activity without requiring extensive daily retraining, which has been a requirement of all past brain-computer interface (BCI) efforts.
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Thyroid inflammation linked to anxiety disorders
Patients with autoimmune inflammation of their thyroid may be at greater risk of developing anxiety, according to a study being presented at e-ECE 2020. The study found that people with anxiety may also have inflammation in their thyroid gland that can be reduced by taking the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen. These findings suggest that thyroid function […]