Category: Aging and neurodegenerative diseases

  • New Study May Reveal Link to Lipids Playing a Key Role in Parkinson’s Disease

    In a novel research study conducted by a team from the Neuroregeneration Institute at McLean Hospital, investigators believe they have found key brain cell type changes involving lipids, inflammation, and the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Their findings appear in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United […]

  • Study explains the process that exacerbates MS

    People with multiple sclerosis (MS) gradually develop increasing functional impairment. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now found a possible explanation for the progressive course of the disease in mice and how it can be reversed. The study, which is published in Science Immunology, can prove valuable to future treatments.

  • Taking the STING out of MND

    The research team have uncovered how inflammation in MND is triggered. Pinpointing the molecules involved in this pathway could be a first step towards a new treatment for MND. They found that by blocking an immune sensor called STING, they could dramatically prevent inflammation from MND patient cells, paving the way for a new class […]

  • Study identifies brain cells most affected by epilepsy and new targets for their treatment

    Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases. It is caused by a malfunction in brain cells and is usually treated with medicines that control or counteract the seizures. Scientists from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet have now identified the exact neurons that are most affected by […]

  • New Class of Highly Effective Inhibitors Protects Against Neurodegeneration

    Neurobiologists at Heidelberg University have discovered how a special receptor at neuronal junctions that normally activates a protective genetic programme can lead to nerve cell death when located outside synapses. Their fundamental findings on neurodegenerative processes simultaneously led the researchers at the Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN) to a completely new principle for therapeutic agents. […]

  • Could Loss of Interest be Sign of Dementia Risk?

    Older adults with severe apathy, or lack of interest in usual activities, may have a greater chance of developing dementia than people with few symptoms of apathy, according to a study published in the October 14, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Apathy can be very distressing […]

  • New therapy improves treatment for multiple sclerosis

    Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that affects millions worldwide, can cause debilitating symptoms for those who suffer from it. Though treatments exist, researchers are still searching for therapies that could more effectively treat the disease, or even prevent it altogether. Researchers at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at […]

  • Enzyme SSH1 Impairs The Disposal Of Accumulating Cellular “Garbage,” Leading To Brain Cell Death

    In a healthy brain, the multistep waste clearance process known as autophagy routinely removes and degrades damaged cell components – including malformed proteins like tau and toxic mitochondria. This cellular debris would otherwise pile up like uncollected trash to drive the death of brain cells (neurons), ultimately destroying cognitive abilities like thinking, remembering and reasoning […]

  • Penn Medicine Researchers Discover A Rare Genetic Form of Dementia

    A new, rare genetic form of dementia has been discovered by a team of Penn Medicine researchers. This discovery also sheds light on a new pathway that leads to protein build up in the brain — which causes this newly discovered disease, as well as related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease — that could be […]

  • Spinal Cord Stimulation Reduces Pain and Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

    A team of researchers in the United States and Japan reports that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) measurably decreased pain and reduced motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, both as a singular therapy and as a “salvage therapy” after deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapies were ineffective. Writing in the September 28, 2020 issue of Bioelectronic Medicine, first […]