Feature Channels: Neuro

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Whether at school, in car accidents, on the sports field or the battlefield, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common part of our lives. It is especially frequent among children, athletes, and the elderly. Now, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have shown that a single dose of a new molecule they developed can effectively protect the brain from inflammation, cell death, and cognitive impairments that often follow a mild traumatic brain injury.

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Neurodegenerative disease researchers in the U.K. fear the Brexit will curtail their access to EU funds and complicate international collaborations. Analysts agree that a U.K. exit is likely to harm big science across the continent.

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A metallic molecule being studied at Rice University begins to glow when bound to amyloid protein fibrils of the sort implicated in Alzheimer's disease. When triggered with ultraviolet light, the molecule glows much brighter, which enables real-time monitoring of amyloid fibrils as they aggregate in lab experiments.

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) with a loss of consciousness (LOC) may be associated with later development of Parkinson’s disease but not Alzheimer’s disease or incident dementia.

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A study in mice funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows for the first time that high-contrast visual stimulation can help damaged retinal neurons regrow optic nerve fibers, otherwise known as retinal ganglion cell axons. In combination with chemically induced neural stimulation, axons grew further than in strategies tried previously. Treated mice partially regained visual function. The study also demonstrates that adult regenerated central nervous system (CNS) axons are capable of navigating to correct targets in the brain. The research was funded through the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of NIH.

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Social strains and lack of social competence are common in children recovering from malignant brain tumors. A Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey behavioral scientist and colleagues from across the U.S. and Canada, examined a peer-mediated intervention at the survivor’s school and found it was feasible to carry out in the public school setting and was acceptable to the survivor’s family.

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A deadly bacteria that can be picked up by a simple sniff can travel to the brain and spinal cord in just 24 hours, a new Griffith University and Bond University study has found.

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We have all bumped our heads at some point, and such incidents are usually harmless. This is thanks to fluid-filled chambers in our brain that offset minor knocks and jolts and provide padding for sensitive components of our nervous system. Cerebral fluid, however, has more than just a protective function: It removes cellular waste, supplies our nervous tissue with nutrients, and transports important messenger substances. How these messenger substances are actually being delivered to their destination in the brain, however, was unclear until now. Göttingen-based Max Planck researchers have now discovered that tiny cilia on the surface of specialized cells could lead the way. Through synchronized beating movements, they create a complex network of dynamic flows that act like conveyor belts transporting molecular "freight". The results obtained by the scientists suggest that these flows send messenger substances directly to where they are needed.

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Sustaining a concussion during adolescence may be more common than previous estimates, according to researchers presenting their study at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO today.

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University of Warwick research indicates that eating more fruit and vegetables can substantially increase people’s later happiness levels.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown for the first time that ensembles of genes within the striatum could be deeply involved in bipolar disorder.

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Noninvasive electrical brain stimulation offers hope as a potential new tool to ease the symptoms of certain diseases and mental illnesses. But neuroscientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) are warning against self-administered brain stimulation by so-called “do-it-yourself” (DIY) users. Their “Open Letter” appears in the July 7 issue of Annals of Neurology.

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Using a wearable neuromuscular device can reduce the risk of ACL injury in female soccer athletes, according to new research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO. The study showed functional improvements in athletes who used the devices in combination with a regular training program.

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The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the American Brain Foundation (ABF) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) have announced a new Clinical Research Training Fellowship in muscular dystrophy for 2017.

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New research finds white matter changes in the brains of athletes six months after a concussion. The study will be presented at the Sports Concussion Conference in Chicago, July 8-10, hosted by the American Academy of Neurology, the world’s leading authority on the diagnosis and management of sports-related concussion. The conference brings together leading experts in the field to present and discuss the latest scientific advances in diagnosing and treating sports-related concussion.

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The growing trend of "do-it-yourself" transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) poses hidden risks to healthy members of the public who seek to use the technique for cognitive enhancement. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, along with several members of the (cognitive) neuroscience research community warn about such risks involved in home use of tDCS, the application of electrical current to the brain. Their Open Letter will appear in the July 7th issue of Annals of Neurology.

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Philadelphia, PA, July 7, 2016 - Patients with multiple sclerosis have higher rates of depression than the general population, including people with other life-long disabling diseases. Symptoms of multiple sclerosis arise from an abnormal response of the body's immune system. Immune response has also been linked to depression, leading researchers to think it could be a shared pathological mechanism that leads to the increased rates of depressive symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis.

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A special form of RNA called extra-coding RNA controls the careful targeting to add or remove methyl groups to chromosomal DNA of the adult neuron. The ecRNAs are fundamental regulators of DNA methylation patterns in the adult brain through interaction with DNA methyltransferase enzymes and are involved in creation of memories.

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MINNEAPOLIS – New research shows that a genetic risk score may detect those at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms appear—even possibly in healthy young adults, according to a study published in the July 6, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People with intermittent explosive disorder (IED), or impulsive aggression, have a weakened connection between regions of the brain associated with sensory input, language processing and social interaction.

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A Louisville patient is the first to be enrolled in a national clinical trial to test a new treatment for patients who have suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. The trial, based at the University of Louisville under principal investigator Robert F. James, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at UofL, will include eight other medical centers in the United States. The ASTROH study is a phase II, randomized clinical trial to determine whether a continuous 14-day, low-dose intravenous infusion of heparin is safe and effective in patients with ruptured brain aneurysms.

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Eph receptors and their partner proteins, the ephrins, are vital for intercellular communication. In the developing brain, they guide young neurons to the right partner cells by repulsion. They also play important roles in cell migration, regeneration, neurodegenerative diseases and the development of cancer. Until recently, scientists assumed that ephrin/Eph signal transmission could only occur through direct cell-cell contact. However, Rüdiger Klein and his team at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have now shown that cells can also pack and release active ephrins and Eph receptors through extracellular vesicles. Not only does this discovery improve our understanding of this communication system, it may also pave the way for new therapeutic strategies.

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Most people would get a little ‘rush’ out of the idea that they’re about to win some money. In fact, if you could look into their brain at that very moment, you’d see activity in the part of the brain that responds to rewards. But for marijuana users, that rush just isn’t as big – and gets smaller over time, a new study finds. And that may open them up to more risk of addiction.

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Can an increased risk of chronic pain be transmitted from parents to children? Several factors may contribute, including genetics, effects on early development, social learning, and more according to a report in the journal PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Neurons in the brain that control hunger are regulated by AMPK, a protein activated during fasting, report researchers from Tufts University. The study sheds light on the biological mechanisms that regulate feeding behavior, and serves as a potential model for the broad study of synapse formation.

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A study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience led by Yongjie Yang of Tufts University School of Medicine identifies an astroglial trigger mechanism as contributing to symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice.

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Mayo Clinic Monthly News Tips for July of 2016

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Low levels of the stress hormone cortisol are linked to obesity, high levels of fat in the blood and metabolic syndrome among patients with recurrent depressions or bipolar disorder. This according to a study at Umeå University in Sweden published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

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New research from King's College London has studied the controversial Freudian theory that Hysteria, a disorder resulting in severe neurological symptoms such as paralysis or seizures, arises in response to psychological stress or trauma. The study, published today in Psychological Medicine, found supportive evidence that stressors around the time of onset of symptoms might be relevant for some patients.

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UAB researchers have found that stored samples of urine and cerebral-spinal fluid from patients with Parkinson’s disease hold a brand-new type of biomarker — a phosphorylated protein that correlates with the presence and severity of Parkinson’s disease.

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Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine say tiny micro-vesicle structures used by neurons and other cells to transport materials internally or dispose of them externally carry tell-tale proteins that may help to predict the likelihood of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) developing into full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

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In a study appearing in the July 5 issue of JAMA, Blayne Welk, M.D., M.Sc., of Western University, London, Canada, and colleagues conducted a study to assess the association between gadolinium exposure and parkinsonism, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system characterized by tremor and impaired muscular coordination.

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Reston, VA, Julio 5, 2016 – La Food and Drug Administration (FDA) de los Estados Unidos recientemente aprobó un dispositivo para el tratamiento de la obesidad, el AspireAssist. Este dispositivo, que consiste en un tubo que es colocado dentro del estómago y conectado a una bomba, está diseñado para alentar al paciente a drenar una porción del contenido del estómago después de cada comida para ayudarlo a perder peso – esencialmente permitiendo la purgación. Algunos han llamado a esto una forma mecanizada del trastorno de la conducta alimentaria, bulimia nervosa.

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Using a novel, newly developed mouse model that mimics the development of Alzheimer’s disease in humans, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have been able to determine that a one-two punch of major biological “insults” must occur in the brain to cause the dementia that is the hallmark of the disease

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While strokes are known to increase risk for dementia, much less is known about diseases of large and small blood vessels in the brain, separate from stroke, and how they relate to dementia. Diseased blood vessels in the brain itself, which commonly is found in elderly people, may contribute more significantly to Alzheimer's disease dementia than was previously believed, according to new study results published in June in The Lancet Neurology, a British medical journal.

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Researchers from the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London have shed light on how we perceive and recognise specific visual stimuli.

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Iowa State University researchers have described with single-molecule precision how copper ions cause prion proteins to misfold and seed the misfolding and clumping of nearby prion proteins. The findings are published in Science Advances.

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Ideally, injectable or implantable medical devices should not only be small and electrically functional, they should be soft, like the body tissues with which they interact. Scientists from two UChicago labs set out to see if they could design a material with all three of those properties.

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The loss of brain tissue, called brain atrophy, is a normal part of aging, but multiple sclerosis (MS) accelerates the process. Such atrophy is a critical indicator of physical and cognitive decline in MS, yet because measuring brain atrophy is expensive and complicated, it’s done primarily in research settings. That may be changing.

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The risk of blindness caused by spinal fusion, one of the most common surgeries performed in the U.S., has dropped almost three-fold since the late 1990s, according to the largest study of the topic to date.

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Stimulating the brain with a mild electrical current can temporarily sharpen vision without glasses or contacts, Vanderbilt University researchers have found.

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Vision loss due to glaucoma or optic nerve damage is generally considered irreversible. Now a new prospective, randomized, multi-center clinical trial demonstrates significant vision improvement in partially blind patients after 10 days of noninvasive, transorbital alternating current stimulation (ACS). In addition to activation of their residual vision, patients also experienced improvement in vision-related quality of life such as acuity, reading, mobility or orientation. The results are reported in PLOS ONE.

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Der Verlust der Sehkraft durch Glaukom oder Schädigung des Sehnervs gilt als irreversibel. Jetzt zeigt eine prospektive, randomisierte, multizentrische, klinische Studie signifikante Verbesserungen des Sehvermögens in teilweise erblindeten Patienten nach 10 Tagen Behandlung mit nicht-invasiver, transorbitaler Wechselstromstimulation (alternating current stimulation, ACS). Die Behandlung führte zu der Aktivierung von Restsehleistungen und sehbezogenen Verbesserungen der Lebensqualität wie Sehschärfe, Lesen, Mobilität und Orientierung. Diese aktuellen Ergebnisse wurden in PLOS ONE berichtet.

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Nerves in the central nervous system of adult mammals do not usually regenerate when injured. The granule cell, a nerve cell located in the cerebellum, is different. When its fibres, called parallel fibres, are cut, rapid regeneration ensues and junctions with other neurons called "synapses" are rebuilt. The precise mechanism for this was unclear.

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Researchers identify nerve cell communication between specific brain regions, providing insight for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

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A consensus statement which includes a University of Exeter researcher says exercise boosts kids' and young people's brain power and academic prowess.

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After legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at Mayo Clinic in 2011, the winningest coach in NCAA Division 1 history went public with her battle against the disease. Today, Mayo Clinic mourns the loss of Coach Summitt and extends condolences to her family.

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The ASN Foundation for Kidney Research announced the 2016 recipients of research grants to advance new understandings of—and treatments for—kidney diseases. The Foundation will fund 36 leading researchers working to cure kidney diseases. These include new projects and others continuing from 2015. Established in 2012 by the American Society of Nephrology, the Foundation funds research that will help improve the health of the more than 20 million Americans burdened by kidney diseases, the 9th leading cause of death in the United States.

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A new study led by scientists at SBP describes a technology that could lead to new therapeutics for traumatic brain injuries. The discovery provides a means of homing drugs or nanoparticles to injured areas of the brain.

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Two-in-one approach could help keep brain cancer in check