A Post-Coital Switch: Mapping the Changing Behaviors in the Female Fruit Fly’s Mind
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then it shouldn’t be surprising that their neural circuits differ. In research published today in the journal Current Biology, researchers have used dramatic changes in the behaviour of the female fruit fly after sex to help map these often very different circuits. The fruit fly is [...]
Fish Study Raises Hope for Spinal Injury Repair
Scientists have unlocked the secrets of the zebrafish’s ability to heal its spinal cord after injury, in research that could deliver therapy for paraplegics and quadriplegics in the future. A team from Monash University’s Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), led by Dr Yona Goldshmit and Professor Peter Currie, discovered the role of a protein in [...]
To Spread, Nervous System Viruses Sabotage Cell, Hijack Transportation
Herpes and other viruses that attack the nervous system may thrive by disrupting cell function in order to hijack a neuron’s internal transportation network and spread to other cells. Princeton University researchers made the first observation in neurons that common strains of the herpes virus indirectly take control of a cell’s mitochondria, the mobile organelles [...]
Tiny Genetic Variations Led to Big Changes in the Evolving Brain
Changes to just three genetic letters among billions contributed to the evolution and development of the mammalian motor sensory circuits and laid the groundwork for the defining characteristics of the human brain, Yale University researchers report. In a study published in the May 31 issue of the journal Nature, Yale researchers found that a small, [...]
Antioxidant N-Acetylcysteine Lowers Irritability and Reduces Repetitive Behaviors Associated With Autism
Antioxidant shows promise as treatment for certain features of autism, Stanford study finds A specific antioxidant supplement may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder. The antioxidant, called N-Acetylcysteine, [...]
Exendin-4 Diabetes Medication may Minimize Damage for Blast Related TBI
Diabetes Drug Could Be a Promising Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury TAU research finds that existing diabetes medication may ease damage caused by brain-addling explosions Although the death toll is relatively low for people who suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI), it can have severe, life-long consequences for brain function. TBI can impair a patient’s [...]
Solvent Exposure in Work Place Associated With Cognitive Problems in Less Educated Workers
Working with solvents tied to cognitive problems for less-educated people Exposure to solvents at work may be associated with reduced thinking skills later in life for those who have less than a high school education, according to a study published in the May 29, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American [...]
CCR2 Involved in Removing Beta-Amyloid, Could Slow Alzheimer’s Progression
First study to suggest that the immune system may protect against Alzheimer’s changes in humans Recent work in mice suggested that the immune system is involved in removing beta-amyloid, the main Alzheimer’s-causing substance in the brain. Researchers have now shown for the first time that this may apply in humans. Researchers at the Peninsula College [...]
Persistent Changes to Sensory Experience can Promote Rewiring of Aging Brain
Max Planck Florida Institute Study Shows: Persistent Sensory Experience Is Good For The Aging Brain Despite a long-held scientific belief that much of the wiring of the brain is fixed by the time of adolescence, a new study shows that changes in sensory experience can cause massive rewiring of the brain, even as one ages. [...]
Microglia Eliminate Unnecessary Synapses During Brain Development
Immune cells “sculpt” circuits in the brain by eating away excess connections Findings offer a fresh look at developmental and degenerative brain diseases We’re born with our brains prewired, but as information comes in from our environment, this circuitry is updated. A study from Boston Children’s Hospital provides a new glimpse of how this happens: [...]
