College football players are 5 times more likely to report cognitive impairment, 2.5 times more likely to experience recurrent headaches, and 65% more likely to have cardiovascular problems in their lifetime than their non-football playing peers. Additionally, mortality from brain and other nervous system cancers was 4 times higher in former college football players than the general population.
Nomon, a newly designed flexible system, incorporates probabilistic reasoning to learn how users with motor impairments and paralysis make selections when typing and adjust the interface to improve speed and accuracy.
Mutations in the IL18RAP gene reduce inflammation and appears to protect the brain against ALS.
Study reveals an association between intestinal inflammation and the gut microbiome in the development and progression of ALS.
PolyP, an inorganic polyphosphate released by astrocytes in people with ALS and frontotemporal dementia contributes to the signature motor neuron death associated with the disease pathologies.
Mislocalization of the TDP-43 protein alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A. The findings provide a potential new therapeutic target for the treatment of ALS and frontotemporal dementia.
Measuring the level of neurofilaments in the blood may be a reliable biomarker for the early diagnosis of ALS.
In patients with ALS, astrocytes within the brain become pro-inflammatory and tend to lose their protective function, resulting in changes in the ability to uptake glutamate.
Findings point to microglial TREM2 as a potential target for the treatment of ALS.
A new study sheds light on the genetic causes of a range of neurodegenerative disorders, including ALS, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, and determines factors that impact the age of onset as well as disease severity.
People with ALS have 2.5-fold higher levels of arachidonic acid, a lipid commonly found in fatty parts of meat and fish that spurs on inflammatory process, in their spinal motor cells than people without the disease. Treatment with caffeic acid, an anti-inflammatory compound naturally found in coffee, tea, and tomatoes, reduced some of the symptoms associated with ALS, and extended lifespan in animal models.
Post-mortem studies of brain tissue from ALS patients reveal an abnormal form of tau is present in novel brain areas, and the tau interacts with DRP1. The tau appears to cause the brain cell's mitochondria to fragment and increase oxidative stress. Reducing tau reversed the effect, decreasing oxidative stress and mitochondrial fragmentation.