Human embryonic stem cell therapy is being tried on a human for the first time in a new clinical trial....
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Featured articles can cover neuroscience, brain research, regenerative medicine, psychology, genetics, robotics, neurology and many other cognitive science topics. Featured neuroscience articles are articles that we believe to be very important, or that our readers will most likely want to read. Featured articles usually include an image and tend to be shared more across the social networks.
Neuroscientists have provided an insight into the neuronal mechanisms involved in prosocial behavior, and how they are modulated by perceived group membership. Researchers suggest that there is a neurobiological basis of whether people chose to help, or withdraw help, based on positive or negative identification of the person in pain.
University of Bristol researchers have prevented a major breathing complication of Rett syndrome. Patients with Rett syndrome sometimes experience abnormal breathing, breath holding and other breathing problems that can lead to asphyxiation, brain damage and even be fatal. This new research show that by increasing aminobutyric acid and stimulating specific serotonin receptors in the brain, life threatening symptoms of breath arrests were abolished.
Researchers genetically altered mesenchymal stem cells to create new stem cell lines that showed no signs of aging in culture, did not increase tumor production in animal studies and functioned as healthy mesenchymal cells do.
Brain imaging studies of women with breast cancer before and after chemotherapy treatments show grey matter is being affected during the chemotherapy treatments. Brain areas believed to be critical for multi-tasking, memory and other cognitive functions were seen to change during the chemotherapy.
Neuroscience researchers from Cardiff University have found the first direct evidence that ADHD is a genetic disorder.
Neuroscience research published in September's Journal of Neuroscience suggests early life stresses may modify the GAD1 gene, which controls the production of GABA. Through their research on rats, researchers were able to note that those who experienced a lack of affection showed an obstruction within the DNA which controls the GAD1 gene. As it is believed that GABA deficits might be apparent within schizophrenic patients, researchers propose that the modification of GAD1 might determine a child's predisposition to mental illness.
Neuroscientists at USC have discovered that carbonated drinks set off the same pain sensors in the nasal cavity as mustard, albeit at a lower intensity. During experimentation, researchers flowed carbonated saline over a dish containing nerve cells taken from the sensory circuits in the nose and mouth. They discovered that the gas activated a specific cell which serve as general pain sensors and expresses the TRPA1 gene.
Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley have discovered that stimulation of a certain area of the brain can cause a change in which hand a person favors to perform a task. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation on right handed test subjects, researchers discovered that stimulating the posterior parietal cortex on the left side caused an increase in the use of the left hand. Researchers suggested this finding might be useful in discovering methods to help patients overcome learned limb disuse.
A study published in October's Cortex has shown young people who regularly play video games have an advantage in performing tasks which require visuomotor skills. The study also found that gamers show increased activity in the prefrontal cortex when asked to perform visuomotor tasks. By contrast, non-gamers had more reliant use of the parietal cortex, an area which involves hand-eye coordination, when performing visuomotor tasks.
Correlating data from 588 patients diagnosed with frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD), researchers found that subjects with professions which related highly for verbal skills had greater tissue loss on the right hand side of the brain. By contrast, those whose professions required less aptitude for verbal skills, for example flight engineers, had more tissue damage to the left hand side of the brain.
Neuroscience researchers have studied the organic protein complexes linking vesicles and membranes before fusion, in order to understand the rapidity of transmission.
