A new study led by MIT neuroscientists has found that brain scans of patients with social anxiety disorder can help predict whether they will benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy.
Frequently, as many as one thousand signals rain down on a single neuron simultaneously. To ensure that precise signals are delivered, the brain possesses a sophisticated inhibitory system. Scientists have now illuminated how this system works.
The experimental treatment method allows small therapeutic agents to safely cross the blood-brain barrier in laboratory rats by turning off P-glycoprotein, one of the main gatekeepers preventing medicinal drugs from reaching their intended targets in the brain.
Scientists found that adverse listening situations are difficult for the brain, partly because they draw on the same, limited resources supporting our short-term memory. The new findings are particularly relevant to understanding the cognitive consequences of hearing damage, a condition that affects an increasing number of people.
Professional football players in this study were three times more likely to die as a result of diseases that damage brain cells compared to the general population. A player’s risk of death from Alzheimer’s disease or ALS was almost four times higher than the general population.
Researchers have discovered two gene variants that raise the risk of the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma. This is the first study to link known cancer-related genes HACE1 and LIN28B to neuroblastoma. The study broadens understanding of how gene changes may make a child susceptible to this early childhood cancer, as well as causing a tumor to progress.
By increasing the signaling activity of a protein called muscle skeletal receptor tyrosine-protein kinase (MuSK), researchers were able to keep nerve cells attached to muscle longer into the progression of the disease in a mouse model of ALS.
Researchers identified a potential medical treatment for cognitive effects of stress-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study, conducted in a PTSD mouse model, shows that an experimental drug called S107, one of a new class of small-molecule compounds called Rycals, prevented learning and memory deficits associated with stress-related disorders.
Investigators report on the development of imaging-based biomarkers that will have an impact on diagnosis before the Alzheimer's disease process is set in motion.
Eating a moderate amount of chocolate each week may be associated with a lower risk of stroke in men, according to a new study published in Neurology.
A new study finds strength of communication between the left and right brain hemispheres predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. Findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia - an inability to understand and manipulate numbers.
U-M scientists stop abnormal brain cell growth in mice with neurofibromatosis using experimental tumor drug, make new discoveries in neural stem cells.
