Columbia researchers receive $3 million to combat genetic killer of infants & toddlers
... at CUMC focused on high-level translational motor neuron research. Working collaboratively with each labor...fining the molecular mechanisms that control motor neuron differentiation and the formation of sensory-motor circuitry in the developing spinal cord. Recent ...Potential treatment for Fragile X Syndrome demonstrated in fruit fly model
...to break down synaptic connections (sites used for neuron to neuron communication) more readily than the general population. This breakdown is due to an increased activ...Potential drug target for treating cocaine abuse found
...asing the amount of dopamine that is sent from one neuron to another within the brain reward system. Dopamine signals pleasure and reward by binding to receptors on the receiving neurons, after which it is reabsorbed for later use by a protein that transports it back into the sending neuron. But cocaine blo...UCLA neuroscientists pinpoint new function for mirror neurons
...Biology, the UCLA team found that pre motor mirror neuron areas of the brain -- areas active during the execution and the observation of an action -- ascribe intentions to actions when presented within a context. Previously, these neurons were thought to be involved only in action recognition. In addition t...COX-2 product offers good and bad news in 'test tube' strokes
...on. Increased COX-2 activity then leads to further neuron death. The new findings come in the wake of two previous studies Andreasson has worked on, each finding unexpected protective roles for another prostaglandin produced by COX-2. In one, a different prostaglandin (PGE2) prevented brain cells from dyi...Promising treatments for Huntington's disease identified in UCI study
...oped for cancer chemotherapy, were able to prevent neuron damage in fruit flies carrying mutated Htt proteins. Marsh is professor of developmental and cell biology in the School of Biological Sciences, and Thompson is associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and of biological chemistry in the S...PCBs, fungicide open brain cells to Parkinson's assault
...nisms by which PCBs or pesticides perturb dopamine neuron function, it may lead to the development of therapies that can prevent, slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's," says Opanashuk, an assistant professor of Environmental Medicine. PCBs create havoc in the body's cellular system by producing free...New evidence of retroviral involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
...osis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease, have a marker of retrovirus activity in their blood, reports the February 8 issue of the medical journal Neurology. The study was led by Dr. Jeremy A. Garson of University College London, UK and Dr. Ammar Al-Chalabi of King's College Londo...News Tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...rtunately, there seem to be plenty of obstacles to neuron regeneration after spinal cord injury. This week, Fouad et al. adopt a multifaceted approach to optimize regeneration in adult rats after spinal cord transection....Wisconsin scientists grow critical nerve cells
...the advance will allow researchers to create motor neuron modeling systems to screen new drugs, says study l... in turn developed in a lab dish into spinal motor neuron cells. The newly generated motor neurons, according to Zhang, exhibit telltale electrical activity,...JCI table of contents, January 20 2005
...and supporting the idea that ATRX is important for neuron survival in the cortex. This mechanism of neuron loss may contribute to the severe mental retardation observed in human patients with mutations in th...UGA researchers receive NIH contract to create a stem cell-based drug assay for SMA
...y. SMA is caused by a defect in the survival motor neuron gene 1 (SMN1), which produces a protein necessary ...lish two different, but complementary, human motor neuron systems using mixed motor neuron cultures derived by former UGA doctoral student Soo Jung Shen using...New technique scans electrical 'brainscape'
... advance beyond the current theory that the single neuron is the basic computational unit of the brain. "A single neuron is too noisy to act as a reliable unit of neuronal function," he said. "But an ensemble of neurons r...Marine snail study gives insights into human brain
...tions of individual neurons are. You can look at a neuron in the Aplysia and say, 'That's a motor neuron,' 'That's a sensory neuron.' We know that the activity of those neurons has a significant role in behavior. When looking at a change in a synaptic connection between a pair of neurons in the Aplysia nerv...Two-fisted assault on dopamine transport system may be foundation of Parkinson's disease
... Normally the enzyme parkin would protect the neuron from rotenone's assault on microtubules, Feng said. "When microtubules are broken down by rotenone, the disassociated protein building blocks, called tubulin, are left behind," he said. "These tubulins are probably misfolded proteins. ...New compounds effective against Alzheimer's disease onset and progression
... to reduce the inflammation of brain cells and the neuron loss associated with Alzheimer's disease. The new...n of neuroinflammation correlated with a decreased neuron loss, restoration towards control levels of synaptic dysfunction biomarkers in the hippocampus and d...New brain cells develop during alcohol abstinence, UNC study shows
...pendency, followed by a pronounced increase in new neuron formation in the hippocampus within four-to-five weeks of abstinence. This included a twofold burst in brain cell proliferation at day seven of abstinence. "We looked at dividing cells after our four-day binge model of alcohol dependency and confirme...Researchers develop neural prosthesis allowing a monkey to feed self using only its brain
... in different directions. The direction to which a neuron fires fastest is called its "preferred direction."...team developed an algorithm to fill in the missing neuron signals, allowing them to get a useable signal from a manageable number of electrodes. The algorithm...Nerve navigation findings prompt new direction for spinal cord research
... adhesion kinase tells the arm-like extension of a neuron to cross the midline of the spinal cord, says Dr. Wen-Cheng Xiong, developmental neurobiologist and lead author on the paper in the November issue of Nature Neuroscience. After crossing, the axon becomes part of the complex network that enable...New insights into hormone therapy highlight when estrogen best aids brain
...for the production of the proteins associated with neuron repair and the formation of contacts between neuro...n of estrogen and progesterone. One study examined neuron survival and the other looked at beta-amyloid accumulation. Beta-amyloid, a neurotoxic peptide, is a...