Scientists map maturation of the human brain
...and thus may also suggest excessive elimination of synapses (pruning) as a possible trigger of the disease. Mo... stress during adolescence causes either a loss of synapses or a decrease in the synaptophysin protein. The researchers then compared the loss of synaptophysin ...Environmental influences found to have role for development and function of the pain system
...ated mechanosensors that influence the strength of synapses involved in the withdrawal reflex. It seems in this case, "no pain, no gain" is not the operating principle. In another animal study, it was demonstrated that touch feedback on spontaneous twitches during the postnatal days 12 to 17 alter the pain re...UCI study identifies how new neurons grow in adult brain
...lleagues studied newborn neurons to determine when synapses form, which is the point when they become a functional part of the brain's neural circuitry. Matthew J. Korn and Zhiyin Shan of UCI and Andre Obenaus of Loma Linda University assisted in the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of He...Alzheimer's pathology reduced, longevity improved in mouse model, Gladstone study shows
...he number of premature deaths in the mice. Loss of synapses and abnormal outgrowth of nerve terminals occur both in people with Alzheimer's disease and in transgenic mice producing human amyloid proteins in the brain (the model used in the study). Humans with the disease, like mice, die prematurely. "Synaptic...Study pinpoints schizophrenia brain glitch
...know the neurochemical identity of the neurons and synapses involved in generating gamma activity, you can try to target treatments toward them," he said....Rolipram - a potential new treatment for Alzheimer disease
...ts ability to modify gene expression, making brain synapses more resistant to the insult caused by the accumulation of Ab. The beneficial effect of rolipram treatment was found to extend for at least 2 months after the end of one course of the treatment. The authors also found that the beneficial effects of t...New theory chalenges current view of how brain stores long-term memory
...ing the shape of proteins already present at those synapses activated by learning. While it is universally agreed that brain proteins are critical for memory storage, Routtenberg's hypothesis challenges the widely accepted, 40-year-old model that long-term memories are stabilized only once newly synthesiz...Nanoscale diagnostic sets sights on Alzheimer's
...age of AD memory loss begins when ADDLs attack key synapses in the brain. We predicted some of these ADDLs would leak into the cerebrospinal fluid, but until now we couldn't detect them. Thanks to the extraordinary sensitivity of the BCA it's been possible to validate the prediction, and maybe even set the st...Brain synapse formation linked to proteins, Stanford study finds
...s such as epilepsy and addiction in which too many synapses form. "We knew glia had a close relationship with neurons," Barres said. "We never thought the synapses would entirely fail to form without the glia." In fact, that relationship was considered so unlikely...