Why do some memories last a lifetime while others never persist for more than a few minutes? How are short-term memories converted into long-term memories? Recently, a collaborative study led by Dr. BI Guoqiang at University of Science and Technology of China of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. CHENG Heping at Peking University (PKU)...
Category: <span>Mental health</span>
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Study suggests memories that trigger anxiety, PTSD could be ‘erased’ without affecting normal memory of past events
Different types of memories stored in the same neuron of the marine snail Aplysia can be selectively erased, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and McGill University and published today in Current Biology. The findings suggest that it may be possible to develop drugs to delete memories that trigger...
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Transcranial stimulation and/or physical therapy improves walking speed in Parkinson’s disease
Noninvasive brain stimulation and physical therapy — alone or in combination — improve some measures of walking ability in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), concludes a clinical trial in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. Transcranial direct current...
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Autoimmunity may have role in Parkinson’s disease
For the first time, scientists have found evidence that autoimmunity may have a role in Parkinson’s disease. They found that fragments of the protein that builds up in the dopamine cells of the brains of people with Parkinson’s trigger an immune response that kills the cells. The study – led by Columbia University Medical Center...
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Scientists Call for More Research into Link Between Autism and Gut Bacteria
IN BRIEF After studies over the course of 50 years have found a correlation between gut bacteria and autism, researchers are now rallying for more large-scale tests to be performed to see how strong the link is. AUTISM AND DIET Researchers have explored 150 papers, written since the 1960’s, that have reported links between the composition...
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Spinal cord injury: Using cortical targets to improve motor function
Monica A. Perez, P.T., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project, and colleagues, recently published A novel cortical target to enhance hand motor output in humans with spinal cord injury in the June issue of Brain that provides the first evidence that cortical targets could represent a novel therapeutic site for improving motor...
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Anti-epilepsy drug restores normal brain activity in mild Alzheimer’s disease
In the last decade, mounting evidence has linked seizure-like activity in the brain to some of the cognitive decline seen in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease have an increased risk of epilepsy and nearly half may experience subclinical epileptic activity—disrupted electrical activity in the brain that doesn’t result in a seizure but...
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Genes, ozone and autism
Increased risk for autism when genetic variation and air pollution meet UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new analysis shows that individuals with high levels of genetic variation and elevated exposure to ozone in the environment are at an even higher risk for developing autism than would be expected by adding the two risk factors together....
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New mechanism behind Parkinson’s disease revealed
Diagram of the vesicle recycling process in the nerve terminal. The vesicles are represented by blue and white circles at the top left. The white circles are empty and the blue ones contain a neurotransmitter. “Full” vesicles move toward the membrane of the nerve terminal, represented by the overall outline of the figure, where they...
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For headache, telemedicine may be as effective as in-person visit
For people with headache, seeing the neurologist by video for treatment may be as effective as an in-person visit, according to a study published in the June 14, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Headache is the most common neurologic disorder, yet is often not diagnosed or people...