Nerve cells (yellow) from the same parent cell are organized in 3D columns that extend through the layers of the gut wall. Scientists have made an important step in understanding the organisation of nerve cells embedded within the gut that control its function – a discovery that could give insight into the origin of...
Category: <span>Mental health</span>
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Discovery may offer hope to Parkinson’s disease patients
Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. The finding of a common protein abnormality in these degenerative diseases supports a hypothesis among experts that abnormal deposition of proteins in many neurodegenerative disorders reflects an early change in these proteins. “We have pinpointed a...
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Cannabis for kids: Some parents praise pot to treat autism, other disorders despite lack of research
ARIZONA — To say Brandy Williams was a desperate parent is an understatement. “No mother should feel like a punching bag,” she said while describing what was happening with her little boy Logan. “He was literally cocking his head back and smashing it forward on hard objects around our house. I had 30 dents in...
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Ketamine finds market as costly off-label option to treat mental disorders
Ketamine has been used for decades as an anesthetic, but researchers are exploring its potential as a treatment for severe forms of mental illnesses like OCD and bipolar disorder. As research shows that the hallucinogen is a potentially powerful treatment for intractable mental disorders, and academics continue to debate its safety, private clinics across...
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Tau prevents synaptic transmission at early stage of neurodegeneration
Tau proteins are involved in more than twenty neurodegenerative diseases, including various forms of dementia. These proteins clump together in patients’ brains to form neuronal tangles: protein aggregation that eventually coincides with the death of brain cells. Prof. Patrik Verstreken’s research team (VIB-KU Leuven) has now discovered how tau disrupts the functioning of nerve cells,...
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Strategic brain training positively affects neural connectivity for individuals with TBI
A thresholded Z-statistical maps and anatomical views for between-group differences in resting-state functional connectivity changes over time and at TP3 (|Z|>1.96, pNBS < .05). NBS,network-based statistics. Credit: Han K, Davis RA, …more A recent study from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas shows that a certain type of instructor-led brain...
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New Electrical Brain Stimulation Could “Awaken” Comatose People
IN BRIEF Researchers stimulated the prefrontal cortex of comatose people with minimal consciousness, prompting them to respond to commands, recognize items, and even communicate. This work may lead to a communication device for people with consciousness disorders. WAKING THE BRAIN After experiencing a severe brain injury, people can slip into a coma. Some of these...
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Metformin shows promise as a potential treatment for fragile X syndrome
An inherited form of intellectual disability called fragile X may be treatable with metformin, the most widely used type 2 diabetes drug. This was the conclusion that researchers came to after studying the social, behavioral, and biological effects of metformin in a mouse model of fragile X. Research has shown that metformin, a drug used...
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Pennsylvania hospital neurosurgeons perform first focused ultrasound treatment for essential tremor
Patient, John Lukens’, writing samples before and after receiving MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment (MRgFUS) for Essential Tremor (ET). John Lukens recently became the first patient in Pennsylvania to receive MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment (MRgFUS) for Essential Tremor (ET). At age 61, Lukens has suffered with bilateral Essential Tremor for roughly 10 years—a condition which...
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Researchers discover neuronal targets that restore movement in Parkinson’s disease model
Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. Researchers working in the lab of Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Aryn Gittis, have identified two groups of neurons that can be turned on and off to alleviate the movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The activation of...