by Ziba Kashef, Yale University Treatments for Parkinson’s disease have most recently focused on increasing dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain that affects reward-based behaviors and motivation, as well as movement. A new study by Yale researchers challenges long-held assumptions about dopamine’s sole role in this disorder. In people with Parkinson’s disease, nerve cells that produce dopamine slowly die. The loss...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Scientists link frequent use of sleep medication with changes to risk of developing dementia
by Alzheimer’s Research UK Many older adults who have trouble sleeping take medication to help them sleep. New research, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019, suggests certain groups of people who take sleep medication may be at a higher risk of developing dementia. Two different studies have investigated the link between sleep medication and...
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Brain-mimicking chip uses different-colored light to learn and forget
The human brain is still a far more powerful computer than anything it itself has created so far. It’s no wonder then that engineers have recently focused on trying to emulate the structure of the brain with artificial synapses. Now, a team of researchers has made a new artificial synapse design that works using a light-based biotechnology technique called optogenetics. The field...
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Loss of multiple senses increases dementia risk
by Alzheimer’s Research UK Two studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2019 have explored whether losing multiple senses, including hearing and sight, increases the risk of dementia. In 2017, an important report identified mid-life hearing loss as a major risk factor for dementia. As hearing loss is so widespread, treating hearing loss might have a large impact on the overall...
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SPR Therapeutics’ neuromodulation system treats phantom-limb pain
by Joe Carlson Medical device company SPR Therapeutics makes a neuromodulation system in Minnesota that can treat pain in a person’s limbs—even limbs that were amputated long ago. Treating phantom-limb pain is just one of the applications for the Sprint peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) system, a medical device that has been shown to create long-lasting...
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Pain signalling in humans more rapid than previously known
Pain signals can travel as fast as touch signals, according to a new study led by researchers from Linköping University. The discovery of a rapid pain-signalling system challenges our current understanding of pain. The study has been published in the scientific journal Science Advances. It has until now been believed that nerve signals for pain are always conducted more slowly than those for touch. The latter...
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New antibody treatment provides little relief for high-frequency migraine patients
OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY An early assessment reveals that a newly approved drug to treat migraines does not seem effective among patients who suffer from high-frequency migraines. The findings will be presented this week during the 61st annual scientific meeting of the American Headache Society in Philadelphia. Clinicians at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, conducted...
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Determined DNA hunt reveals exciting new schizophrenia clue
An 18-year joint Australian-Indian study made possible by the recruitment, diagnosis and DNA screening of thousands of people in India has identified a new clue in the quest for causes of schizophrenia and potential treatments. A collaboration between The University of Queensland and a team of Indian researchers led by Professor Rangaswamy Thara, co- founder and director of the Schizophrenia Research Foundation...
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Brain Inflammation in Patients with Fibromyalgia
By Osman Shabir, M.Sc. Reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Logan, MD, MPH Fibromyalgia is a condition in which there is extensive chronic pain across the body with an increased pain response to pressure, which would normally not be painful. Central to the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia is impaired nociceptive (pain) signal processing in the nervous system. Therefore, fibromyalgia in its pure form is...
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Important results for brain machine interfaces
by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne Data from Mental Work project, conducted as an experimental artwork at EPFL’s Artlab, indicates that BMI is robust and accessible to the general public, spurring new research collaborations in Switzerland on user experience. Brain-machine interfaces are rarely found outside of medical clinics, where the disabled receive hours or days of training in...