Episodic cluster headaches are “an extremely painful and often debilitating condition,” the FDA’s Dr. Eric Bastings noted in an agency news release. He’s deputy director of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Cluster headaches occur in quick sequence, “often at the same time(s) of the day, for several weeks...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Understanding how the brain’s structure and functions generate consciousness
by CORDIS If we take a broad definition of consciousness as experience of ourselves and the outside world, it can be said to come and go. During dreamless sleep it seems absent, seemingly reappears during vivid dreaming, before more definitively reappearing on awakening. But how the brain transitions between these states is poorly understood. Acknowledging that answers...
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Astrocytes protect neurons from toxic buildup
by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Astrocytes are overtaxed neurons’ pit crew. The brain cells collect damaged lipids secreted by hyperactive neurons, then recycle those toxic molecules into energy, researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus report May 23, 2019, in the journal Cell. It’s a mechanism to protect neurons from the damaging side effects of overactivity. And it’s another important role for astrocytes, which support neurons in various...
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A small electrical zap to the brain could help you retrieve a forgotten memory
by Stuart Wolpert, University of California, Los Angeles A study by UCLA psychologists provides strong evidence that a certain region of the brain plays a critical role in memoryrecall. The research, published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, also shows for the first time that using an electrical current to stimulate that region, the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex, improves people’s...
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Searching for the origins of the depressive symptoms in Huntington’s disease
Cdk5 Kinase: An essential protein UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA About 40% of the affected patients with Huntington’s disease -a neurodegenerative pathology- show depression symptoms, even in early stages before the apparition of the typical motor symptoms of the disease. An altered function of Cdk5 kinase -an essential enzyme in several cell signalling pathways- could explain the physiopathology of the depressive-like behaviour in Huntington’s disease, according to...
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For civilians, finding a therapist skilled in PTSD treatments is a tough task
by Caroline Covington Lauren Walls has lived with panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks for years. The 26-year-old San Antonio teacher sought help from a variety of mental health professionals—including spending five years and at least $20,000 with one therapist who used a Christian-faith-based approach, viewing her condition as part of a spiritual weakness that could...
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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Improves Working Memory
Researchers from Duke University School of Medicine have found that magnetic brain stimulation can help improve working memory. They studied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), showing that it improved memory task performance in all ages of adults. Given that individuals with Alzheimer’s will more than double by 2050, rTMS may be a potential form of...
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To treat an eating disorder, we need to know what emotion fuels it
by Julianna Photopoulos, From Horizon Magazine, Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine Pinpointing how different emotional states and neural pathways influence our eating behaviours could pave the way for better ways to tackle eating disorders and obesity. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia can have life-threatening consequences. They affect around 20 million people in the European Union, with an estimated cost...
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Concussion symptoms reversed by magnetic therapy
Concussion symptoms–such as loss of balance, hazy comprehension, sleep disturbance and ability to walk straight–can be reversed by a new type of magnetic stimulation, research at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows. Magnetic stimulation using a laptop-style device for 20 minutes per day improved the ability of rodents with concussion to walk in a straight line, navigate a...
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High LDL linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s
by Veterans Affairs Research Communications Researchers with the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Emory University have found a link between high LDL cholesterol levels and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The results could help doctors understand how the disease develops and what the possible causes are, including genetic variation. According to Dr. Thomas Wingo, lead author...