Researchers at the University of Waterloo have made progress towards predicting who is likely to feel sick from virtual reality technology. In a recent study, the researchers found they could predict whether an individual will experience cybersickness (motion sickness caused by virtual reality) by how much they sway in response to a moving visual field....
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Discovery could explain failed clinical trials for Alzheimer’s, and provide a solution
Researchers at King’s College London have discovered a vicious feedback loop underlying brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease which may explain why so many drug trials have failed. The study also identifies a clinically approved drug which breaks the vicious cycle and protects against memory-loss in animal models of Alzheimer’s. PET scan of a human brain...
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Clearing out brain’s “zombie cells” offers new approach against dementia
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have identified a new target in the battle against dementia and age-related cognitive decline – zombie cells. More formally known as senescent cells, these are cells that have stopped dividing but don’t die and tend to accumulate with age. The new research reveals that many pathological signs of neurodegenerative disease can be eliminated by removing these cells from the brain. Zombie cells, aka senescent cells, have...
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Many RA patients’ pain related to central nervous system
(HealthDay)—Centralized pain pathways may coexist with more established peripheral inflammation-driven pathways in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a study published in the July issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology. Neil Basu, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, and colleagues performed an 11-minute functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)...
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Engineers decode conversations in brain’s motor cortex
How does your brain talk with your arm? The body doesn’t use English, or any other spoken language. Biomedical engineers are developing methods for decoding the conversation, by analyzing electrical patterns in the motor control areas of the brain. The new research is published online in the journal Nature Methods. In this study, the researchers...
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Mouse study reveals that activity, not rest, speeds recovery after brain injury
When recovering from a brain injury, getting back in the swing of things may be more effective than a prolonged period of rest, according to a new Columbia study in mice. These findings offer a compelling example of the brain’s remarkable capacity to adapt in response to trauma. They also point to new, activity-centered treatment...
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Reducing neuronal inhibition restores locomotion in paralysed mice
Spinal-cord injury can render intact neuronal circuits functionally dormant. Targeted reduction of neuronal inhibition in the injured region has now enabled reactivation of these circuits in mice, restoring basic locomotion. When we decide to walk, the brain broadcasts commands through parallel neuronal pathways that cascade to executive centres in the lumbar region of the spinal...
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Researchers find children experience concussion symptoms three times longer than adults
Concussion symptoms for children under 13 years old typically last three times longer than they do for older teens and adults, but keeping them out of the classroom during recovery is not necessarily the preferred treatment, according to a comprehensive research review in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Parents should be aware that...
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Decoding depression: could translating mood signals be the start of a new era for treatment of affective disorders?
Novel decoding technology allows for the prediction of mood based on underlying neural signals, potentially revolutionizing the future treatment of affective disorders. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC; CA, USA) have recently reported a breakthrough in neural decoding technology. Using recordings from intracranial electrodes they have discovered a new method of translating the...
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Defects in gene expression partially responsible for ALS and dementia
The Xrp1 protein appears to play an important role in the development of certain forms of ALS and dementia caused by a mutation in the FUS gene. This finding of Radboud University researchers was published on September 12th in the Journal of Cell Biology. Neurons in the ‘spinal chord’ of the fruit fly. The Xrp1...