Thinning of retina linked to loss of brain cells that control movement AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY MINNEAPOLIS – The eyes may be a window to the brain for people with early Parkinson’s disease. People with the disease gradually lose brain cells that produce dopamine, a substance that helps control movement. Now a new study has...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Newly identified role for inhibition in cerebellar plasticity and behavior
August 16, 2018, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience Almost everyone is familiar with the unique mixture of surprise and confusion that occurs after making a mistake during an everyday movement. It’s a fairly startling experience—stumbling on a step or accidentally missing your mouth when taking a drink. These actions are so ingrained that any mishap...
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Working memory might be more flexible than previously thought
Breaking with the long-held idea that working memory has fixed limits, a new study by researchers at Uppsala University and New York University suggests that these limits adapt themselves to the task that one is performing. The results are presented in the scientific journal eLife. Credit: CC0 Public Domain You can read this sentence from beginning to end...
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Scientists discover why some people with brain markers of Alzheimer’s have no dementia
A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered why some people that have brain markers of Alzheimer’s never develop the classic dementia that others do. The study is now available in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. PET scan of a human brain with Alzheimer’s disease. Credit: public domain Alzheimer’s disease,...
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How VR Is Treating People’s Fear Of Heights
According to a new Oxford University study, VR therapy may be just as effective as individualized counseling in helping people overcome their fear of heights. Led by Daniel Freeman, Ph.D., DClinPsy, the study enlisted a total of 100 volunteers with clinically diagnosed acrophobia to undergo VR therapy for their fear. Of the 100 volunteers, 49 were selected to originally receive...
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Surprise finding in neurons
UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG Purkinje cells are a central part of the human cerebellum, the part of the brain that plays an important role in motor learning, fine motor control of the muscle, equilibrium and posture but also influences emotions, perception, memory and language. IMAGE: IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE IMAGE FROM THE CEREBELLAR CORTEX REGION OF BIPOLAR PATIENTS THAT SHOWS...
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First FDA-approved study of focused ultrasound to open blood-brain barrier
In the first such clinical trial in the United States, physician-scientists with the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) are investigating the use of MRI-guided focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier. The trial will be conducted with patients undergoing brain cancer surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). The blood-brain barrier is a...
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Possible treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease discovered
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is the most common hereditary neuropathy and affects more than 2 million people worldwide. Researchers at the Max-Planck-Institute for Experimental Medicine and the University Medical Center of Göttingen now hope to use lecithin, a harmless dietary supplement, to treat the incurable illness. Compared to healthy rats (left), rats with the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (central)...
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Nerve cells use brain waves to judge importance
The precise interaction of brain waves and nerve cells may be decisive for the amazing ability of our brain to separate important from unimportant information, even when we are flooded with stimuli. Researchers at the University of Tübingen and the Technical University of Munich have been able to show through experiments on Rhesus monkeys that...
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Study: Brain proteins, patterns reveal clues to understanding epilepsy
UNLV, Tufts University, and international research team offers new clues about which key proteins in the brain play a role in controlling epilepsy, anxiety, and other disorders. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS New therapies could be on the horizon for people living with epilepsy or anxiety, thanks to a breakthrough discovery by UNLV, Tufts University School of...