A research team of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has invented a medical device with a specific nanotechnology layer for the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in vitro. Compared with traditional methods, the team’s novel matrix can reduce the risk of carcinogenesis or inflammation in stem cell therapy—a treatment that offers hope of a...
Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>
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Waking up is hard to do: Prefrontal cortex implicated in consciousness
Philosophers have pondered the nature of consciousness for thousands of years. In the 21st century, the debate over how the brain gives rise to our everyday experience continues to puzzle scientists. To help, researchers in the University of Michigan Medical School Center for Consciousness Science are working to identify areas of the brain that help us wake...
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New treatment for phenylketonuria (PKU) clears brain fog
In the 1959 novella Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (and the 1968 film Charly), 32-year-old Charlie Gordon, a janitor at a New York City bakery, undergoes experimental surgery that has boosted the intelligence of a laboratory mouse, Algernon. Soon, Charlie is devouring books, asking questions, and even solving problems at work. But then Algernon dies, and...
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Study identifies protein’s role in mediating brain’s response to stress
A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has identified a critical role for a protein called Kruppel-like factor 9 (Klf9) in the brain’s response to stress, which has implications for protecting against the effects of stress in conditions like major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In their paper published in Cell Reports, the...
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Post-stroke delivery of neurotrophic factor MANF promotes functional recovery in rats
Stroke is the most common cause of adult disability. This is due not only to the high incidence of stroke, but also because spontaneous recovery is often incomplete and no drugs are available that hasten recovery. Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor MANF is neuroprotective when administered before experimental stroke in rats. A massive immune response mediated...
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Mutation links bipolar disorder to mitochondrial disease
Mutations in the gene ANT1 may confer a risk for bipolar disorder through a complex interplay between serotonin and mitochondrial signaling in the brain. These two pathways have been separately implicated in bipolar disorder, but the link between levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin and mitochondrial dysfunction had not been established. Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Brain...
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New light shed on mechanisms of paediatric epilepsy
Research by Cardiff University has uncovered the brain activity that underlies absence epilepsy, offering new hope for the development of innovative therapies for this disabling disease. Generalized 3 Hz spike and wave discharges in a child with childhood absence epilepsy. Credit: Wikipedia. Absence epilepsy—the most common form of epilepsy in children and teenagers—causes episodes of lack of...
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How to activate your brain’s ability to learn
A new study looks at the power of practicing well beyond mastery. In music, you have scales. In Jiu Jitsu, it’s drilling. Most of us just call it practice. Whatever you label it, many believe that greatness, heck even mere competency, requires training a skill well past proficiency. It’s continuing to practice your free throw even after you’ve nailed every...
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CWRU School of Medicine researchers create first artificial human prion
Finding may shed added light on, offer treatment hope for brain-wasting diseases CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have synthesized the first artificial human prion, a dramatic development in efforts to combat a devastating form of brain disease that has so far eluded treatment and a cure. The new findings are...
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Scientists work to dissolve the NETs that worsen TBI damage
Immune cells that are first responders to a traumatic brain injury appear to also contribute to the secondary damage that can occur even days later, scientists say. A photo of Dr. Krishnan Dhandapani and Ph.D. student Molly Braun in the Medical College of Georgia lab. Credit: Phil Jones, Senior Photographer, Augusta University The NETs—or neutrophil...