Summary: Researchers report Huntington’s disease is not only a neurodegenerative disease, it is also a disease that affects muscle tissues. Source: Rockefeller University Press. Researchers have discovered that mice with Huntington’s disease (HD) suffer defects in muscle maturation that may explain some symptoms of the disorder. The study, “Progressive Cl− channel defects reveal disrupted skeletalContinue reading “Huntington’s Disease Affects Muscles As Well As Neurons”
Category Archives: brain
Just Watching Hurts! Signs of Pain Seen in the Brain
Summary: Researchers report abnormal activation in areas that respond to normal pain when a person with CRPS witnesses another person experience painful stimuli. Source: Aalto University. Some people claim to experience pain just watching something painful to happen. This is true especially of people suffering from complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a disabling chronic painContinue reading “Just Watching Hurts! Signs of Pain Seen in the Brain”
Physically fit children have bigger hippocampal volume
Neuroscientists have reported they have found an association between physical fitness and brain development in children. The report suggests children who are physically fitter tend to have larger hippocampi and perform better in memory based tests than their less fit counterparts. Children’s brain development is linked to physical fitness Researchers have found an association betweenContinue reading “Physically fit children have bigger hippocampal volume”
Researchers uncover genetic clues which may lead to better understanding of organ development and birth defects
Using cutting-edge time-lapse photography, Keck School of Medicine researchers have discovered clues to the development of the head at the cellular level, which could point scientists to a better understanding of how organs and birth defects form in humans. A team of researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and StemContinue reading “Researchers uncover genetic clues which may lead to better understanding of organ development and birth defects”
How Hunger Controlling Neurons Regulate Bone Mass
In an advance that helps clarify the role of a cluster of neurons in the brain, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that these neurons not only control hunger and appetite, but also regulate bone mass. The study is published Sept. 24 online ahead of print in the journal Cell Reports. “We have foundContinue reading “How Hunger Controlling Neurons Regulate Bone Mass”
People With Parkinson’s Show Altered Iron Levels in Their Brains
Summary: A new neuroimaging study finds iron is distributed in an unusual way in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease. Source: DZNE. A special type of brain mapping reveals pathological alterations that conventional neuroimaging is unable to track. Iron occurs naturally in the human body. However, in people with Parkinson’s disease it distributes inContinue reading “People With Parkinson’s Show Altered Iron Levels in Their Brains”
A Host of Common Chemicals Endanger Child Brain Development, Report Says
Summary: A new report calls for renewed attention to the growing evidence that many common and widely available chemicals endanger neurodevelopment in fetuses and children of all ages. Source: University of Illinois. In a new report, dozens of scientists, health practitioners and children’s health advocates are calling for renewed attention to the growing evidence thatContinue reading “A Host of Common Chemicals Endanger Child Brain Development, Report Says”
Broca and Wernicke Are Dead – It’s Time to Rewrite the Neurobiology of Language
Summary: Researchers argue the Classic Model of the neurological basis of language function is obsolete in a new study. Source: BPS. Flick through any neuropsychology textbook and you’ll hear about the nineteenth century pioneers Paul Broca and Carl Wernicke, who showed that language production and comprehension are subserved by two distinct brain regions, which cameContinue reading “Broca and Wernicke Are Dead – It’s Time to Rewrite the Neurobiology of Language”
Insight Into the ‘Seat of Human Consciousness’
Summary: Researchers believe they may have pinpointed an area of the brain that plays a role in maintaining human consciousness. Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Study reveals a network within the brain that plays a role maintaining consciousness. Philosophers have long struggled to define human consciousness. Now, a team of researchers led by neurologistsContinue reading “Insight Into the ‘Seat of Human Consciousness’”
Chemicals Banned 40 Years Ago Linked to Increased Autism Risk Today
Summary: Despite being banned in the late 1970’s, organochlorine chemical exposure during pregnancy increases the risk for autism in offspring, a new study reports. Source: Drexel University. Chemicals used in certain pesticides and as insulating material banned in the 1970s may still be haunting us, according to new research that suggests links between higher levelsContinue reading “Chemicals Banned 40 Years Ago Linked to Increased Autism Risk Today”
Allergies During Pregnancy Contribute to Changes in Brain of Offspring: Rat Study
Summary: Researchers report the amount of GABA in person’s dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is linked the ability to keep several things in mind simultaneously. Source: Ohio State University. Discovery could help explain links between maternal allergies and ADHD, autism. A new study in rats could begin to explain why allergies during pregnancy are linked to higherContinue reading “Allergies During Pregnancy Contribute to Changes in Brain of Offspring: Rat Study”
Evidence of Learning and Memory in Fetuses Six Weeks Prior to Birth
Nursery rhyme experiment reveals that by their 34th week in utero, fetuses remember. If you’ve ever been pregnant, did you have a saying you’d repeat to yourself–something about taking things one day at a time, or maybe even wishing that men could know what it’s like to carry a child? Or did you have aContinue reading “Evidence of Learning and Memory in Fetuses Six Weeks Prior to Birth”
Study Could Explain Why Some Fetuses With Different Antigens to Mother Suffer Brain Bleeds
A newly discovered bodily process in mice may explain why some human fetuses who have different antigens than their mothers suffer life-threatening brain bleeds, according to a new study. “Antigens are like the body’s national flag. They’re planted on each cell in the body and tell the immune system whether something in the body, suchContinue reading “Study Could Explain Why Some Fetuses With Different Antigens to Mother Suffer Brain Bleeds”
Tarantula Toxins Offer Key Insights Into Neuroscience of Pain
Summary: Researchers discover two toxins isolated from tarantula venom that may be able to help block pain. Source: UCSF. Toxins extracted from ornamental baboon tarantula may be used as tools to study disorders ranging from irritable bowel syndrome to epilepsy. When your dentist injects lidocaine into your gums, the drug blocks the pain of theContinue reading “Tarantula Toxins Offer Key Insights Into Neuroscience of Pain”