Brain

DURHAM, N.C. -- The protein that is mutated in Huntington's disease is critical for wiring the brain in early life, according to a new Duke University study.

Huntington's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes a wide variety of symptoms, such as uncontrolled movements, inability to focus or remember, depression and aggression. By the time these symptoms appear, usually in middle age, the disease has already ravaged the brain.

Princeton, N.J. – A new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) poll released today that examines the role of stress in Americans' lives finds that about half of the public (49%) reported that they had a major stressful event or experience in the past year. Nearly half (43%) reported that the most stressful experiences related to health.

Invading glioblastoma cells may hijack cerebral blood vessels during early stages of disease progression and damage the brain's protective barrier, a study in mice indicates. This finding could ultimately lead to new ways to bring about the death of the tumor, as therapies may be able to reach these deadly cells at an earlier time point than was previously thought possible. This research, published in Nature Communications, was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Around half of the genes that influence how well a child can read also play a role in their mathematics ability, say scientists from UCL, the University of Oxford and King's College London who led a study into the genetic basis of cognitive traits.

A Swiss research study conducted last year showed that the full moon affects sleep. The findings demonstrated that people average 20 minutes less sleep, take five minutes longer to fall asleep and experience 30 minutes more of REM sleep, during which most dreaming is believed to occur.

Different outcome

Working memory in children is linked strongly to reading and academic achievement, a new study from the University of Luxembourg and partner Universities from Brazil* has shown. Moreover, this finding holds true regardless of socio-economic status. This suggests that children with learning difficulties might benefit from teaching methods that prevent working memory overload. The study was published recently in the scientific journal "Frontiers in Psychology".

Rat models of focal cerebral ischemia are usually used in neural regeneration studies regarding stroke. Rat and/or mouse models of focal cerebral ischemia established only by suture occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, without the need of craniotomy, can simulate middle cerebral artery thrombus or occlusion in humans. Then, what are the main differences and similarities in middle cerebral artery occlusion surgical methods in rats and mice? Dr.

The ipsilateral motor pathway from the unaffected motor cortex to the affected extremity is one of the motor recovery mechanisms following stroke. Some stroke patients had shown recovery by this mechanism usually showed poorer motor function, compared with patients who showed recovery by other mechanisms, and therefore, this mechanism has been considered as a maladaptive plasticity.

Spasticity is considered a common reaction after injury, death or apoptosis of central nervous system neurons occur. Dr. Aysegul Gunduz, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine, Istanbul University in Turkey, cooperated with Spanish and American scholars summarized the non-invasive brain stimulations mainly consisting of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

The pathogenesis of vascular dementia induced by chronic cerebral ischemia is complex, mainly consisting of energy metabolism disorder, oxidative stress injury, neuronal apoptotic cell death and cholinergic nerve dysfunction. There is evidence that 3-n-butylphthalide can effectively antagonize acute ischemic stroke. However, the effect of 3-n-butylphthalide on chronic ischemic stroke remains unclear. Dr.

Many studies have examined motor impairments using voxel-based lesion symptom mapping (VLSM), but few are reported regarding the corresponding relationship between cerebral cortex injury and lower limb motor impairment analyzed using this technique. Dr. Alexandria M. Reynolds and his team correlated neuronal injury in the cerebral cortex of 16 patients with chronic stroke based on a VLSM analysis. They found that neuronal injury in the corona radiate, caudate nucleus and putamen of patients with chronic stroke could predict walking speed.

Nagoya, Japan – Professor Takashi Yoshimura and colleagues of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM) of Nagoya University have finally found the missing piece in how birds sense light by identifying a deep brain photoreceptor in Japanese quails, in which the receptor directly responds to light and controls seasonal breeding activity. Although it has been known for over 100 years that vertebrates apart from mammals detect light deep inside their brains, the true nature of the key photoreceptor has remained to be a mystery up until now.

The Association of American Universities (AAU), an association of leading public and private research universities, today launched the AAU STEM Initiative Hub, a website that will both support and widen the impact of the association's initiative to improve the quality ofundergraduate teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at its member institutions.

Previous studies have indicated that electrical stimulation of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus in rats may reduce brain infarct size, increase the expression of Ku70 in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion region, and decrease the number of apoptotic neurons. In vitro studies have confirmed that Ku70 can mediate cellular apoptosis by interfering Bax. Dr.

Scientists have identified a set of 10 proteins in the blood which can predict the onset of Alzheimer's, marking a significant step towards developing a blood test for the disease. The study, led by King's College London and UK proteomics company, Proteome Sciences plc, analysed over 1,000 individuals and is the largest of its kind to date.