Brain

The human brain is composed of complex circuits of neurons, cells that are specialized to transmit information via electrochemical signals. Like the circuits in a computer, these neuronal circuits must be connected in particular ways to function properly. But with billions of neurons in a single human brain, how does a neuron make the right connections with the right cells?

Researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 17 have uncovered a direct link between the behavioral symptoms of people with autism and reduced action of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called GABA. GABA's primary responsibility is to dampen neural activity in the brain.

The findings suggest that drugs that increase brain concentrations of GABA might have potential for autism treatment, the researchers say.

Cambridge researchers have found the strongest evidence to date that human pluripotent stem cells -- cells that can give rise to all tissues of the body -- will develop normally once transplanted into an embryo. The findings, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, could have important implications for regenerative medicine.

Just as a thermostat is used to maintain a balanced temperature in a home, different biological processes maintain the balance of almost everything in our bodies, from temperature and oxygen to hormone and blood sugar levels. In our brains, maintaining the balance -- or homeostasis -- between excitation and inhibition within neural circuits is important throughout our lives, and now, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute and Nagoya University in Japan, and École Normale Supérieure in France have discovered how disturbed inhibitory connections are restored.

Some responses come automatically, like reflexes. Others vary with circumstance and experience. A once-delicious smell can be easily overlooked during a stressful moment or when it calls to mind about of food poisoning, for instance. This happens because, within the brain, molecules known as neuromodulators reroute information about that odor.

In a discovery that could offer valuable new insights into understanding, diagnosing and even treating autism, Harvard scientists for the first time have linked a specific neurotransmitter in the brain with autistic behavior.

An MRI contrast agent that can pass through the blood-brain barrier will allow doctors to detect deadly brain tumors called gliomas earlier, say Penn State College of Medicine researchers. This ability opens the door to make this fatal cancer treatable.

Gliomas are brain tumors that arise from glial cells, which help nerve cells to stay connected and send signals throughout the body.

The brain still harbours many unknowns. Basically, it is assumed that it stores experiences by altering the connections between brain cells. This ability to adapt - which is also called "plasticity" - provides the basis for memory and learning, which is the ability to draw conclusions from memories. On a molecular scale these changes are mediated by modifications of expression of specific genes that as required strengthen or weaken the connections between the brain cells.

University of Toronto researchers on a quest to make opioid drugs less lethal have discovered a window of opportunity: a tiny channel in the brain where opioids interfere with the breathing mechanism. They found that mice without this channel kept breathing normally with an opioid overdose - a discovery that may result in new therapies to stop accidental deaths from prescription painkillers.

LAWRENCE -- From the global climate crisis to the flood of refugees emanating from Syria, the world needs creative solutions to a host of seemingly intractable problems. Cognitive neuroscientists are searching for ways to boost people's imagination, partly in hopes of tapping the potential of the human mind to tackle such issues.

Research by James Cook University scientists has found a diet favoured by body-builders may be effective in treating schizophrenia.

Associate Professor Zoltan Sarnyai and his research group from JCU's Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) have discovered that feeding mice a ketogenic diet, which is high on fat but very low on carbohydrates (sugars), leads to fewer animal behaviours that resemble schizophrenia.

Cardiff University scientists believe they may have found a way to aid recovery and minimise the risk of life-threatening infections in patients with traumatic brain injuries.

It's estimated that more than a million people in the UK are admitted annually to hospital as a result of a head injury. It is a leading cause of death and disability in children and adults from ages one to 44.

This is largely due to life-threatening infections, as well as brain inflammation, activated by the body's natural disease-fighting immune response, called 'complement'.

Men with moustaches significantly outnumber women in academic medical leadership positions in the top medical schools across the US, finds a study published in The BMJ Christmas issue this week.

The number of women in medicine has risen significantly in recent times. Almost 50% of US medical students are women, but the proportion of women in academic medicine is still low with only 21% full professors being women.

New York, NY - Recent studies conclude that people with epilepsy have a 27-fold greater risk of sudden death than people without the disorder. However, many of these deaths could be prevented through greater identification of epilepsy as a cause of death, and in educating the public more effectively about the disease's life-threatening dangers.

DURHAM, N.C. -- For chronically lonely adolescents, even the rare invitation to a social event is likely to be met with suspicion: "It's not that I'm worthy, I just got lucky," they'll tell themselves.

And when not included in a gathering of peers, the chronically lonely teen will attribute it to some personal flaw.