Brain

Studies have shown that functional network connection models can be used to study brain network changes in patients with schizophrenia. A research team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China inferred that these models could also be used to explore functional network connectivity changes in stroke patients. The researchers used independent component analysis to find the motor areas of stroke patients, which is a novel way to determine these areas.

Alteration of the autophagic process is involved in neurodegeneration. The beclin 1 complex is shown to play a key role in the initial stage of autophagy. Dr. Yanming Wei and co-coworkers from College of Life Science, Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University in China pointed out the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-linked Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1 G93A mutant can upregulate autophagic activity in NSC34 cells, but that this does not markedly affect beclin 1 complex components. The relevant paper has been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 1, 2014).

Research over decades has implicated aberrant autophagy and lysosomal function as reliable markers and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases. Lipid rafts are shown to participate in lysosomal reproduction, and some lysosomal storage diseases are proposed to result from the accumulation of lipids in late endosomal/lysosomal compartments. Prof.

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) type II receptor (TβRII) levels are extremely low in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer's disease. This receptor inhibits TGF-β1/SMAD signaling and thereby aggravates amyolid-beta deposition and neuronal injury. Dab2, a specifc adapter protein, protects TβRII from degradation and ensures the effective conduction of TGF-β1/SMAD signaling. Prof.

The apolipoprotein E gene ε4 allele is considered a negative factor for neural regeneration in late-onset Alzheimer's disease cases. Apolipoprotein E genotyping is crucial to apolipoprotein E polymorphism analysis. Peripheral venous blood is the conventional tissue source for apolipoprotein E genotyping polymorphism analysis. Blood yields high-quality genomic DNA and can meet various research purposes. However, because of invasiveness, taking blood samples decreases compliance among the elderly, especially neuropsychiatric patients.

Contrary to popular belief among recreational drug users, mephedrone has several important differences when compared with MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. These differences mean that mephedrone could leave a user with acute withdrawal symptoms and indicate that it may have a higher potential for developing dependence than MDMA according to a study published in British Journal of Pharmacology.

ANN ARBOR—A mentally demanding job may stress you out today but can provide important benefits after you retire, according to a new study.

"Based on data spanning 18 years, our study suggests that certain kinds of challenging jobs have the potential to enhance and protect workers' mental functioning in later life," said Gwenith Fisher, a faculty associate at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and assistant professor of psychology at Colorado State University.

Research from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation reveals a new complexity to nerve cells in the brain that could affect future therapies aimed at altering mood and memory in humans.

OMRF scientist Kenneth Miller, Ph.D., studied the function of a common protein (known as CaM Kinase II) in tiny roundworms called C. elegans. His research appears in the latest issue of the journal Genetics.

"CaM Kinase II is very abundant in the brain, so it has been heavily studied," Miller said. "But this is the first time anybody has seen results like this."

A new technique, developed by researchers in the Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, provides a method to noninvasively measure human neural networks in order to characterize how they form.

Using spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) techniques developed by Gabriel Popescu, director of the lab, the researchers were able to show for the first time how human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons within a network grow, organize spatially, and dynamically transport materials to one another.

AMES, Iowa – Children who repeatedly play violent video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older, according to a new study by Iowa State University researchers. The effect is the same regardless of age, gender or culture. Douglas Gentile, an associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study published in JAMA Pediatrics, says it is really no different than learning math or to play the piano.

Bottom Line: Habitually playing violent video games appears to increase aggression in children, regardless of parental involvement and other factors.

Author: Douglas A. Gentile, Ph.D., of Iowa State University, Ames, and colleagues.

Background: More than 90 percent of American youths play video games, and many of these games depict violence, which is often portrayed as fun, justified and without negative consequences.

When it comes to recognizing faces, humans are extraordinarily skillful. It's no surprise – after all, from the moment humans leave the womb, the infant brains already have a preference for faces, and over the course of a lifetime, the average person sees hundreds of thousands of faces.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Throughout the world, there are many different types of people, and their identity can tell a lot about where they live. The type of job they work, the kind of car they drive, and the foods they eat can all be used to predict the country, the state, or maybe even the city a person lives in.

Family caregivers show an increase in the beneficial stress hormone DHEA-S on days when they use an adult day care service for their relatives with dementia, according to researchers at Penn State and the University of Texas at Austin.

DHEA-S controls the harmful effects of cortisol and is associated with better long-term health.

Neurologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have studied the role of the vestibular system, which controls balance, in optimizing how we direct our gaze. The results could lead to more effective rehabilitation of patients with vestibular or cerebellar dysfunction.