Brain

Scientists have long believed that healthy brain cells, once damaged by radiation designed to kill brain tumors, cannot regenerate. But new Johns Hopkins research in mice suggests that neural stem cells, the body's source of new brain cells, are resistant to radiation, and can be roused from a hibernation-like state to reproduce and generate new cells able to migrate, replace injured cells and potentially restore lost function.

CHD5 has previously been proposed as a tumour suppressor, acting as a brake that prevents healthy cells from developing into cancer cells. But the part played by the protein in healthy tissue, and whether this role is important for its ability to counter tumour growth, has remained largely uncharted. Working with colleagues at Trinity College in Dublin and BRIC in Copenhagen, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have revealed its function in normal nervous system development and as a tumour suppressor.

PITTSBURGH -- Articles that people share on social networks can reveal a lot about those readers, research has shown. But a new Carnegie Mellon University study reverses the proposition, asking the question: What can be learned about an article from the attributes of its readers?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A drug recently approved for use in multiple myeloma is now being tested for its ability to fight central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, a deadly cancer of the immune system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and fluid, and eyes.

Alan Carleton's team from the Neuroscience Department at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) Faculty of Medicine has just shown that the representation of an odor evolves after the first breath, and that an olfactory retentivity persists at the central level. The phenomenon is comparable to what occurs in other sensory systems, such as vision or hearing. These movements undoubtedly enable the identification of new odors in complex environments or participate in the process of odor memorization.

Washington D.C., August 12, 2013 – A study published in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry demonstrates support for the changes in autism symptom structure for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD found in the newly released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)).

The synapses in the brain act as key communication points between approximately one hundred billion neurons. They form a complex network connecting various centres in the brain through electrical impulses. New research from Lund University suggests that it is precisely here, in the synapses, that Huntington's disease might begin.

Thioperamide, a selective histamine H3 receptor antagonist, can increase histamine content in the brain and improve brain edema in adult hypoxic rats. Brain edema is precisely considered as the important pathological change of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. As a study reported in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 19, 2013), thioperamide was used to increase histamine content in the brain, and then the mechanism of action of thioperamide during brain edema in a rat model of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was examined.

The most common limb-girdle muscular dystrophy subtype in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Australia is calpainopathy (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2A), while dystroglycanopathy (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I) is the commonest form in Norway, Denmark and northern England. In India, sarcoglycanopthies (limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2C-2F) are the most preva-lent, while dysferlinopathies are the most frequent type in USA and Japan.

X-linked methyl-CpG binding protein 2 plays important role in the regulation of neuronal development, proliferation and maturation, and synaptic regeneration and apoptosis. Overexpression of X-linked methyl-CpG binding protein 2 in SH-SY5Y cells can reduce cell apoptosis induced by 6-hydroxydopamine and increased tyrosine hydroxylase expression. But the specific role of X-linked methyl-CpG binding protein 2 in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease remains unknown. Prof.

Researchers have discovered how genetic mutations linked to Parkinson's disease might play a key role in the death of brain cells, potentially paving the way for the development of more effective drug treatments.

In the new study, published in Nature Neuroscience, a team of researchers from UCL, the University of Cambridge and the University of Sheffield showed how defects in the Parkinson's gene Fbxo7 cause problems with 'mitaphagy' – an essential process through which our bodies are able to get rid of damaged cells.

A team of neuroscientists has identified a modification to a protein in laboratory mice linked to conditions associated with Alzheimer's Disease. Their findings, which appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience, also point to a potential therapeutic intervention for alleviating memory-related disorders.

NEW YORK CITY -- Children who overestimate their popularity are less likely to be bullies than those who underestimate or hold more accurate assessments of their social standing, finds new research to be presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

• The term "telescoping" refers to a more rapid progression of alcohol-related diseases in women.
• A new study looks at gender differences among individuals seeking treatment for a substance use disorder.
• While certain aspects of the findings confirm telescoping in women, others do not.

• Much more is known about racial differences in rates of alcohol use than types of alcohol consumed.
• A new study of racial differences in types of alcohol beverages consumed during adolescence has found that, in general, black and while girls report significantly different risk profiles.
• However, common predictors of heavier drinking profiles for both black and white girls include perceived ease in accessing alcohol, witnessing neighborhood drug dealing, and perceived peer alcohol use.