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Cerebellum contributes to creation of cognitive map in the hippocampus

The cerebellum is far more intensively involved in helping us navigate than previously thought. To move and learn effectively in spatial environments our brain, and particularly our hippocampus, creates a "cognitive" map of the environment. The cerebellum contributes to the creation of this map through altering the chemical communication between its neurones. If this ability is inactivated, the brain is no longer able to to create an effective spatial representation and thus navigation in an environment becomes impaired.

4 Nov 2011

Impulsive men have lower levels of GABA in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Impulsive individuals tend to display aggressive behavior and have challenges ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, to problem gambling and difficult relationships. They are less able to adapt to different social situations. Impulsivity is also a common feature of psychiatric disorders.

4 Nov 2011

Early diagnosis of large intestine cancer could be feasible in the long term

Itxaro Perez, a biochemist at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), has contributed in such a way that, in the long term, the early diagnosis of cancer of the large intestine could be feasible.

4 Nov 2011

Inserm researchers successfully rejuvenate cells from elderly donors

Inserm's AVENIR "Genomic plasticity and aging" team, directed by Jean-Marc Lemaitre, Inserm researcher at the Functional Genomics Institute, has recently succeeded in rejuvenating cells from elderly donors.

4 Nov 2011

Whole genome sequencing can identify strains of caries-causing bacteria

Severe early childhood caries can destroy most of a child's teeth by age three, and disproportionately affects underserved populations, including American Indians and Alaskan natives. Although the link between Lactobacilli bacteria (Lb) and severe early childhood caries has been known for almost a century, progress in delineating which of 140 Lb species are responsible for the disease has remained elusive.

4 Nov 2011

New way to screen hirsutism among women

Examining the chin and upper and lower abdomen is a reliable, minimally invasive way to screen for excessive hair growth in women, a key indicator of too much male hormone, researchers report.

4 Nov 2011

Einstein scientists receive two NCI grants to study cancer metastasis

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University two grants totaling $8 million to study the microenvironments that drive the spread of cancer from the primary tumor to other parts of the body in the process known as metastasis.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists discover alternative mechanism for extension of telomeres

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center have discovered an alternative mechanism for the extension of the telomere repeat sequence by DNA repair enzymes.

4 Nov 2011

Amphetamine use in adolescence can affect brain chemistry and behaviour

Amphetamine use in adolescence can cause neurobiological imbalances and increase risk-taking behaviour, and these effects can persist into adulthood, even when subjects are drug free. These are the conclusions of a new study using animal models conducted by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) researcher Dr. Gabriella Gobbi and her colleagues.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists identify mechanism by which GBM promotes neurodegeneration

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists discover neurons responsible for light-induced arousal response

Bright light arouses us. Bright light makes it easier to stay awake. Very bright light not only arouses us but is known to have antidepressant effects. Conversely, dark rooms can make us sleepy. It's the reason some people use masks to make sure light doesn't wake them while they sleep.

4 Nov 2011

Penn research group receives NCI grant to establish BETRNet

A research group at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, led by John Lynch, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, has received a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant to establish a Barrett's esophagus translational research network (BETRNet) with Columbia University and the Mayo Clinic.

4 Nov 2011

Scientists identify gene responsible for abdominal aortic aneurysms

Medical scientists have for the first time identified a gene responsible for a fatal abdominal condition that afflicts tens of thousands of people across the world.

4 Nov 2011

Evolutionary 'breakpoints' on chromosomes may lead to canine cancer

North Carolina State University researchers have uncovered evidence that evolutionary "breakpoints" on canine chromosomes are also associated with canine cancer. Mapping these "fragile" regions in dogs may also have implications for the discovery and treatment of human cancers.

4 Nov 2011

Using sub-nanometre cages to identify molecules

Reliable and accurate single-molecule medical diagnosis is a step closer to reality with the development a new technique by Cambridge University researchers which uses sub-nanometre “cages” to capture and identify molecules.

3 Nov 2011

Cancer cells maintain rapid proliferation due to PK-M2 enzyme

Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose - a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.

3 Nov 2011

The brain and the heart may not be so different after all

What do heart disease and dementia have in common? Perhaps more than meets the eye, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

3 Nov 2011

Gene therapy and stem cell transplantation successfully reverse hemophilia A

For the first time, researchers have combined gene therapy and stem cell transplantation to successfully reverse the severe, crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia A in large animals, opening the door to the development of new therapies for human patients.

3 Nov 2011

Reduced diversity of intestinal microbiota associated with increased risk of allergic disease

Oversensitivity diseases, or allergies, now affect 25 per cent of the population of Denmark. The figure has been on the increase in recent decades and now researchers at the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), University of Copenhagen, are at last able to partly explain the reasons.

3 Nov 2011

Measles virus develops a strategy of diabolic elegance

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered why measles, perhaps the most contagious viral disease in the world, spreads so quickly. The virus emerges in the trachea of its host, provoking a cough that fills the air with particles ready to infect the next host. The findings may also help in the fight against ovarian, breast and lung cancers.

3 Nov 2011