Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Breakthrough in understanding cell communication during inflammation

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have made significant progress in understanding how cells communicate during inflammation.

14 Aug 2024

Study reveals how chromatin structure influences social behavior in dogs

A new study on dogs found that chromatin's spatial structure has a significant role in the evolution of social behavior.

14 Aug 2024

Researchers discover a novel pathway to wake up dormant neural stem cells

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered a novel pathway to wake up dormant neural stem cells, offering potential new therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, learning disabilities, and cerebral palsy.

13 Aug 2024

Scientists awarded $7.7 million grant to develop treatment for rare brain disorder

Children born with a damaged gene needed for healthy brain development, SYNGAP1, experience seizures, sensory processing disorders, difficulty speaking, intellectual disability, and autism-like behaviors.

13 Aug 2024

Study reveals role of parvalbumin neurons in deep rebound sleep after sleep deprivation

Professor Hiroki R. Ueda (RIKEN Center for Functional Biology, concurrently team lead), Dr. Kazuhiro Kon (at the time of the research, currently a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University) and their colleagues at Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, have elucidated the importance of proper regulation of the activity of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing neurons, the major inhibitory neurons in the cerebral cortex, in the long, deep sleep (rebound sleep) that occurs after prolonged wakefulness.

13 Aug 2024

Beyond neurons: Glial cells identified as key players in Alzheimer's disease

Memory loss, confusion, speech problems – Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting about 35 million people worldwide, and the number is growing.

12 Aug 2024

Can odors help fight infection? Nematode research suggests so

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, used the nematode model Caenorhabditis elegans to determine whether the olfactory nervous system could non-autonomously control the mitochondrial unfolded protein response in response to cellular stress.

12 Aug 2024

Inflammation during pregnancy impacts child neurodevelopment

When a person experiences an injury or infection, the body's immune system responds with inflammation to start the healing process. However, inflammation can occur in much less helpful circumstances – for example, when a person experiences psychological stress or consistently eats a poor diet high in sugars, fats, and processed foods.

9 Aug 2024

Rare but real: The neurological risks associated with vaccines

Review highlights the rare neurological risks associated with vaccination, emphasizing the importance of accurate detection and management strategies, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

9 Aug 2024

UQ researchers seek participants for study on factors influencing everyday back pain

University of Queensland researchers are seeking participants for a study looking to understand what factors influence day-to-day back pain.

8 Aug 2024

Insilico Medicine's pan-TEAD inhibitor ISM6331 receives FDA IND clearance for mesothelioma treatment

Insilico Medicine ("Insilico"), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biotechnology company, today announced ISM6331, potential best-in-class pan-TEAD inhibitor, has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance for the treatment of mesothelioma, following the grant of Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in June 2024. It brings the total number of IND-approved molecules of Insilico to nine.

8 Aug 2024

C-Path supports innovative ALS, neurodegenerative disease research with new grant

Critical Path Institute's (C-Path) Translational Therapeutics Accelerator (TRxA) announced today a new research grant awarded to Daniela C. Zarnescu, Ph.D., Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Penn State University College of Medicine, in collaboration with Jon Njardarson, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Arizona.

8 Aug 2024

Study suggests lower dementia risk for people with Parkinson's

There's some good news for people with Parkinson's disease: The risk of developing dementia may be lower than previously thought, or dementia may occur later in the course of the disease than previously reported, according to a study published in the August 7, 2024, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

7 Aug 2024

How C. elegans uses smell to preemptively guard against pathogen attacks

Many organisms react to the smell of deadly pathogens by reflexively avoiding them. But a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that the nematode C. elegans also reacts to the odor of pathogenic bacteria by preparing its intestinal cells to withstand a potential onslaught.

7 Aug 2024

Sensory nerves drive breast cancer growth and spread, study reveals

Cancer doesn't grow in a vacuum - each tumor grows in a particular microenvironment within the body and spreads through a tangled web of vasculature and nerves.

7 Aug 2024

Therapeutic targets that impact both cardiac and cerebral functions in CNS neurological disorders

Recent advancements highlight the intricate interplay between the heart and brain, underscoring their profound influence on each other, especially concerning central nervous system (CNS) neurological disorders.

7 Aug 2024

NUS study finds 5-HTP enhances sleep quality and gut health in older adults

National University of Singapore (NUS) nutritionists have found that 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) supplementation can improve sleep quality in Singaporean older adults, particularly in individuals with poor sleep patterns, and manage their gut microbiome composition.

7 Aug 2024