Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

NSF grant to support development of brain-machine interface to restore walking in people with paraplegia

People with paraplegia due to spinal cord injury may eventually get a chance to suit up, walk out the door and feel the ground beneath their feet, thanks to a five-year, $8 million Cyber-Physical Systems Frontier grant from the National Science Foundation.

13 Sep 2017

Disrupting DNA loops could be potential strategy to reduce tumor proliferation

The discovery of a mechanism by which normal brain cells regulate the expression of the NFIA gene, which is important for both normal brain development and brain tumor growth, might one day help improve therapies to treat brain tumors. The study appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

13 Sep 2017

Research finds serious visual impairment among children with congenital Zika syndrome

Although one of the most serious consequences of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in infants is microcephaly, there is a broad collection of anomalies now known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Some of the most serious are ophthalmologic, including macular scarring, retinal defects, low visual acuity, strabismus, and nystagmus.

13 Sep 2017

Researchers identify protein that offers likely target for treating high-risk pediatric cancers

Oncology researchers studying high-risk children's cancers have identified a protein that offers a likely target for immunotherapy--harnessing the immune system in medical treatments. In cell cultures and animal models, a potent drug attached to an antibody selectively zeroes in on cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

11 Sep 2017

Regulatory T-cells can support fat depots in dealing with environmental challenges

Immunosuppressive regulatory T-cells play an important role in the functioning of adipose tissue. This is the discovery of scientists from the Helmholtz Diabetes Center at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich.

11 Sep 2017

New drug treatment linked to higher bladder compliance after spinal cord injury

Researchers have shown that compared to placebo, a drug treatment intended to prevent remodeling of the bladder wall and given within 48 hours after spinal cord injury (SCI) in dogs was associated with significantly higher bladder compliance.

7 Sep 2017

Scientists directly convert skin cells from healthy adults into motor neurons

Scientists working to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases have been stymied by the inability to grow human motor neurons in the lab. Motor neurons drive muscle contractions, and their damage underlies devastating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, both of which ultimately lead to paralysis and early death.

7 Sep 2017

Four year $1.4 million Air Force grant supports WVU biologists to explore moths’ olfactory systems

As humans walk and talk, we sense our own movements or sounds. Yet, we can distinguish our actions from everything else in our environment that affects our senses.

7 Sep 2017

Study identifies genetic alterations with potential to promote aggressiveness of astrocytomas

Among the various types of cancerous brain tumors, 70% are astrocytomas. Fatal in as many as 90% of cases, astrocytomas originate in the largest and most numerous cells in the central nervous system, called astrocytes because of their star shape.

6 Sep 2017

Yoganatomy helps medical students to connect, recharge and remember

Take a deep breath in. As you breathe out, answer: what did your internal intercostal muscles do when you took that breath? This isn't a common question in most yoga classes, but it is part of Yoganatomy at the Perelman School of Medicine, a yoga class that combines traditional yoga practice with reinforcement of lessons in gross anatomy.

6 Sep 2017

Split-brain study using fruit fly provides better understanding of autism

A better understanding of the cause of autism may come from an unlikely source, neurological studies of the fruit fly.

6 Sep 2017

Scientists win new funding to speed up translation of MS research into practice

An innovative multiple sclerosis Research Fellowship designed to fast-track scientific knowledge into clinical practice has been awarded to two researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research.

6 Sep 2017

Zika virus found to specifically kill glioblastoma brain cancer cells

According to a latest study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health, the deadly Zika virus could be used to kill a specific type of brain cancer cells and sparing the neighbouring healthy brain cells. Although experimental in stage, this finding has wide implications for those suffering from these cancers.

5 Sep 2017

Biodegradable nanoparticle injected after spinal cord injury limits damage

After a spinal cord injury, a significant amount of secondary nerve damage is caused by inflammation and internal scarring that inhibits the ability of the nervous system to repair itself.

5 Sep 2017

Researchers identify gene linked to brain damage in pre-term babies

A gene has been identified by researchers at King's College London that is thought to be associated with the types of brain damage that can be caused by pre-term birth.

5 Sep 2017

Study identifies novel source for brain's development

A study conducted by a team of researchers at the New York University has found an unexpected source for the development of the brain. According to the research, which was published in the journal Science, a group of non-neuronal cells called glia, which were previously considered as passive support cells, are important for the development of nerve-cells present in the brain.

5 Sep 2017

Aberrant neural activity in lab mice presents potential challenges to study healthy brain

Multiple laboratories have observed unusual neural activity resembling epilepsy in some lines of genetically modified mice widely used in neuroscience research.

4 Sep 2017

Scientists identify key molecule for neurotransmitter release in synapses

The contact areas between nerve cells are called synapses. What happens there lies at the heart of communication between nerve cells. Communication starts with the release of chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters at these synapses.

4 Sep 2017

Genetics of circadian rhythms found to have effect on migraine

People with a specific variation in the CLOCK gene have more migraines under financial stress. This work, the first time that the genetics of circadian rhythms has been shown to have an effect on migraine, is presented at the ECNP conference in Paris.

4 Sep 2017

Mayo Clinic research clarifies relationship between two genes that fuel neuroblastoma spread

For the first time, Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues present data on how nervous system tumors, called neuroblastomas, spread. Their paper, published in Cancer Cell, clarifies the relationship between two genes that fuel the aggressive spread of neuroblastomas.

1 Sep 2017