Cranial irradiation causes brain degeneration
(Medical Xpress)—Cranial irradiation saves the lives of brain cancer patients. It slows cancer progression and increases survival rates. Unfortunately, patients who undergo cranial irradiation often...
View ArticleReceptor may aid spread of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in brain
(Medical Xpress)—Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way that corrupted, disease-causing proteins spread in the brain, potentially contributing to...
View ArticleLearning how the brain takes out its trash may help decode neurological diseases
Imagine that garbage haulers don't exist. Slowly, the trash accumulates in our offices, our homes, it clogs the streets and damages our cars, causes illness and renders normal life impossible.
View ArticleMore diseases responsible for dementia than previously thought, research finds
A recent study by the Clinical Institute of Neurology at the MedUni Vienna has shown that neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer's disease are more common among older people than previously...
View ArticleNewly identified antibodies effectively treat Alzheimer's-like disease in mice
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the accumulation of particular toxic proteins in the brain that are believed to underlie the cognitive decline in patients. A new study conducted in mice...
View ArticleDrug reduces brain changes, motor deficits associated with Huntington's disease
A drug that acts like a growth-promoting protein in the brain reduces degeneration and motor deficits associated with Huntington's disease in two mouse models of the disorder, according to a study...
View ArticleScientists discover trigger for protective immune response to spinal cord...
Hot on the heels of discovering a protective form of immune response to spinal cord injury, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have pinpointed the biological trigger for that...
View ArticleAstrocytes in the neurodegerating brain
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have discovered that specialised 'astrocytes' abandon their posts as protectors and repairers of the brain when primed by the neurodegeneration of cells around...
View ArticleBrain variants of protein associated with Huntington's and other...
(Medical Xpress) -- A protein essential for metabolism and recently associated with neurodegenerative diseases also occurs in several brain-specific forms. This discovery emerged in the course of a...
View ArticleImmune cell death safeguards against autoimmune disease
Researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have discovered that a pair of molecules work together to kill so-called 'self-reactive' immune cells that are programmed to attack the body's own...
View ArticleDeveloping stem cell model for Gaucher disease, neurodegenerative conditions
A new method of using adult stem cells as a model for the hereditary condition Gaucher disease could help accelerate the discovery of new, more effective therapies for this and other conditions such as...
View ArticleHunting neuron killers in Alzheimer's and traumatic brain injury
Levels of the protein appoptosin in the brain skyrocket in Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. Appoptosin is known for helping the body make heme, the molecule that carries iron in the...
View ArticleBlood-based biomarkers may lead to earlier diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. At present, it is usually diagnosed only when motor features are present. Hence, there is a need to develop objective and measurable...
View ArticleParkinson's disease: Parkin protects from neuronal cell death
Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich identify a novel signal transduction pathway, which activates the parkin gene and prevents stress-induced neuronal cell death.
View ArticleCan your brain control how it loses control?
A new study may have unlocked understanding of a mysterious part of the brain—with implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's. The results, published in Translational Vision...
View ArticleZebrafish study offers insights into nerve cell repair mechanisms
Tropical fish may hold clues that could aid research into motor neuron disease and paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.
View ArticleTracing a path toward neuronal cell death
A fruit fly model of a rare, neurodegenerative disease is helping researchers trace the series of steps that lead to neuronal cell death. Damage to astrocytes - star-shaped cells found in the brain and...
View ArticleCould a new class of fungicides play a role in autism, neurodegenerative...
Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have found a class of commonly used fungicides that produce gene expression changes similar to those in people with autism and neurodegenerative conditions,...
View ArticleHow prions kill neurons: New culture system shows early toxicity to dendritic...
Prion diseases are fatal and incurable neurodegenerative conditions of humans and animals. Yet, how prions kill nerve cells (or neurons) remains unclear. A study published on May 26, 2016 in PLOS...
View ArticleNew ALS discovery: Scientists reverse protein clumping involved in...
In the quest to understand the driving forces behind neurodegenerative diseases, researchers in recent years have zeroed in on clumps of malfunctioning proteins thought to kill neurons in the brain and...
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