Newsline — Monday, August 10, 2015 9:29
Is Modern Living Leading to an Epidemic of Neurological Disease?
Scientists Watch Rats String Memories Together
Friday, August 7, 2015 9:00
A summary of experiments recently published in the journal Science sheds light on what memories are, how they form and gives clues about how the system can fail by using electrode implants to track nerve cells firing in the brains of rats. “My own introspective experience of memory tends to be one of discrete snapshots strung together, as opposed to a continuous video recording,” said an assistant professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Our data from rats suggest that our memories are actually organized that way, with one network of neurons responsible for the snapshots and another responsible for the string that connects them.” During the study, the research team focused their experiments on a group of nerve cells in the hippocampus known as place cells. In previous experiments, researchers learned that when a rat wants to get from point A to point D, it maps out its route mentally before starting on its journey and they could see this happen by implanting many tiny wires in the brains of…
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Study Shows Bilinguals Have More Gray Matter Than Monolinguals
Thursday, August 6, 2015 13:00
Contrary to past beliefs about the brain development of bilingual individuals, a new study proposes that those who speak two languages visibly possess more gray matter in the executive control section of the brain. Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) published a study in the journal Cerebral Cortex analyzing those who spoke both verbal English, American Sign Language (ASL), and those who spoke both English and Spanish, in order to compare the dynamic of contrasting languages, rather than different methods of expression. Results of the study found that ASL speakers showed typical brain features and Spanish-speakers displayed greater grey matter in portions of the brain relevant to language and control. “Inconsistencies in the reports about the bilingual advantage stem primarily from the variety of tasks that are used in attempts to elicit the advantage,” said the lead author of the study. “Given this concern, we took a different approach and instead compared gray matter volume between adult bilinguals and monolinguals. We reasoned that the experience with two languages and the increased need for cognitive…
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How Does Poverty Damage the Brain?
Thursday, August 6, 2015 9:00
According to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, growing up in poverty has damaging and detrimental effects on the developing brain. The study, conducted by researchers from Washington University, identified changes in the brain’s architecture as a result of living in poverty. “Our research has shown that the effects of poverty on the developing brain, particularly in the hippocampus, are strongly influenced by parenting and life stresses experienced by the children,” said the director of Washington University’s Early Emotional Development Program. Results of the study found that low-income children had irregular brain development and lower standardized test scores — with as much as an estimated 20-percent gap in achievement — which can be explained by developmental lags in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. The findings suggest that teaching nurturing skills to parents — particularly those who live below the poverty line — may provide a lifetime of benefit for children. To read more about this study, click here.
Gene Therapy Advance Thwarts Brain Cancer in Rats
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 13:00
A new nanoparticle-transport system for gene delivery appears to have drastically reduced gliomas in a rat study, possibly leading to more targeted treatments and lower impact in comparison to traditional chemotherapy and radiation methods. A collaborative team from several institutions funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering created the system, initially testing it in cellular environments before observing dramatic results in the first live-rat study. The system involved direct injection into the tumor followed by application of pressure in order to distribute the nanoparticles throughout the affected region. “Efforts to treat glioma with traditional drug and radiation therapies have not been very successful,” said the lead researcher of the study. “The ability to successfully deliver genes using these biodegradable nanoparticles, rather than potentially harmful viruses, is a significant step that reinvigorates the potential for gene therapy to treat deadly gliomas as well as other cancers.” If administered simultaneously with traditional surgeries it can effectively destroy the disease on two levels, rather than the usual battery of drug and radiation treatments. To learn more…
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New Device Delivers Drugs to Brain Remotely
Wednesday, August 5, 2015 9:00
A new technology, recently demonstrated for the first time in mice, may one day be used to treat pain, depression, epilepsy and other neurological disorders in people by targeting therapies to specific brain circuits via remote control. According to scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the research is a major step forward in pharmacology and builds on previous work in the field of optogenetics — a technology that can alter individual brain cells to be more sensitive to light and then can activate the targeted population of cells with flashes of light. The researchers from this study created wireless devices capable of delivering drugs directly into the brain with the remote push of a button. “With one of these tiny devices implanted, we could theoretically deliver a drug to a specific brain region and activate that drug with light as needed. This approach potentially could deliver therapies that are much more targeted but have fewer side effects,” said a co-principal investigator of the…
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Greater Cervical Spine Degeneration Seen in Former Rugby Players
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 13:00
A comparative study has revealed that former professional rugby players display advanced spine degeneration past any normal occurrences, calling for wider awareness of the risks and impact of the sport on current and future players. A group of French researchers sponsored by the Fédération Française de Rugby, Ligue Nationale de Rugby published their findings in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine detailing a direct comparison of a population of rugby players versus random non-players. MRI scans and a qualitative analysis of reported symptoms reveal that damage to the neck and back were remarkably common among former players. “A few years after the end of their careers, professional rugby players seem to have more degenerative symptoms and lesions on the cervical spine. These symptoms are exceptionally disabling (three of 101 cases in this study),” said the lead author of the study. “Our definitive conclusion should be reasonably prudent; we still can’t assert that the lesions worsen with time or that the disease stabilizes with the end of the rugby activity.” To learn more about this study, click…
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Does Concussion Impact Men and Women Differently?
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 9:58
A new study reports that gender may be a determining factor in the overall impact of neurotrauma, which could drastically change current diagnostic methods and evaluation. Recently presented at the Sports Concussion Conference in Denver, hosted by the American Academy of Neurology, researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed 148 college athletes from 11 different athletic fields to evaluate the severity of various neurotrauma symptoms in order to determine if relevant demographics increased or decreased severity. The study determined that while overall cognitive ability returned across the study, female patients were shown to have greater symptoms and lower performance levels in pre-season testing before resuming full capability. “More research is needed to confirm these results and to understand why women may have lower performance at pre-season baseline. The difference in performance between genders should be of great interest to athletes, coaches, athletic trainers and doctors who utilize baseline assessments to aide recovery protocols,” said the author of the study. “This finding that cognitive skills were not significantly affected by having a concussion for either gender…
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Spines of Males and Females Differ at Birth
Thursday, July 30, 2015 11:36
New research reveals that small differences in the configuration of the spine between the sexes are visible in newborn children, possibly implying that the female spine has evolved to accommodate childbirth. Researchers from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles published their long-term findings in the Journal of Pediatrics detailing how vertebral cross-section dimensions in female infants tended to be 10.6-percent smaller than males. “Human beings are the only mammals in which this difference is seen, and it is one of the few key physiological differences between the sexes,” said the lead author of the study. “The reason could be that the spine has to move forward during pregnancy, so that the female can walk and maintain her center of gravity. Unfortunately, it also imparts a disadvantage in that it increases stress within the vertebrae for all physical activities, resulting in a great susceptibility for fractures later in life.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Good and Bad Macrophage Responses to Spinal Cord Injury Identified
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 13:00
Macrophages, a type of cellular “sentinel” in the body that identify attacks from viruses, bacteria or fungi, are a double-edged sword in spinal cord injury, providing both neural repair-promoting properties and pathological functions that destroy neuronal tissue. Researchers from The Ohio State University and the University of Kentucky teamed up to find out why these signals stimulate the good and/or bad functions in macrophages. The research team, analyzed more than 50 animals with spinal cord injuries to try and identify which macrophage receptors promoted neuronal repair, and which directed the destructive process. “We found that activating bacterial receptors boosted the macrophage response and limited damage to the spinal cord following injury, while activating fungal receptors actually contributed to pathology,” said an assistant professor of physiology at the University of Kentucky. “The implications are exciting: we now can look for treatments targeted to the receptors that jump-start the macrophage’s restorative effects without activating the receptors that modulate the destructive processes in that same cell.” Although the study oversimplifies the complex process by which macrophages promote repair…
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