http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Stimulating the growth of new neurons to replace those lost in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an intriguing therapeutic possibility. But will the factors that cause AD allow the new neurons to thrive and function normally? Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) have discovered that two main causes of AD amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides and apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4) impair the growth of new neurons born in adult brains. What is more, they have identified drug treatments that can normalize the development of these cells even in the presence of Aβ or apoE4. The findings are described in two separate papers published in the current issue of Cell Stem Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news179065528.html Biology Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:40:02 EST news179065528 (PhysOrg.com) -- While gripping, lifting or manipulating an object such as drinking from a cup or placing a book on a shelf is usually easy for most, it can be challenging for those with neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, or for people who had a stroke. For them, the tight gripping can cause fatigue, making everyday tasks difficult. http://www.physorg.com/news174746473.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:01 EST news174746473 Researchers at Lund University, Sweden, have taken a snapshot of proteins changing shape, sticking together and creating structures that are believed to trigger deadly processes in the nervous system. The discovery opens the possibility of designing drugs for a devastating neurological disease, ALS. http://www.physorg.com/news174649594.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:03:56 EST news174649594 The power of the imagination is well-known: it's no surprise that scary music is scarier with your eyes closed. But now neuroscientist and psychiatrist Prof. Talma Hendler of Tel Aviv University's Functional Brain Center says that this phenomenon may open the door to a new way of treating people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news172246492.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:15:48 EST news172246492 Jichi Medical University has succeeded in restoring the motor function of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease by injecting their brains with a virus with a built-in gene that has an enzyme to produce dopamine, it has been learned. http://www.physorg.com/news169483653.html Medicine & Health Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:00:01 EST news169483653 Rather than sticking to a single DNA script, human brain cells harbor astonishing genomic variability, according to scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The findings, to be published in the Aug. 5, 2009, advance online edition of Nature, could help explain brain development and individuality, as well as lead to a better understanding of neurological disease. http://www.physorg.com/news168697506.html Medicine & Health Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:25:34 EST news168697506 Switching off a key DNA repair system in the developing nervous system is linked to smaller brain size as well as problems in brain structures vital to movement, memory and emotion, according to new research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news167913152.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:32:58 EST news167913152 It's a miracle drug, a medication that can slow or even stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease. It also doesn't exist. http://www.physorg.com/news166983721.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:00:03 EST news166983721 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University (Sweden) are well on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using neurotransmitters. The technology has been published in an article in Nature Materials. http://www.physorg.com/news166109773.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:37:27 EST news166109773 Neurological diseases including Parkinson's, Tourette's, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer's, and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter (DAT). Research published today in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience suggests that a number of estrogens acting through their receptors affect the DAT, which may explain trends in timing of women's susceptibility to these diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news164337694.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:21:48 EST news164337694 Scientists have studied high-frequency brain waves, known as gamma oscillations, for more than 50 years, believing them crucial to consciousness, attention, learning and memory. Now, for the first time, MIT researchers and colleagues have found a way to induce these waves by shining laser light directly onto the brains of mice. http://www.physorg.com/news159973187.html Medicine & Health Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:00:19 EST news159973187 In an Early Edition publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week, the researchers demonstrate the "alpha-synuclein dance" - the switching back and forth of the protein between a bent helix and an extended helix as the surface that it is binding to changes. http://www.physorg.com/news156442987.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:23:42 EST news156442987 People who have parents diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia perform less well on formal memory testing when compared to people of the same age whose parents never developed Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. This is true even in middle-aged persons who do not have a diagnosis of clinical stroke or dementia, according to a Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) study. This study has been selected to be presented at a Plenary Session at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, Wash from April 25 - May 2. http://www.physorg.com/news154264525.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:15:56 EST news154264525 (PhysOrg.com) -- A delay in traffic may cause a headache, but a delay in the nervous system can cause much more. University of Missouri researchers have uncovered clues identifying which proteins are involved in the development of the nervous system and found that the proteins previously thought to play a significant role, in fact, do not. Understanding how the nervous system develops will give researchers a better understanding of neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news152897556.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:33:11 EST news152897556 In a collaborative study at the University of California, San Diego, investigators from neurosciences, chemistry and medicine, as well as the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) have investigated how proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease interact to form unique complexes. Their findings explain why Alzheimer's patients might develop Parkinson's, and vice versa. The new and unique molecular structures they discovered can now be used to model and develop new drugs for these devastating neurological diseases. Their findings will be published in the September 3 issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE on September 4, 2008. http://www.physorg.com/news139719087.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:51:27 EST news139719087