Muffling expression of an autism-linked gene in a key song-related area of the brain renders young zebra finches unable to learn songs from older birds.
Summary: FOXO3, a gene linked to longevity in humans, protects neural stem cells from the negative effects of stress.
Source: Weill Cornell Medicine
Dwight E. Bergles, Ph.D., a leading neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is the winner of the prestigious Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research. Bergles has pioneered the study of immature cells in the brain that can regenerate myelin-making cells after myelin is destroyed in MS. These cells, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), hold the key to finding ways to promote myelin repair and restore function for people living with multiple sclerosis.
Study reveals those with frontotemporal dementia have greater white matter hyperintensity than those with other forms of dementia. The amount of white matter hyperintensity was associated with the severity of FTD symptoms.
Chronic increases of the cytokine IL-17a circulating in the blood of mice reduced microglia activity in one region of the hippocampus, an area of the brain critical for memory and learning.
This is the FIRST part of the interview with Rodolfo Goya.
In this video Professor Goya talks about his role in the original experiment and the progress in his current study to reproduce the results with young blood plasma.
A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison published on September 14 in Science revealed that when a plant is injured, they release a nervous system-like signal throughout their body, similar to the pain response found in humans and other animals.
When a human is injured, sensory cells in our bodies alert our nervous system to release the neurotransmitter glutamate. This stimulates a part of our brain to release adrenaline, which kicks our fight-or-flight response into gear. Plants don’t have nervous systems but video captured by the scientists behind this new study of injured plants shows that they do have their own version of fight-or-flight when they come under attack.
Summary: Prolonged anesthesia significantly alters the synaptic architecture of the brain, regardless of age.
Source: Columbia University
Summary: SuperAgers who maintain their cognitive abilities have resistance to the development of Alzheimer’s related tau tangles. The resistance to tangles may help to preserve memory.
Source: Northwestern University
While the brain tissue of modern humans are typically smooth and spherical, the study, which was published in Science on Feb 11, found that the tissue created with the ancient genes were smaller and had rough, complex surfaces.
“The question here is what makes us human,” Muotri told CNN. “Why are our brains so different from other species including our own extinct relatives?”
