Neurodegenerative Diseases

For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...

Neuroscience created May 18, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify new circadian clock component

Northwestern University scientists have shown a gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a critical role in the proper function of the circadian clock.

Genetics created May 16, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fish oil may stall effects of junk food on brain

Data from more than 180 research papers suggests fish oils could minimise the effects that junk food can have on the brain, a review by researchers at the University of Liverpool has shown.

Health created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

White matter imaging provides insight into human and chimpanzee aging

(Medical Xpress)—The instability of "white matter" in humans may contribute to greater cognitive decline during the aging of humans compared with chimpanzees, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research ...

Neuroscience created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Stem cell researchers move toward treatment for rare genetic nerve disease

(Medical Xpress)—UCLA researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to advance disease-in-a-dish modeling of a rare genetic ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 10, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cancer drug prevents build-up of toxic brain protein

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have used tiny doses of a leukemia drug to halt accumulation of toxic proteins linked to Parkinson's disease in the brains of mice. This finding provides the basis to plan ...

Genetics created May 10, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover dynamic behavior of progenitor cells in brain

By monitoring the behavior of a class of cells in the brains of living mice, neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins discovered that these cells remain highly dynamic in the adult brain, where they transform into ...

Neuroscience created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Unleashing the watchdog protein

McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The ...

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

How individuality develops? Experience leads to the growth of new brain cells

How do organisms evolve into individuals that are distinguished from others by their own personal brain structure and behavior? Scientists in Dresden, Berlin, Münster, and Saarbrücken have now taken a decisive step towards ...

Neuroscience created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists show how nerve wiring self-destructs

Many medical issues affect nerves, from injuries in car accidents and side effects of chemotherapy to glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. The common theme in these scenarios is destruction of nerve axons, the ...

Neuroscience created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover a missing link in signals contributing to neurodegeneration

In many neurodegenerative diseases the neurons of the brain are over-stimulated and this leads to their destruction. After many failed attempts and much scepticism this process was finally shown last year to be a possible ...

Neuroscience created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scientists identify early predictors of disease progression which could speed Huntington's disease drug trials

Scientists have identified a set of tests that could help identify whether and how Huntington's disease (HD) is progressing in groups of people who are not yet showing symptoms. The latest findings from the TRACK-HD study, ...

Neuroscience created May 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Boosting 'cellular garbage disposal' can delay the aging process, research shows

(Medical Xpress)—UCLA life scientists have identified a gene previously implicated in Parkinson's disease that can delay the onset of aging and extend the healthy life span of fruit flies. The research, ...

Genetics created May 06, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (18) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover endogenous antibiotic in the brain

Scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have discovered that immune cells in the brain can produce a substance that prevents bacterial growth: namely itaconic acid. ...

Medical research created May 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neon exposes hidden ALS cells

A small group of elusive neurons in the brain's cortex play a big role in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a swift and fatal neurodegenerative disease that paralyzes its victims. But the neurons have always been difficult ...

Neuroscience created Apr 30, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons. Many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s occur as a result of neurodegenerative processes. As research progresses, many similarities appear which relate these diseases to one another on a sub-cellular level. Discovering these similarities offers hope for therapeutic advances that could ameliorate many diseases simultaneously. There are many parallels between different neurodegenerative disorders including atypical protein assemblies as well as induced cell death. Neurodegeneration can be found in many different levels of neuronal circuitry ranging from molecular to systemic.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Latest Spotlight News

Researchers identify a potential new risk for sleep apnea: Asthma

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have identified a potential new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea: asthma. Using data from the National Institutes of Health (Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)-funded Wisconsin ...

Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images

In their quest to learn more about the variability of cells between and within tissues, biomedical scientists have devised tools capable of simultaneously measuring dozens of characteristics of individual ...

New theory on genesis of osteoarthritis comes with successful therapy in mice

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have turned their view of osteoarthritis (OA) inside out. Literally. Instead of seeing the painful degenerative disease as a problem primarily of the cartilage that cushions joints, ...

Study finds that sleep apnea and Alzheimer's are linked

A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two.

'Gap' for HIV vaccine efforts after latest setback

The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up $8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.

Ketamine shows significant therapeutic benefit in people with treatment-resistant depression

Patients with treatment-resistant major depression saw dramatic improvement in their illness after treatment with ketamine, an anesthetic, according to the largest ketamine clinical trial to-date led by researchers from the ...

Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of detrimental liver disease, study finds

Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease ...

Returning genetic incidental findings without patient consent violates basic rights, experts say

Informed consent is the backbone of patient care. Genetic testing has long required patient consent and patients have had a "right not to know" the results. However, as 21st century medicine now begins to use the tools of ...

Vicious cycle: Obesity sustained by changes in brain biochemistry

With obesity reaching epidemic levels in some parts of the world, scientists have only begun to understand why it is such a persistent condition. A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry adds substantially to the st ...

White matter imaging provides insight into human and chimpanzee aging

(Medical Xpress)—The instability of "white matter" in humans may contribute to greater cognitive decline during the aging of humans compared with chimpanzees, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research ...