Neurodegenerative Diseases

Parkinson'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.

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created Mar 01, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

About 15 percent of patients with Wolfram syndrome do not meet current diagnostic criteria

Researchers at IDIBELL and CIBERER Virginia Nunes and Miguel López de Heredia have collected data from 400 patients with Wolfram syndrome published worldwide in the last fifteen years to better understand the natural history ...

Genetics created Feb 28, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research reveals Huntington's hope

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers in Scotland and Germany have discovered a molecular mechanism that shows promise for developing a cure for Huntington's Disease (HD).

Neuroscience created Feb 27, 2013 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find controlling element of Huntington's disease

A three molecule complex may be a target for treating Huntington's disease, a genetic disorder affecting the brain. This finding by an international research team including scientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Feb 26, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists find genes linked to human neurological disorders in sea lamprey genome

Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have identified several genes linked to human neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, in the ...

Genetics created Feb 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ability of brain to protect itself from damage revealed

The origin of an innate ability the brain has to protect itself from damage that occurs in stroke has been explained for the first time.

Medical research created Feb 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Scientists identify molecular system that could help develop potential treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists from the University of Southampton have identified the molecular system that contributes to the harmful inflammatory reaction in the brain during neurodegenerative diseases.

Neuroscience created Feb 21, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers develop tool for reading the minds of mice (w/ Video)

(Medical Xpress)—If you want to read a mouse's mind, it takes some fluorescent protein and a tiny microscope implanted in the rodent's head.

Neuroscience created Feb 19, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Novel herbal compound offers potential to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease

Administration of the active compound tetrahydroxystilbene glucoside (TSG) derived from the Chinese herbal medicine Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, reversed both overexpression of α-synuclein, a small protein found in the brain, ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Feb 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Research uncovers a potential link between Parkinson's and visual problems

The most common genetic cause of Parkinson's is not only responsible for the condition's distinctive movement problems but may also affect vision, according to new research by scientists at the University of York.

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created Feb 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neuronal activity induces tau release from healthy neurons

Researchers from King's College London have discovered that neuronal activity can stimulate tau release from healthy neurons in the absence of cell death. The results published by Diane Hanger and her colleagues in EMBO re ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Feb 15, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The good side of the prion: A molecule that is not only dangerous, but can help the brain grow

A few years ago it was found that certain proteins, the prions, when defective are dangerous, as they are involved in neurodegenerative syndromes such as the Creutzfeldt-Jakob and the Alzheimer diseases. ...

Medical research created Feb 14, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Identification of abnormal protein may help diagnose, treat ALS and frontotemporal dementia

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are devastating neurodegenerative diseases with no effective treatment. Researchers are beginning to recognize ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Feb 12, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers show how blood vessels regroup after stroke

Rice scientists simulate "robot" cells to study the development of microvascular systems in the brain. The goal is to find a way to direct the development of vessels that feed oxygen-starved cells in stroke ...

Medical research created Feb 11, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Translation error tracked in the brain of dementia patients

In certain dementias silent areas of the genetic code are translated into highly unusual proteins by mistake. An international team of scientists including researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative ...

Neuroscience created Feb 07, 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.

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