Neurodegenerative Diseases

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

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 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Controlling mood through the motions of mitochondria

(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...

Neuroscience created May 23, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Reducing caloric intake delays nerve cell loss

Activating an enzyme known to play a role in the anti-aging benefits of calorie restriction delays the loss of brain cells and preserves cognitive function in mice, according to a study published in the May ...

Neuroscience created May 21, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 20, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists discover cinnamon compounds' potential ability to prevent Alzheimer's

Cinnamon: Can the red-brown spice with the unmistakable fragrance and variety of uses offer an important benefit? The common baking spice might hold the key to delaying the onset of –– or warding off ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 23, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists develop drug that slows Alzheimer's in mice

A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 13, 2013 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

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

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

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

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

Structure that edits messenger RNA transcripts defective in two different forms of motor neuron diseases

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are degenerative motor neuron diseases in which the key mutated genes are involved in RNA metabolism. This similarity suggests that a ...

Medical research created Apr 26, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Rare, lethal childhood disease tracked to protein

A team of international researchers led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has identified how a defective protein plays a central role in a rare, lethal childhood disease known as Giant Axonal Neuropathy, or GAN. The finding ...

Medical research created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | 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.

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Controlling mood through the motions of mitochondria

(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...

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Multiple research teams unable to confirm high-profile Alzheimer's study

Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.