Neurodegenerative Diseases

Scientists discover previously unknown cleaning system in brain

A previously unrecognized system that drains waste from the brain at a rapid clip has been discovered by neuroscientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The findings were published online August 15 in Science Tr ...

Neuroscience created Aug 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (19) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

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

Of enzymes and aging: Tryptophan metabolism plays key role in aging and age-related neurological diseases

(Medical Xpress)—In the battle against aging and age-related neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, a key factor has long appeared to be the toxicity of proteins which tend to aggregate. ...

Medical research created Oct 05, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (14) | comments 3 | with audio podcast feature

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

Prospective Alzheimer's drug builds new brain cell connections

Washington State University researchers have developed a new drug candidate that dramatically improves the cognitive function of rats with Alzheimer's-like mental impairment.

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Oct 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Scientists learn what makes nerve cells so strong

How do nerve cells—which can each be up to three feet long in humans—keep from rupturing or falling apart?

Neuroscience created Apr 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Link between inflammatory process and progression of Alzheimer's disease

An international team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the University of Bonn and the Center for Advanced European Studies and Research in Germany have shown that a well-known immune and ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Dec 19, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists turn skin cells into brain cells

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells—with a single genetic factor—into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells. ...

Medical research created Jun 07, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Parkinson's disease protein causes disease spread and neuron death in healthy animals

Understanding how any disease progresses is one of the first and most important steps towards finding treatments to stop it. This has been the case for such brain-degenerating conditions as Alzheimer's disease. ...

Parkinson's & Movement disorders created Nov 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Removing protein 'garbage' in nerve cells may help control two neurodegenerative diseases

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center say they have new evidence that challenges scientific dogma involving two fatal neurodegenerative diseases—amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal ...

Medical research created Dec 20, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Caffeine may block inflammation linked to mild cognitive impairment

Recent studies have linked caffeine consumption to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, and a new University of Illinois study may be able to explain how this happens.

Neuroscience created Oct 09, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists develop promising therapy for Huntington's disease

(Medical Xpress)—There's new hope in the fight against Huntington's disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley ...

Neuroscience created Nov 01, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Experimental compound improves memory in mice with multiple sclerosis

Johns Hopkins researchers report the successful use of a form of MRI to identify what appears to be a key biochemical marker for cognitive impairment in the brains of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). In follow-up experiments ...

Neuroscience created Nov 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | 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

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


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.

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