http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have deciphered how a protein called Arc regulates the activity of neurons—providing much-needed clues into the brain's ability to form long-lasting memories. These findings, reported today in Nature Neuroscience, also offer newfound understanding as to what goes on at the molecular level when this process becomes disrupted. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-scientists-brain-cells-long-term-memories.html Neuroscience Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:59:56 EST news290001581 Down syndrome, the most common genetic form of intellectual disability, results from an extra copy of one chromosome. Although people with Down syndrome experience intellectual difficulties and other problems, scientists have had trouble identifying why that extra chromosome causes such widespread effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-syndrome-neurons-grown-stem-cells.html Neuroscience Mon, 27 May 2013 15:00:08 EST news288873112 Sand-dwelling and rock-dwelling cichlids living in East Africa's Lake Malawi share a nearly identical genome, but have very different personalities. The territorial rock-dwellers live in communities where social interactions are important, while the sand-dwellers are itinerant and less aggressive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pathways-affect-early-differentiation-higher.html Neuroscience Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:24:56 EST news286187012 Genes linked to autism and schizophrenia are only switched on during the early stages of brain development, according to a study in mice led by researchers at the University of Oxford. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-genes-autism-schizophrenia-brains.html Genetics Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:26 EST news279804955 Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) – the most common cause of cervical cancer – to a common form of childhood epilepsy. They have shown for the first time that HPV16 may be present in the human brain, and found that when they added a viral protein to the brains of fetal mice, the mice all demonstrated the same developmental problems in the cerebral cortex associated with this type of epilepsy, called focal cortical dysplasia type IIB (FCDIIB). The findings suggest that the virus could play a role in the development of epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-cancer-causing-virus-brain-potential.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:31:23 EST news278249475 Interneurons – nerve cells that function as 'dimmers' – play an important role in the brain. Their formation and migration to the cerebral cortex during the embryonic stage of development is crucial to normal brain functioning. Abnormal interneuron development and migration can eventually lead to a range of disorders and diseases, from epilepsy to Alzheimer's. New research by Dr. Eve Seuntjens and Dr. Veronique van den Berghe of the Department of Development and Regeneration (Danny Huylebroeck laboratory, Faculty of Medicine) at KU Leuven (University of Leuven) has identified two proteins, Sip1 and Unc5b, that play an important role in the development and migration of interneurons to the cerebral cortex – a breakthrough in our understanding of early brain development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-protein-disrupt-embryonic-brain-neuron.html Neuroscience Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:42:12 EST news277378926 (Medical Xpress)—Research out of the George Washington University (GW), published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals another piece of the puzzle in a genetic developmental disorder that causes behavioral diseases such as autism. Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and physiology at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and director of the GW Institute for Neuroscience, along with post-doctoral fellow Daniel Meechan, Ph.D. and Thomas Maynard, Ph.D., associate research professor of pharmacology and physiology at GW SMHS, authored the study titled "Cxcr4 regulation of interneuron migration is disrupted in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-gw-professor-autism-genetics.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:41:30 EST news276439274 Smoking alters the impact of a schizophrenia risk gene. Scientists from the universities of Zurich and Cologne demonstrate that healthy people who carry this risk gene and smoke process acoustic stimuli in a similarly deficient way as patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, the impact is all the stronger the more the person smokes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-smokers-prone-schizophrenia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:20 EST news251982447 A study led by Eric Courchesne, PhD, director of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has, for the first time, identified in young autism patients genetic mechanisms involved in abnormal early brain development and overgrowth that occurs in the disorder. The findings suggest novel genetic and molecular targets that could lead to discoveries of new prevention strategies and treatment for the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-gene-abnormalities-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:00:04 EST news251654116 Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published February 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-complex-wiring-nervous-genes-proteins.html Medical research Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:30 EST news248112920 (Medical Xpress) -- A Murdoch University scientist is closer to understanding why early brain development is so critical to mental health and function in the long term. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-scientists-brain-discovery.html Neuroscience Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:14:00 EST news229158755