http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Using spinning disk microscopy on barely day-old zebra fish embryos, University of Oregon scientists have gained a new window on how synapse-building components move to worksites in the central nervous system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-synapse-captured-zebra-fish-embryos.html Neuroscience Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:04:29 EST news285509033 Researchers at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the Achucarro neurosciences centre have discovered a new therapy for the fragile X chromosome syndrome. This new therapy proposes the modulation of the cerebral endocannabinoid system in order to ameliorate the symptoms of the disease. "Clearly, a cure as such is not going to be achieved, as it involves a disease of genetic origin, but the fact that, by manipulating in a certain way at a cerebral level in order to obtain an improvement in the symptoms of the disease is something highly positive", stated Ms Susana Mato, researcher at the Department of Neurosciences at the UPV/EHU and at the Achucarro centre. This scientific finding has just been published in Nature Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-therapy-fragile-chromosome-syndrome.html Medical research Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:17:02 EST news284804211 Research from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute sheds new light on a gene called ATRX and its function in the brain and pituitary. Children born with ATRX syndrome have cognitive defects and developmental abnormalities. ATRX mutations have also been linked to brain tumors. Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD, and her colleagues found mice developed without the ATRX gene had problems in in the forebrain, the part of the brain associated with learning and memory, and in the anterior pituitary which has a direct effect on body growth and metabolism. The mice, unexpectedly, also displayed shortened lifespan, cataracts, heart enlargement, reduced bone density, hypoglycemia; in short, many of the symptoms associated with aging. The research is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-aging-molecular.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:00:05 EST news284633413 Britain's fertility regulator says it has found broad public support for in vitro fertilization techniques that allow babies to be created with DNA from three people for couples at risk of passing on potentially fatal genetic diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-uk-babies-people.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:38:51 EST news282998323 The most common inherited form of mental retardation and autism, fragile X syndrome, turns some brain cells into chatterboxes, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fragile-brain-cells.html Neuroscience Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:36:01 EST news280586147 Learning, memory and habits are encoded in the strength of connections between neurons in the brain, the synapses. These connections aren't meant to be fixed, they're changeable, or plastic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-good-habits-bad-neuroscientist-roots.html Autism spectrum disorders Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:03:52 EST news280242206 A new research discovery has the potential to revolutionize the biological understanding of some childhood psychiatric disorders. Specifically, scientists have found that when a single protein involved in brain development, called "SRGAP3," is malformed, it causes problems in the brain functioning of mice that cause symptoms that are similar to some mental health and neurological disorders in children. Because this protein has similar functions in humans, it may represent a "missing link" for several disorders that are part of an illness spectrum. In addition, it offers researchers a new target for the development of treatments that can correct the biological cause rather than treat the symptoms. This discovery was published in November 2012 print issue of The FASEB Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-protein-root-biological-childhood-psychiatric.html Medical research Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:40:07 EST news270933139 New research published Online First in The Lancet suggests that a high proportion of severe intellectual disability results from genetic causes that are not inherited. These findings are good news for parents, indicating a low risk of passing on the disorder to further children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-large-proportion-intellectual-disability-genetically.html Genetics Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:30:01 EST news267895320 A gene whose mutation results in malformed faces and skulls as well as mental retardation has been found by scientists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-gene-linked-facial-skull.html Genetics Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:05:22 EST news260708701 Researchers at McGill University have discovered the cause of an inherited form of epilepsy. The disease, known as double-cortex syndrome, primarily affects females and arises from mutations on a gene located on the X chromosome. Drs. Susanne Bechstedt and Gary Brouhard of the Department of Biology have used a highly advanced microscope to discover how these mutations cause a malformation of the human brain. The results of their study are published in the journal Developmental Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-inherited-epilepsy.html Medical research Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:50:01 EST news259497536 (HealthDay) -- Youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are at high risk for not participating in postsecondary education or employment, particularly in the first two years after high school, according to a study published online May 14 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-youth-asd-poor-postsecondary-outcomes.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:01 EST news256228928 (Medical Xpress) -- Most cases of autism are not caused by a single genetic mutation. However, several disorders with autism-like symptoms, including the rare Fragile X syndrome, can be traced to a specific mutation. Several years ago, MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear discovered that this mutation leads to overproduction of proteins found in brain synapses -- the connections between neurons that allow them to communicate with each other. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-neuroscientists-rare-autism-related-disorders-opposing.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 Nov 2011 06:20:24 EST news241337999 Like a gardener who stakes some plants and weeds out others, the brain is constantly building networks of synapses, while pruning out redundant or unneeded synapses. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory led by Assistant Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have discovered a factor in synapse-building, also showing that the building and pruning processes occur independent of each other. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-uncover-synapse-pruning.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:56:33 EST news240681383 Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have solved part of a puzzle concerning the relationship between changes in the strength of synapses – the tiny gaps across which nerve cells in the brain communicate – and dysfunctions in neural circuits that have been linked with drug addiction, mental retardation and other cognitive disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-x-linked-mental-retardation-protein-synaptic.html Neuroscience Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:37:09 EST news238246617 An American-owned battery plant in China will remain shut until the end of the year over fears it has caused lead poisoning in local children, the Shanghai Daily reported on Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-china.html Health Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:23:23 EST news235970590 (AP) -- A prominent bioethicist has offered $10,000 to charity if Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann can prove her claim that a vaccination caused mental retardation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-bioethicist-bachmann-vaccine.html Other Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:10:50 EST news235401036 Researchers now have a much clearer understanding of how mutations in a single gene can produce the complex cognitive deficits characteristic of Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability. As the majority of patients with Fragile X Syndrome also display autism-like symptoms, the findings offer hope for treating both conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-brain-protein-therapies-inherited-intellectual.html Medical research Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:01:43 EST news230472084 A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team has solved a 25-year mystery that may lead to better treatments for people with learning deficits and mental retardation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-membrane-protein-mystery.html Neuroscience Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:00:06 EST news226752886 Advancements over the last 10 years in understanding intellectual disability (ID, formerly mental retardation), have led to the once-unimaginable possibility that ID may be treatable, a review of more than 100 studies on the topic has concluded. It appears in ACS Chemical Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-common-inherited-intellectual-disability-treatable.html Neuroscience Tue, 17 May 2011 13:07:52 EST news224856447