http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Mice that exercise in running wheels exhibit increased neurogenesis in the brain. Crucial to this process is serotonin signaling. These are the findings of a study by researchers at the Max Delbrück Center Berlin-Buch. Surprisingly, mice lacking brain serotonin due to a genetic mutation exhibited normal baseline neurogenesis. However, in these serotonin-deficient mice, activity-induced proliferation was impaired, and wheel running did not induce increased generation of new neurons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-serotonin-exercise-induced-neurons.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 May 2013 11:25:42 EST news287663135 A key type of human brain cell developed in the laboratory grows seamlessly when transplanted into the brains of mice, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that these cells might one day be used to treat people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and possibly even Alzheimer's disease, as well as and complications of spinal cord injury such as chronic pain and spasticity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-human-brain-cells-lab-mice.html Medical research Wed, 08 May 2013 09:15:46 EST news287223336 (Medical Xpress)—Hopes for a cure for many brain diseases may rest on the humble mouse, now that scientists can map the rodents' brains more thoroughly than ever before. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-australian-scientists-mouse-brains-greatest.html Neuroscience Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:40:01 EST news286440906 During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:50:02 EST news286187686 For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember. A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the first to show that human stem cells can successfully implant themselves in the brain and then heal neurological deficits, says senior author Su-Chun Zhang, a professor of neuroscience and neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-embryonic-stem-cell-transplant-memory.html Medical research Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:00:20 EST news285764770 Combining neuroscience and chemical engineering, researchers at Stanford University have developed a process that renders a mouse brain transparent. The postmortem brain remains whole—not sliced or sectioned in any way—with its three-dimensional complexity of fine wiring and molecular structures completely intact and able to be measured and probed at will with visible light and chemicals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-method-enables-d-analysis-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:04:49 EST news284817675 Setting a mouse free to roam might alarm most people, but not so for nuclear imaging researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Maryland who have developed a new imaging system for mouse brain studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-scans-unrestrained-mice.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:03:26 EST news284727797 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have made a discovery in neuroscience that could offer a long-lasting solution to eating disorders such as obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-breakthrough-neuroscience-re-wire-appetite.html Neuroscience Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:00:02 EST news284362843 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 A research team led by Yuko Okamura-Oho and Hideo Yokota of the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, has developed a novel technique for three-dimensional (3D) mapping of gene expression patterns onto brain structures. The technique, known as transcriptome tomography, combines tissue sectioning with microarray technology and produces comprehensive maps of the density and location of gene expression, which have a higher resolution than the maps produced by existing methods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-technique-comprehensively-three-dimensional-gene-brain.html Genetics Fri, 11 Jan 2013 07:53:30 EST news277113203 (Medical Xpress)—Memories are made of this, the song says. Now neuroscientists have for the first time shown individual mouse brain cells being switched on during learning and later reactivated during memory recall. The results are published Dec. 13 in the journal Current Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-brain-cells-reactivated-memory.html Neuroscience Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:50:52 EST news274639826 A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has found. When researchers used a high-tech method to mimic the pattern, previously resilient mice instantly succumbed to a depression-like syndrome of social withdrawal and reduced pleasure-seeking – they avoided other animals and lost their sweet tooth. When the firing pattern was inhibited in vulnerable mice, they instantly became resilient. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-stress-resilience-susceptibility-neurons-reward-circuit.html Neuroscience Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:50:46 EST news274553424 A team at CSHL for the 1st time reveals the birth timing and embryonic origin of a critical class of inhibitory brain cells called chandelier cells, tracing the specific paths they take during early development into the cerebral cortex of the mouse brain. The work sheds light on the genetically programed, or "nature" part of the nature/nurture question of human development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-birth-migration-mysteries-cortex-powerful.html Neuroscience Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:00:02 EST news272810455 The discovery of the molecular pathway that drives the changes seen in the brains of Alzheimer's patients is reported today, revealing new targets for drug discovery that could be exploited to combat the disease. The study gives the most detailed understanding yet of the complex processes leading to Alzheimer's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-discovery-molecular-pathway-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:09:49 EST news272628571 Dramatic expansion of the human cerebral cortex, over the course of evolution, accommodated new areas for specialized cognitive function, including language. Understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying these changes, however, remains a challenge to neuroscientists. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gene-reveals-molecular-mechanisms-underlying.html Neuroscience Fri, 09 Nov 2012 08:10:01 EST news271669483 Growing evidence suggests that there may be a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological mechanisms by which diabetes impacts brain function and cognition are not fully understood. In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show, for the first time, that diabetes enhances the development of aging features that may underlie early pathological events in Alzheimer's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-diabetes-proteins-linked-alzheimer-features.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:42:42 EST news270463247 What happens in the brain when we see, hear, think and remember? To be able to answer questions like this, neuroscientists need information about how the millions of neurons in the brain are connected to each other. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg have taken a crucial step towards obtaining a complete circuit diagram of the brain of the mouse, a key model organism for the neurosciences. The research group working with Winfried Denk has developed a method for preparing the whole mouse brain for a special microscopy process. With this, the resolution at which the brain tissue can be examined is so high that the fine extensions of almost every single neuron are visible. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scientists-aim-analyse-mouse-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:20:01 EST news270196021 New studies presented today offer vivid examples of how advances in basic brain research help reduce the trauma and suffering of innocent landmine victims, amateur and professional athletes, and members of the military. The research was presented today at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-traumatic-injury-citizens-soldiers.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:32:54 EST news269515968 (Medical Xpress)—The medial preoptic area of the brain has been found over the years to be very closely involved with certain behaviors in mice, such as sexual proclivity, locomotion, aggression and the motivation to care for young. The chemistry involved in such behavioral activity has unfortunately though, remained rather a mystery. Now a team of researchers working at Rockefeller University have found, as they describe in their paper detailing their findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that a gene encoding estrogen receptor protein called ERα which is expressed in neurons in the preoptic part of the mouse brain, appears to impact the degree to which mice care for their young. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-gene-partly-responsible-maternal-mice.html Genetics Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:43:11 EST news267169382 (Medical Xpress)—A drug designed for diabetes sufferers could have the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, a study by scientists at the University of Ulster has revealed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-experimental-diabetes-drug-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:12:20 EST news266854314 A North Carolina State University researcher has created a roadmap to areas of the brain associated with affective aggression in mice. This roadmap may be the first step toward finding therapies for humans suffering from affective aggression disorders that lead to impulsive violent acts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-blueprint-affective-aggression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:54:21 EST news265989253 Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have figured out how stem cells found in a part of the brain responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation decide to remain dormant or create new brain cells. Apparently, the stem cells "listen in" on the chemical communication among nearby neurons to get an idea about what is stressing the system and when they need to act. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-brain-stem-cells-eavesdrop.html Medical research Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:45:32 EST news263475912 The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today its latest public data release, enhancing online resources available via the Allen Brain Atlas data portal and expanding its application programming interface (API). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-allen-brain-science-online-atlas.html Neuroscience Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:46:35 EST news258302757 Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reached an important milestone today, publicly releasing the first installment out of 500 terabytes of data so far collected in their pathbreaking project to construct the first whole-brain wiring diagram of a vertebrate brain, that of the mouse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-neuroscientists-major-milestone-whole-brain-circuit.html Neuroscience Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:38:13 EST news257758638 A recently evolved pattern of gene activity in the language and decision-making centers of the human brain is missing in a disorder associated with autism and learning disabilities, a new study by Yale University researchers shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-evolution-gift-root-autism.html Genetics Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:10 EST news255868881 National Institutes of Health researchers have reversed behaviors in mice resembling two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice that normally display such autism-like behaviors, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-agent-autism-like-behaviors-mice.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:50:38 EST news254584076 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have rewritten the job description of the protein TopBP1 after demonstrating that it guards early brain cells from DNA damage. Such damage might foreshadow later problems, including cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-protein-dna-brain-tumor-suppressor.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:53:41 EST news254400789 Huntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-stem-cells-hint-potential-treatment.html Neuroscience Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:55 EST news251031617 For decades, researchers have debated whether Alzheimer's disease starts independently in vulnerable brain regions at different times, or if it begins in one region and then spreads to neuroanatomically connected areas. A new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers strongly supports the latter, demonstrating that abnormal tau protein, a key feature of the neurofibrillary tangles seen in the brains of those with Alzheimer's, propagates along linked brain circuits, "jumping" from neuron to neuron. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-alzheimer-disease-brain-region.html Neuroscience Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:10 EST news247336803 (Medical Xpress) -- It’s hard to be a mouse. You’re a social animal, but your fellows are small and scattered. You’re a snack to a bestiary of fast, eagle-eyed predators, not least the eagle. You’re fast too, but your spatial vision is poor — around 20/200. So what’s a mouse to do? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-mouse-brains-keyed.html Neuroscience Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:00:01 EST news246692675