http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Medical researchers have manipulated human stem cells into producing types of brain cells known to play important roles in neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. The new model cell system allows neuroscientists to investigate normal brain development, as well as to identify specific disruptions in biological signals that may contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-human-stem-cells-brain-neural.html Medical research Thu, 02 May 2013 13:37:10 EST news286720594 (Medical Xpress)—Chemists and vision scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have designed a light-sensitive molecule that can stimulate a neural response in cells of the retina and brain—a possible first step to overcoming degenerative eye diseases like age-related macular degeneration, or to quieting epileptic seizures. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-photo-switch-nerve-cells-eye-brain.html Medical research Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:22:21 EST news272128914 Neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy involve an imbalance between two types of synapses in the brain: excitatory synapses that release the neurotransmitter glutamate, and inhibitory synapses that release the neurotransmitter GABA. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying development of inhibitory synapses, but a research team from Japan and Canada has reported that a molecular signal between adjacent neurons is required for the development of inhibitory synapses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-proper-brain-function.html Neuroscience Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:33:18 EST news259576382