Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Zika virus infects human neural stem cells

The Zika virus infects a type of neural stem cell that gives rise to the brain's cerebral cortex, Johns Hopkins and Florida State researchers report March 4 in Cell Stem Cell. On laboratory dishes, these stem cells were found ...

Neuroscience

New kinds of brain cells revealed

Under a microscope, it can be hard to tell the difference between any two neurons, the brain cells that store and process information. So scientists have turned to molecular methods to try to identify groups of neurons with ...

Genetics

Diversity in the brain—how millions of neurons become unique

How is it possible that so many different and highly specific neuron types arise in the brain? A mathematical model developed by researchers from the University of Basel's Biozentrum demonstrates that different variants of ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

When neurons are out of shape, antidepressants may not work

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed medication for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet scientists still do not understand why the treatment does not work in nearly thirty percent ...

Neuroscience

Homing system delivers drugs to specific neurons

Biomedical engineers have developed a way to deliver drugs to specific types of neurons in the brain, providing an unprecedented ability to study neurological diseases while also promising a more targeted way to treat them.

Genetics

New hope for people living with a genetic cause of autism

Fragile X syndrome, or FXS, a leading genetic cause of autism, affects around one in 4,000 males and one in 6,000 females. Its symptoms include increased anxiety, intellectual disability, repetitive behaviors, social communication ...

Genetics

Reactivating aging stem cells in the brain

As people get older, their neural stem cells lose the ability to proliferate and produce new neurons, leading to a decline in memory function. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now discovered a mechanism linked ...

Genetics

Genes found only in humans influence brain size

A set of three nearly identical genes found only in humans appear to play a critical role in the development of our large brains, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Neuroscience

How ApoE4 endangers the brain

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is kind of like a delivery service for the human brain. It supplies neurons with important nutrients, including with polyunsaturated fatty acids—which are building blocks of the membranes surrounding ...

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