http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have obtained a precise molecular map of the binding site for an allosteric inhibitor in a subtype of the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor, which is commonly expressed in brain cells. http://phys.org/news227441567.html Biology Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:13:16 EST news227441567 Using a high-resolution single-molecule study technique, University of Illinois researchers have seen the very subtle differences between two branches of an important family of neurotransmitter-gated ion channels. http://phys.org/news226246084.html Biology Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:08:13 EST news226246084 Laboratory studies by chemical engineers at UC Santa Barbara may lead to new experimental methods for early detection and diagnosis -- and to possible treatments -- for pathological tissues that are precursors to multiple sclerosis and similar diseases. http://phys.org/news225385728.html Nanotechnology Mon, 23 May 2011 16:09:14 EST news225385728 Mapping the fat distribution of the healthy human brain is a key step in understanding neurological diseases, in general, and the neurodegeneration that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in particular. Antonio Veloso and colleagues, from the University of the Basque Country in Leioa, Spain, find a new technique to reveal the fat distribution of three different areas of the healthy human brain. Their work is published online in Springer's journal, Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. http://phys.org/news223724467.html Chemistry Wed, 04 May 2011 10:41:24 EST news223724467 Patrik Verstreken (VIB/K.U.Leuven, Belgium) has discovered the mechanism that ensures neurons can continue to send the right signals for long consecutive periods - a process that is disrupted in neurological diseases such as Parkinson's. Verstreken and his colleagues discovered that an enzyme called Skywalker controls the subtle balance in communication. http://phys.org/news220874027.html Medicine & Health Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:56:37 EST news220874027 A gene therapy called NLX-P101 dramatically reduces movement impairment in Parkinson's patients, according to results of a Phase 2 study published today in the journal Lancet Neurology. The approach introduces a gene into the brain to normalize chemical signaling. http://phys.org/news219520787.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:00:16 EST news219520787 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are trying to get proteins to create the sticky plaque often associated with neurological diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even Mad Cow. If successful, the study would better equip researchers to prevent or find a cure for these diseases. http://phys.org/news219404198.html Biology Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:37:18 EST news219404198 Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are partly attributable to brain inflammation. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now demonstrate in a paper published in Nature that a well-known family of enzymes can prevent the inflammation and thus constitute a potential target for drugs. http://phys.org/news218959477.html Medicine & Health Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:40:01 EST news218959477 (PhysOrg.com) -- Neurons are complicated, but the basic functional concept is that synapses transmit electrical signals to the dendrites and cell body (input), and axons carry signals away (output). In one of many surprise findings, Northwestern University scientists have discovered that axons can operate in reverse: they can send signals to the cell body, too. http://phys.org/news217188499.html Medicine & Health Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:08:36 EST news217188499 A synthetic derivative of the curry spice turmeric, made by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, dramatically improves the behavioral and molecular deficits seen in animal models of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Two new studies suggest that the novel compound may have clinical promise for these conditions, which currently lack good therapies. http://phys.org/news211630123.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:50:02 EST news211630123 Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) in San Francisco have discovered a new strategy to prevent memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Humans with AD and mice genetically engineered to simulate the disease have abnormally low levels of an enzyme called EphB2 in memory centers of the brain. Improving EphB2 levels in such mice by gene therapy completely fixed their memory problems. The findings will be published in the November 28 issue of the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news210173747.html Medicine & Health Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:36:56 EST news210173747 Sleep disturbances increase the risk of work disability and may slow the return to work process. This is especially true in cases where work disability is due to mental disorders or musculoskeletal diseases. These results come from a recent study conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in collaboration with the universities of Turku and London. http://phys.org/news207219439.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:57:36 EST news207219439 (PhysOrg.com) -- The eyes of sheep infected with scrapie - a neurological disorder similar to mad cow disease - return an intense, almost-white glow when they're hit with blue excitation light, according to a research project led by Iowa State University's Jacob Petrich. http://phys.org/news206722766.html Chemistry Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:10:02 EST news206722766 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long sought the ability to regenerate nerve cells, or neurons, which could offer a new way to treat spinal-cord damage as well as neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Many chemicals can regenerate neurons grown in Petri dishes in the lab, but it's difficult and time-consuming to identify those chemicals that work in live animals, which is critical for developing drugs for humans. http://phys.org/news206034822.html Chemistry Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:30:01 EST news206034822 The first pull on a cigarette should send you into convulsions. The brain proteins that nicotine affects are nearly identical to a receptor protein on muscle cells that tells them to contract, but nicotine doesn't affect your muscles. "Muscle proteins couldn't be very sensitive to nicotine," says chemist Dennis Dougherty. "Because if they were, smoking would be intolerable -- every puff would activate every muscle in your body." http://phys.org/news204467618.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:34:05 EST news204467618 Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that shutting off an important gene in the body causes mobility issues, reminiscent of neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis. http://phys.org/news204201771.html Chemistry Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:43:07 EST news204201771 (PhysOrg.com) -- One of DARPA's latest pursuits of cutting-edge research involves a neurotechnology lab at Arizona State University that specializes in ultrasonic brain stimulation. By implementing the technology in soldiers' helmets, DARPA hopes to provide advantages to US troops by enhancing cognitive abilities; improving long-term alertness; and reducing stress, anxiety, and pain. http://phys.org/news203310660.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:42:52 EST news203310660 A team of American scientists claim that a new method of testing for neurological diseases could provide doctors with a rapid and non-invasively method of diagnosing degenerative disorders. The research, published in The journal of Comparative Neurology, reveals that Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) can distinguish between different disorders in patients, allowing earlier diagnosis. http://phys.org/news201947934.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:50:01 EST news201947934 Here's a scientific discovery fit to give Mr. Potato Head static cling and flyaway hair (if that vintage plastic toy had hair). Scientists today reported discovery of two simple, inexpensive ways of boosting the amounts of healthful antioxidant substances in potatoes. One involves giving spuds an electric shock. The other involves zapping them with ultrasound, high frequency sound waves. http://phys.org/news201528687.html Chemistry Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:50:01 EST news201528687 Over millions of years, retroviruses, which insert their genetic material into the host genome as part of their replication, have left behind bits of their genetic material in vertebrate genomes. In a recent study, published July 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, a team of researchers have now found that human and other vertebrate genomes also contain many ancient sequences from Ebola/Marburgviruses and Bornaviruses - two deadly virus families. http://phys.org/news199625861.html Biology Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:00:04 EST news199625861 (PhysOrg.com) -- Athletes have long known about the natural "high" exercise can induce. Now, for the first time, medical researchers have demonstrated that exercise can reverse the effects in the brain of psychological trauma experienced early in life. http://phys.org/news198309448.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:57:45 EST news198309448 The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the July 11 issue of Nature. http://phys.org/news197904111.html Medicine & Health Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:06:34 EST news197904111 Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and Stanford University have shown how key circuits in the brain control movement. The research, published in the journal Nature not only establishes the function of these circuits, but offers promise for treating movement related disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. http://phys.org/news197717320.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:00:01 EST news197717320 For the first time, researchers from Sweden and the US have succeeded in identifying the majority of the detectable proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of healthy human beings. The advance is expected to provide a valuable tool for diagnosis and research into diseases of the nervous system. The study is being published today in PLoS ONE. http://phys.org/news195803808.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:54:58 EST news195803808 UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex - the site of higher cognitive function -- and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say. http://phys.org/news194001050.html Medicine & Health Tue, 25 May 2010 10:40:09 EST news194001050 Although genetics is the most significant known determinant of human intelligence, how specific genes affect intelligence remains largely unknown. A multi-institution team led by a University of Utah (U of U) USTAR researcher has found that the brain gene STX1A plays a significant role in the level of intelligence displayed by patients with Williams Syndrome (WS). The study may have implications for the understanding of intelligence and treatment of neurological disease in the general population. http://phys.org/news191174121.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:20:04 EST news191174121 (PhysOrg.com) -- In work that could lead to new insights into how neurons protect against neurodegeneration, researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report that a gene family known for its role in controlling cell proliferation and suppressing tumors is also essential in the brain to regulate neuronal structure and function. http://phys.org/news190485558.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:10:01 EST news190485558 (PhysOrg.com) -- Some current therapies being investigated for Alzheimer's disease may cause further neural degeneration and cell death, according to a breakthrough discovery by UC San Diego researchers. http://phys.org/news189799970.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:13:18 EST news189799970 (PhysOrg.com) -- A vaccine against the tapeworm Taenia solium has eliminated transmission of the parasite in pigs in a field trial in Africa. It is hoped that the vaccine could indirectly reduce the incidence of a debilitating neurological disease in humans. http://phys.org/news189786124.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:40:02 EST news189786124 Christopher Fasano, PhD, from the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, is lead author on a study that investigating human neural development. Dr. Fasano conducted this work while working as a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the lab of Dr. Lorenz Studer. Dr. Fasano and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to derive floor plate tissue, an important signaling center during brain development. http://phys.org/news189360281.html Biology Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:50:06 EST news189360281