News by Subject Medicine & Health

As the embryonic brain develops, a complex cascade of cellular events occur, starting with progenitors -- the originating cells that generate neurons and spur proper cortex development. If this cascade malfunctions then the brain can develop abnormally. Eva Anton's lab at UNC has shown how the deletion of the protein APC in progenitor leads to massive disruption of brain development and the Wnt protein pathway, which previously was linked to genes associated with autism.

By studying rodents, researchers showed that instead of attacking germs, some neutrophils may help heal the brain after an intracerebral hemorrhage, a form of stroke caused by ruptured blood vessels. The study suggests that two neutrophil-related proteins may play critical roles in protecting the brain from stroke-induced damage and could be used as treatments for intracerebral hemorrhage.

A new study from UC Davis shows that the so-called 'love hormone' oxytocin can intensify negative as well as positive experiences.

New research conducted in mice provides evidence that highly lethal brain tumors, called high-grade gliomas, stop growing when deprived of a specific molecule naturally produced when brain cells fire. The experiments, led by a group of scientists from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, suggest that targeting a protein called neuroligin-3 may prove beneficial in patients with these diseases.

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) is working to protect the whole human body from radiation in space. Space radiation is dangerous and one of the primary health risks for astronauts. Virtually any cell in the body is susceptible to radiation damage.

A new role has been identified for the major Alzheimer's risk factor ApoE4, suggesting that targeting the protein may help treat the disease. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis show that ApoE4 exacerbates the brain damage caused by toxic tangles of a different Alzheimer's-associated protein: tau. In the absence of ApoE, tau tangles did very little harm to brain cells.

Our self-control may not be a finite resource that diminishes throughout the day, but we may still experience fatigue while persisting in a single task, according to a study published Sept. 20, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Daniel Randles from the the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues.