Smokers aren't only hurting themselves, they're also hurting their children and grandchildren. So says a study published last month in the EXCLI Journal. Scientists at East Carolina University, in Greenville, North Carolina saw unusual behavior in C. elegans roundworms exposed to nicotine at an early stage of development. But that's not all – the researchers also witnessed abnormal behavior and withdrawal symptoms in subsequent generations of...
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Gaunt facial features and a frighteningly thin figure are physical hallmarks of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that predominantly affects adolescent girls. But in addition to extreme weight loss, changes take place that aren't as visually apparent. For the first time, scientists in New York have found evidence of brain plasticity in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) mouse model. Led by Dr. Chiye Aoki of New York...
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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Drs. Thomas Südhof, James Rothman, and Randy Schekman for discovering the principles of how molecules are transported within cells and in between cells and how they are delivered to the right place at the right time. Disruptions in this precise system are implicated in numerous neurological and immunological disorders. Dr. Sudhof uncovered how neurotransmitters are released into...
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Humans and gorillas are approximately 98% identical on a genetic level, however there is little published research exploring Alzheimer's disease pathology in gorillas. A new paper reports that gorillas display similarities in advanced age to humans ̶ including the presence of Alzheimer's disease precursors like amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and tau lesions. The study, published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, provides evidence of Alzheimer's disease precursors in the western...
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Scientists hypothesize that during puberty, experiences influence brain development in ways that shape brain structure and even behavior in adulthood. One type of experience that often arises in the minds of pubescent teens and adolescents is sex. But a study published in the journal Hormones and Behavior suggests engaging in sexual activity too soon could be detrimental to the adult brain, and may lead to...
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Each year, nearly ninety thousand children are born extremely premature in the United States – that is, before 28 weeks gestation. Most of them survive, but about half the survivors suffer from severe health problems throughout their childhood and into adulthood, including learning and behavioral disorders such as ADHD. “Treatment options are clearly urgently required to prevent the brain damage and associated memory deficits that follow...
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A new optical clearing agent developed by scientists in Japan clears brain tissue samples with greater transparency and less time than other clearing agents, according to a paper published in Nature Neuroscience. “Combined with two-photon microscopy, SeeDB allowed us to image fixed mouse brains at the millimeter-scale level,” say the authors, who after clearing the brain tissue with SeeDB, captured images with a multiphoton Olympus microscope,...
Read More Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that formoterol ̶ an FDA-approved drug for treating asthma and similar respiratory disorders ̶ improves cognitive function in mice genetically altered to exhibit symptoms of Down syndrome including cognitive disability. Formoterol was chosen for the study because it activates β2 adrenergic receptors (β2ARs) on neurons, a task also carried out by norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter with a...
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In spring, days grow long, and the white-footed mouse looks for a mate. For some mammals, day length prompts behaviors like breeding or camouflaging, and scientists say it's not just the arc of the sun that kicks off these seasonal events; substances in the brain also play a part. One important element is melatonin, a hormone that the mammalian brain secretes at night. According to a...
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Drugs affect different people in different ways. Take cocaine for example. Not only does the drug have a stronger impact on the behavior of individuals with a particular genetic makeup, it also initiates more profound changes in their brains. Researchers at the University of Michigan are studying brain plasticity in cocaine-treated rats after a period of abstinence. They're studying how abstinence from the drug affects different...
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