News

The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has announced that it will be targeting two key Alzheimer’s proteins – amyloid and tau – as part of its Tau Next Generation Alzheimer’s prevention trial.

When immune cells move throughout the brain, they act as the first line of defense against viruses, toxic materials and damaged neurons. Researchers have been investigating how these immune cells relate to a gene mutation recently found in Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Neurons are interconnected and establish special communication points, known as synapses. All neurons require a constant environment in order to function reliably and to ensure this, the brain is surrounded by the blood-brain barrier. Research has now shown that for insects, there is a second barrier in the brain.

The causes of IBS are not well understood, but an international team of researchers has now identified several genes that provide clues into the origins of IBS.

Treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is a challenge because drugs have to be able to cross the blood–brain barrier. To solve this issue, scientists are optimizing polymer-coated nanoparticles to increase their permeability across this barrier and consequently the delivery of encapsulated drugs in the brain.

Dog barking, birdsong and human languages sound very different at first hearing. However, when analyzing these vocalizations more closely, one can find many similarities. In a new article, researchers took a closer look at the melodies of different languages and the vocalizations of non-human tetrapod species.

Ketamine, a drug used to treat mood disorders and severe depression, improved the thinking and reasoning of those who expressed thoughts of killing themselves within 24 hours, according to a Columbia University study.

Up to now, mainly individual substances have been tested for potential health risks to unborn children. Now, the "Panoramix" research project is looking into whether mixtures of different substances have harmful effects on unborn and developing children that are not adequately covered by the existing assessment system.

While rubbing up against a shark sounds like a risky move if you’re a fish, a collaborative research team found that this behavior is frequent, widespread and could play a previously unappreciated important ecological role for aquatic animals.

Distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP) is the most prevalent neurological problem in HIV infection, affecting 50 percent of all patients. Previous research on DSP has mostly focused on the peripheral nervous system, but nerve injury cannot fully explain the wide variability of symptoms. Researchers have now looked at the brain to see how it may be contributing to patients’ pain.