A new study shows that just having a parent with an alcohol use disorder affects how your brain transitions between active and resting states — regardless of your own drinking habits. A new study shows that just having a parent with an alcohol use disorder affects how your brain transitions between active and resting states…

Since 1993, when the gene that causes Huntington’s disease (HD) was identified, there has been intense focus on understanding how this genetic mutation causes the disease’s severe progressive neural deterioration. «We are excited about this finding because it describes a functional change that occurs very early in HD models, including in human neurons, and might…

Scientists have made an important discovery in understanding the role a particular protein plays to impair memory in Alzheimer’s disease, which could lead to more effective treatment in future. Professor Cliff Abraham and Dr Anurag Singh from the Department of Psychology have identified that a protein in the brain — tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF?) —…

A new study has demonstrated the enhanced ability of an optimized 20-nucleotide derivative of a larger DNA aptamer to bind myelin in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. The laboratories of L. James Maher, III and Moses Rodriguez from Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science (Rochester, MN) coauthored the article entitled «Optimization of a…

Research results suggest that the inhibition of phosphorylation of microtubule-binding protein CRMP2 could be a novel approach to the development of treatments for optic neuropathies, such as glaucoma and traumatic injury. The findings of this study, recently published online in Scientific Reports, could be translated into the development of novel treatments for patients with optic…

For the first time, a study shows how glucocorticoid hormones, such as cortisol, control sugar and fat levels differently during day and night, feeding and fasting, rest and activity, over the course of 24 hours. The research conducted in mice found that the time-of-day dependent metabolic cycle is altered by high caloric diet. Since glucocorticoids…

Researchers in Finland found a link between smoking and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a type of bleeding stroke, in a study of more than 16,000 pairs of twins over 42 years. The study found that bleeding in the brain can be explained to a greater degree by environmental risk factors, such as smoking, than by genetic…

Kicking the habit works best in pairs. That’s the main message of a new study. ‘Quitting smoking can be a lonely endeavor,’ said a study author. «Quitting smoking can be a lonely endeavour,» said study author Magda Lampridou, of Imperial College London, UK. «People feel left out when they skip the smoke break at work…

Trauma-focused psychotherapy is the best-known treatment for PTSD. But how does it work? A researcher may have found the answer by exploring how different parts of the brain talk to one another. «We know that psychotherapy works. But we don’t have a lot of good data to explain how it works, how the brain is…

Scientists have built a computer ‘brain circuit’, or artificial neural network, that mirrors human decision-making processes and sheds light on how circuits might be altered in psychiatric diseases. The model identifies a potential mechanism for the impaired decision making that is commonly seen in schizophrenia, involving the reduced activity of molecules in the brain called…