neuroscience, disease & medicine

His work was pivotal to understanding the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The three-month moratorium comes after a former prion researcher was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

A lackluster performance in clinical trials of the monoclonal antibody aducanumab has left some experts unconvinced of its benefit.

Meet some of the people featured in the June 2021 issue of The Scientist.

A dysfunctional lymphatic system, described as a clogging of the brain’s sink, may explain why immunotherapies fail in some Alzheimer’s patients.

Researchers insert functioning cone photoreceptors into the retinas of mice with advanced eye disease, improving their vision.

The National Academies’ report touches on ethical issues raised by new technologies such as brain organoids and human-animal chimeras, and suggests that current regulatory oversight is sufficient.

A study that compared several anesthetic regimens in rodents showed that only one—inhaled isoflurane—wasn’t detrimental to the activity of neurons in the hippocampus.

The largest study of its kind identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms with disparate effects on men’s and women’s susceptibility to conditions such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

A physician and neurobiologist at the Rockefeller University who specialized in addiction research, Kreek was best known for her work on developing the treatment for heroin addiction.

A noninvasive saliva test accurately identified concussions in a study of hundreds of rugby players.

In mice, epigenetic marks made on histones during infancy influence depression-like behavior during adulthood. A drug that reverses the genomic tags appears to undo the damage.

Patients who received the drug fared better cognitively and functionally than those taking placebo, but still experienced losses in performance.

Manipulating the production of new neurons can improve cognition in animal models of the disease, raising the possibility that figuring out a way for humans to make more neurons could make a difference for people with dementia.

Health officials are searching for possible exposures to heavy metals, but no sources of contamination have been identified.

The variant causes a buildup of BACE1 protein in axons in cultured neurons and mice. Researchers say it might be time to rethink failed trials that inhibit BACE1 to treat the neurodegenerative disease.

The test will be a cheaper and more accessible alternative to currently available diagnostic tools, researchers say.

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers monitored subsecond changes in levels of the neurotransmitters in the human brain, unlocking new insight into their function.

Comparing the brain scans of high-impact rugby players with those of athletes in noncontact sports, such as rowing and swimming, revealed tiny, yet significant, differences in the brain’s white matter.

Gamma delta T cells in the meninges of the brain release a cell signaling molecule that does more than protect mice from microbial pathogens.