microglia

Researchers find a way to wipe out the brain’s immune cell corps and send in new and improved versions.

Making specific alterations to the bacterial population in a rat’s lungs either better protects the animals against multiple sclerosis–like symptoms or makes them more vulnerable, a study finds—the first demonstration of a lung-brain axis.

Data from mouse models for mild coronavirus infections and human tissue samples offer further evidence that it doesn’t take a severe infection—or even infection of brain cells at all—to cause long-term neurological symptoms.

Pharmaceutical companies ramp up efforts to get the brain’s immune cells to help treat Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions, but not everyone agrees the approach will be effective.

In both a mouse model and the hospital records of more than 3 million children, researchers found a connection between strong immune activation in males and later symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.

Genetic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic data reveal molecular mechanisms tying these disorders to each other and to immune disfunction.

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

Overactive immune cells identified in a mouse model and in postmortem human brain tissue may offer a potential therapeutic target for cognitive delays associated with the condition, researchers report.

Conversations between the immune and central nervous systems are proving to be essential for the healthy social behavior, learning, and memory.

Some viruses, possibly even SARS-CoV-2, can sneak into the brain through the nose. Recent studies show that microglia are ready for them when they do.

Several routes exist for immune cells to communicate with neurons in the central nervous system, though T cells rarely come in direct contact with neural tissue.

Microglia ingest nerve cell connections, leading to the loss of information stored in neuronal circuits.

By trimming synapses in the adult mouse hippocampus, microglia help facilitate forgetting.

Clues about the biological mechanisms that contribute to a person’s chance of contemplating or attempting suicide

The biochemical mechanisms in the brain underlying suicidal behavior are beginning to come to light, and researchers hope they could one day lead to better treatment and prevention strategies.

Clinical trials that target human endogenous retroviruses to treat multiple sclerosis, ALS, and other ailments are underway, but many questions remain about how these sequences may disrupt our biology.