neurodegenerative diseases

Niacin, a form of vitamin B3 used to treat cardiovascular disease, helps immune cells in the brain fight neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s in mice models, according to recent studies. Researchers hope that human clinical trials will swiftly follow.

The patient, who has ALS, is able to communicate in complete sentences by deliberately altering his brain’s activity.

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

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

From a Nobel prize and photosynthesis-powered brains to neurodegeneration research and controversy over a new Alzheimer’s drug, a look back at some of the biggest brain-related developments of the year.

The Northwestern University researcher studies how adaptive immune cells influence neurodegenerative disease.

The long noncoding RNA MINCR, implicated in ALS and Alzheimer’s disease as well as several types of cancer, appears to function differently when present at high versus low levels.

Researchers say they hope to launch a clinical trial to test bumetanide, a diuretic approved in 2002, but how it might improve neural functioning is unclear.

Conservation of structures and functions between single-celled fungi and human cells allow researchers to probe the brain.

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.

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

The single-celled fungus allows researchers to study Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other brain diseases with unparalleled speed and scale.

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