The ability to create new neurons may exist as built-in protection for sensitive brain areas, according to research in mice recently published in JNeurosci. For a quarter of a century, scientists have known that the brain creates new neurons even into adulthood—a process called adult neurogenesis. The question has been: why? Adult neurogenesis occurs in the dentate gyrus, a brain […]
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New research by Dorothy P. Schafer, Ph.D., at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, reveals the molecular process in which synaptic connections in the brain are damaged in multiple sclerosis and how this contributes to neurodegenerative symptoms. The paper, published in Immunity, also shows how gene therapy may be used to preserve neural circuits and protect against vision loss in […]
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A new study, published in PeerJ, shows how University of Liverpool researchers have used a newly developed eye movement test to improve the understanding of how parts of the brain work. Healthy, older adults are widely reported to experience cognitive decline, including impairments in inhibitory control (the ability to stop ourselves thinking or doing things). However, because ageing effects on […]
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A new study from researchers at Western University and Queen’s University definitively shows that regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, during pregnancy has significant impact on placental and fetal development. With more than a year since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, the effects of its use during pregnancy are only now beginning to be […]
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A Yale-affiliated scientist finds that even a few hours’ exposure to ambient ultrafine particles common in air pollution may potentially trigger a nonfatal heart attack. Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major form of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Ultrafine particles (UFP) are 100 nanometers or smaller in size. In urban areas, automobile emissions are the primary source of UFP. The study in […]
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You’re not likely to find any studies linking heart disease and NFL coaches—just a long list of familiar names. Among them: Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears, who had heart attacks in 1988 and 2018. Bill Parcells of the New York Giants and other teams, who needed bypass surgery in 1992. Dennis Green of the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, […]
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High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a new study in mice suggests they have a down side: They lead to more plaque in the arteries. Further, the new research shows that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque — the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked arteries. More plaque buildup in the arteries, particularly if […]
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Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and their colleagues in Germany, the U.S. and Finland have studied the safety of very long-term antipsychotic therapy for schizophrenia. According to the study, which is published in the scientific journal World Psychiatry, mortality was higher during periods when patients were not on medication than when they were. People with schizophrenia have an average […]
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A team of scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University together with their colleagues from NUST MISiS and RWTH Aachen University (Germany) compared different treatments against liver fibrosis and published the results of their study in the Cells journal. In the course of this disease liver tissue is replaced with connective (cicatricial) tissue preventing the organ from its normal functioning. […]
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UK scientists have identified a new way to kill pancreatic cancer cells by ‘pulling the plug’ on the energy generator that fuels calcium pumps on their cell surface. The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, reports how switching off the cancer’s energy supply causes the pancreatic cancer cells to become ‘poisoned’ by an irreversible build-up of calcium. Calcium […]
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