Long-term memory performance depends upon gating system, study finds

Storing and retrieving memories is among the most important tasks our intricate brains must perform, yet how that happens at a molecular level remains incompletely understood. A new study from the lab of Neuroscience Professor Ronald Davis, Ph.D., at Scripps Research, Florida, sheds light on one element of that memory storage process, namely the storage and retrieval of a type […]

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Rapid spread of a meningitis bacteria linked to hypermutable sequences helping avoidance of the immune system

An enhanced potential to avoid the human immune system has been found in recent serogroup W isolates of Neisseria meningitidis by University of Leicester researchers, which may explain in part why the strain spread so rapidly among young people in 2013. The study, published last week in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, saw researchers from Leicester, the University of Nottingham […]

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Childhood leukemia cannot hide from the immune system

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have evidence that children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia mount a robust immune response to their cancer. The findings, which appear today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, will likely aid development of immunotherapy for the most common childhood cancer. Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment in the last decade, particularly for adults with melanoma, lung […]

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Loss of a DNA repair system creates a unique vulnerability in many cancer types

Cancer cells adapt to potentially fatal mutations and other molecular malfunctions by adjusting one or more other genes’ activity, in the process becoming dependent on those genes for their survival and growth. The resulting genetic dependencies may provide targets for developing new precision-guided drugs or other cancer treatment strategies. Reporting in Nature, researchers led by members of the Cancer Dependency […]

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Air pollution may impact fetal cardiovascular system, study says

Microscopic particles in air pollution inhaled by pregnant women may damage fetal cardiovascular development, according to a study by Rutgers researchers. The study, published in the journal Cardiovascular Toxicology, found that early in the first trimester and late in the third trimester were critical windows during which pollutants most affect the mother’s and fetus’ cardiovascular systems. “These findings suggest that […]

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Protective effects of ADM-RAMP2 system make it a new therapeutic target for retinal vein occlusion

A clot in the retinal vein can lead to severe and irreversible loss of vision. In a report in the American Journal of Pathology investigators utilize a newly developed model of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in mice that mimics many of the clinical features of CRVO in humans to study the pathologic effects of retinal occlusion and demonstrate the […]

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The reward system in the brain affects our judgments

We make judgements quite rationally or “by the gut.” Not only experience and relevant information play an important role, but also our preferences. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne shows how the reward system in the brain conveys judgements affected by one’s own desires. “In complex, confusing situations, we run the risk of making […]

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New AI system will help us discover the most effective behaviour change strategies

Changing people’s behaviour is key to tackling the world’s health, social and environmental problems, such as obesity, sustainable living and cybersecurity. To change behaviour, though, we need to know what works, for whom, where and how. But research is generated far faster than humans can access and use it. A search on Google Scholar for “behaviour change” produced over 60,000 […]

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