Deep inside the brain: Mapping the dense neural networks in the cerebral cortex

Mammalian brains, with their unmatched number of nerve cells and density of communication, are the most complex networks known. While methods to analyze neuronal networks sparsely have been available for decades, the dense mapping of neuronal circuits is a major scientific challenge. Researchers from the MPI for Brain Research have now conducted connectomic mapping of brain tissue from the cerebral […]

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Tiny blood cells could protect against cerebral palsy

Platelets—tiny cells critical for blood clotting—could be the key to protecting against brain damage occurring during pregnancy or around the time of birth. Information gained from the pre-clinical study led by Dr. Alison Farley and Dr. Samir Taoudi from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute could enable doctors to intervene at the right time to prevent brain bleeds—a significant risk […]

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Thalamus and cerebral cortex interactions influence the decision on sensory perceptions

When we receive a stimulus, sensory information is transmitted by the afferent nerves to the thalamus, which in turn, like a relay, forwards the information to the sensory cortex to process it and consciously perceive the stimulus. But, does this information travel only in the thalamus-cortex direction? And, is this journey a determining factor in the subsequent conscious perception of […]

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Study links aortic stiffness with lower cerebral blood flow

Greater aortic stiffness is related to lower cerebral blood flow, especially among individuals with increased genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, according to research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The study, published recently in Circulation, supports emerging evidence that arterial stiffness, a hypertension-related factor, may play a role in cognitive decline, said Angela Jefferson, Ph.D., professor of Neurology and director of […]

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Drug treatment has profound effect on cerebral malaria in mice

A potentially new way of treating cerebral malaria has been discovered by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Glasgow, in a study using mice. The authors found that inhibiting a complex called the inflammasome, at the same time as delivering anti-malarial drugs, reduced mortality from experimental cerebral malaria in mice. The research, published in PNAS and funded by the […]

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Blood test predicts spastic cerebral palsy

A Delaware team including Erin Crowgey, Ph.D., associate director of Bioinformatics with Nemours Biomedical Research, has published a study in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Bioinformatics, showing that DNA patterns in circulating blood cells can be used to help identify spastic cerebral palsy (CP) patients (Crowgey et al.). The work represents a collaboration among researchers at Nemours, the University of Delaware […]

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Researchers identify the electrophysiological sign of cerebral infarction

Researchers have analyzed the underlying electrophysiological indicators of subarachnoid hemorrhage, the second most common type of brain hemorrhage that can lead to ischemic stroke within a matter of days. Their findings, which have been published in the journal Brain, may lay the foundations for new stroke treatments. Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a type of brain bleed that occurs in the area […]

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