Study: Obesity could affect brain development in children

Published studies have long found a correlation between obesity in children and decreased executive function. New research published in JAMA Pediatrics, based on data mined from a massive national research study, suggests that a change in brain structure—a thinner prefrontal cortex—may help explain that interrelationship. “Our results show an important connection; that kids with higher BMI tend to have a […]

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Disruption of glycine receptors to study embryonic development and brain function

Glycine receptors are among the most widely distributed inhibitory receptors in the central nervous system and have important roles in a variety of physiological processes. Researchers from Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), University of Toyama, Yamagata University, Cairo University, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences and Setsunan University collaborated to study glycine receptors, particularly glycine receptor alpha-4 (Glra4), […]

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The right mouse model is crucial for Huntington’s disease drug development

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an incurable and fatal hereditary disease. Developing disease-modifying drugs to treat patients with HD depends on studying them in animal models. Scientists evaluated the mouse models used for developing new treatments for mood disorders in HD and recommended which of these models are most relevant to their studies. Their findings are published in the Journal of […]

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New knowledge on the development of asthma

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have studied which genes are expressed in overactive immune cells in mice with asthma-like inflammation of the airways. Their results, which are published in the journal Immunity, suggest that the synthesis and breakdown of fats plays an important part in the process. The job of the human immune system is to read our environment […]

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AI and MRIs at birth can predict cognitive development at age two, study finds

Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine used MRI brain scans and machine learning techniques at birth to predict cognitive development at age 2 years with 95 percent accuracy. “This prediction could help identify children at risk for poor cognitive development shortly after birth with high accuracy,” said senior author John H. Gilmore, MD, Thad and Alice […]

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Inherited mutations may play a role in pancreatic cancer development

A small, retrospective study has found that, in patients with particular pancreatic duct lesions, the presence of an inherited mutation in a pancreatic cancer susceptibility gene may increase the patients’ risk of developing pancreatic cancer. To verify these results and learn more about the development of this deadly cancer, the researchers recommend more genetic studies. Their hope—in line with the […]

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Adolescent cannabis use alters development of planning, self-control brain areas

Adolescent marijuana use may alter how neurons function in brain areas engaged in decision-making, planning and self-control, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The findings, which were presented at Neuroscience 2018, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, are the result of an animal model study focused on the structural development of the prefrontal cortex, […]

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Scientists uncover how rare gene mutation affects brain development and memory

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, have found that a rare gene mutation alters brain development in mice, impairing memory and disrupting the communication between nerve cells. They also show memory problems could be improved by transplanting a specific type of nerve cell into the brain. The findings were published today in Neuron. “Mutations in hundreds […]

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Spying on the virus: Development to increase effectiveness of viral cancer therapy

Scientists have learned how to observe the processes of oncolytic viruses in cancer cells in real time. For the first time ever, a group of scientists from NUST MISIS and the University of Calgary (Canada) has applied intravital microscopy to study the interaction of oncolytic viruses with both tumor cells and healthy cells. With the technology, researchers can visualize how […]

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Blood vessels instruct brain development

Function and homeostasis of the brain relies on communication between its complex network of cells. Consequently, development of the different groups of cells in the brain needs to be coordinated in time and space. The group of Amparo Acker-Palmer (Buchmann Institute of Molecular Life Sciences and the Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Goethe University) reported in the last issue […]

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