Common brain disorders accelerate brain aging

Common brain disorders seem to be associated with accelerated aging of the brain, according to a new international study using machine learning models to analyse structural brain MRI data from more than 45,000 individuals. The researchers discovered that people with memory disorders, multiple sclerosis (MS) and schizophrenia, among other conditions, have an older-looking brain than it really is; however, there […]

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New yeast model of metabolic disorders may lead to life-saving therapies

There are hundreds of metabolic disorders—including phenylketonuria, tyrosinemia, maple syrup urine disease and homocystinuria. These disorders lead to congenital diseases that produce a critical enzyme deficiency that interferes with the body’s metabolism. The pathologies and symptoms vary among the diseases, but all of them are usually fatal and have no known cure. Most metabolic disorders affect infants. The majority of […]

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Discovery of new neurons in the inner ear can lead to new therapies for hearing disorders

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified four types of neurons in the peripheral auditory system, three of which are new to science. The analysis of these cells can lead to new therapies for various kinds of hearing disorders, such as tinnitus and age-related hearing loss. The study is published in Nature Communications. When sound reaches the inner ear, […]

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Researchers harness virtual reality, motion capture to study neurological disorders

Neuroscientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have a powerful new state-of-the-art tool at their disposal to study diseases like Autism, Alzheimer’s, and traumatic brain injury. The Mobile Brain/Body Imaging system, or MoBI, combines virtual reality, brain monitoring, and Hollywood-inspired motion capture technology, enabling researchers to study the movement difficulties that often accompany neurological disorders and why our […]

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The heart: Digital or analog? Researchers shed dramatic new light on disorders of heart bioelectricity

Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTCRI) have found evidence that may disrupt conventional understanding about how electrical activity travels in the heart—a discovery that potentially can lead to new insight into medical problems such as heart arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. The research study, now online but scheduled to appear as a final version on Tuesday, Sept. […]

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No higher risk of autoimmune disorders after HPV4 vaccination

(HealthDay)—Following quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV4) vaccination, girls age 12 to 17 years do not have increased risk of autoimmune disorders, according to a study published recently in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association. Erin Y. Liu, from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and colleagues conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using Ontario’s administrative health and vaccination databases from […]

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Are neurological disorders the result of brain evolution mistakes?

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Australia has proposed that some neurological disorders might have their roots in evolutionary mistakes. In their paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the group describes their ideas and possible paths of research moving forward. As scientists delve ever deeper into our brains as part of an effort to understand how […]

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New guidelines to diagnose, manage rare endocrine disorders

International guidelines have been published for the first time to help doctors around the globe diagnose and manage patients with a very rare set of endocrine diseases known as pseudohypoparathyroidism and its related disorders, including Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO). It’s the realization of a long-term goal for physician-scientist Dr. Emily Germain-Lee of the UConn School of Medicine and Connecticut Children’s […]

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