Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and the German Cancer Research Center have identified ELP1 as a novel predisposition gene in the SHH subgroup of pediatric medulloblastoma. The work appears as an advance online…
Read MoreLead exposure early in life alters brain opioid system, may lead to mental disorders
While the exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown and much research has focused on genetics, researchers at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work are one step closer to understanding one pathway that may result in this…
Read MoreHow associative fear memory is formed in the brain
How does the brain form “fear memory” that links a traumatic event to a particular situation? A pair of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, may have found an answer. Using a mouse model, the researchers demonstrated the formation…
Read MoreBrain tumors remodel neuronal synapses to promote growth
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have found new evidence that glioma, a lethal form of brain cancer, alters the activity of neighboring neurons, accelerating a vicious cycle that drives tumor-associated epilepsy and tumor progression. Their findings, published in Nature,…
Read MoreWhat the brain really thinks about forever chemicals
The human-made chemicals that make our kitchen pans stick-free, our athletic wear water-repellent and firefighting chemicals more efficient do their jobs incredibly well, but it’s at the expense of lingering in the body and environment for what is believed to…
Read MoreCombination drug therapy for childhood brain tumors shows promise in laboratory models
In experiments with human cells and mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report evidence that combining the experimental cancer medication TAK228 (also called sapanisertib) with an existing anti-cancer drug called trametinib may be more effective than either…
Read MoreBrain imaging study reveals new clues about PTSD in victims of terrorist attacks
The terrorist attacks committed in Paris and Saint-Denis on November 13, 2015 have left lasting marks, not only on the survivors and their loved ones, but also on French society as a whole. A vast transdisciplinary research program, the 13-Novembre…
Read MoreMore than a knee injury: ACL tears cause harmful changes in our brain structure
It’s known that some joint function is often permanently lost after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and re-injury is common even with intensive physical therapy, but it’s unclear why. New research from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology shows structural…
Read MoreBrain tumor surgery that pushes boundaries boosts patients survival
Survival may more than double for adults with glioblastoma, the most common and deadly type of brain tumor, if neurosurgeons remove the surrounding tissue as aggressively as they remove the cancerous core of the tumor. This discovery, reported in a…
Read MoreHere’s how brain balances pleasure, pain experiences
According to the study, published in the journal Neuron, different classes of nerve cells control positive and negative motivations. Researchers have discovered a brain circuit involved in dividing the labour to handle two opposing motivations for behaviour — pleasure and…
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