Monthly Archives: April 2023

Poor Air Quality Linked to Cognitive Problems in Babies

Poor air quality could be causing cognitive deficits in babies and toddlers, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study published today reveals an association between poor air quality in India and impaired cognition in infants under two. Without action, the negative impact on children’s long-term brain development could have […]

Promising ‘Gene Silencing’ Drug for Alzheimer’s

A world-first trial at UCL and UCLH has found a new genetic therapy for Alzheimer’s disease that is able to safely and successfully lower levels of the harmful tau protein known to cause the disease. The trial, led by consultant neurologist Dr Catherine Mummery (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology & the National Hospital for […]

How Alcohol Consumption Contributes to Chronic Pain

Chronic alcohol consumption may make people more sensitive to pain through two different molecular mechanisms — one driven by alcohol intake and one by alcohol withdrawal. That is one new conclusion by scientists at Scripps Research on the complex links between alcohol and pain. The research, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology on April […]

Music Interventions in Older Adults Enhance Cerebellar Grey Matter and Auditory Working Memory

As we age, brain plasticity tends to diminish, making it more difficult to learn new things. This is accompanied by a loss of the gray matter in which our neurons reside, leading to brain atrophyTrusted Source and further cognitive degeneration. A new study has found that intensive music playing and active listening can slow the […]

Researchers Successfully Prevent Peanut Allergic Reactions in Mice

Peanuts cause severe, sometimes fatal, reactions in an estimated 1.1 percent of the global population. “Our approach is unique because our inhibitor starts working before the allergen has a chance to trigger an allergic reaction,” said Başar Bilgiçer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, “Our collaboration with Dr. Mark Kaplan at Indiana University School of […]

Virus Causing Chromosomal Breakage Could Lead to Cancer

The Epstein-Barr virus causes infectious mononucleosis and similar ailments, though often there are no symptoms. Most infections are mild and pass, but the virus persists in the body, becoming latent or inactive, sometimes reactivating. Long-term latent infections are associated with several chronic inflammatory conditions and multiple cancers. In a recent paper it was described  for […]

Researchers Identify a Potential New Therapeutic Target in Parkinson’s Disease

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team led by Krembil Brain Institute Senior Scientists, Drs. Lorraine Kalia and Suneil Kalia, and University of Toronto (U of T) Professor, Dr. Philip M. Kim, identified a protein-protein interaction that contributes to Parkinson’s disease. In the disease, a protein a-syn accumulates in the brain and leads […]

Sleeping Pill Reduces Levels of Alzheimer’s Proteins

Sleep disturbances can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Many people eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s start experiencing difficulty falling and staying asleep years before cognitive problems such as memory loss and confusion emerge. It’s a vicious cycle: Alzheimer’s disease involves changes to the brain that disrupt sleep, and poor sleep accelerates harmful changes to […]

Excess Calories During Development Alters the Brain

Rutgers researchers traced this link from mother to child in mice with an experiment that began by letting some mice get obese on unlimited high-fat food during pregnancy and breastfeeding while keeping others slim on limitless healthy food. They found that mice born to obese mothers stay slim in adulthood on unlimited healthy food but […]

Activation of a Receptor for Treating Alcoholism

Activation of a receptor with no known function in the brain reduces excessive alcohol use and the pain of withdrawal, according to preclinical research in male rats. GPR139 is an orphan G protein-coupled receptor that is expressed mainly in the brain, with the highest expression in the medial habenula. The modulation of GPR139 receptor function […]