Spanish researchers at the Institute of Neurosciences at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (INc-UAB) identified the fundamental role played by the Nurr1 gene in neuron survival associated with synaptic activity. The discovery, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, allows scientists to study a new target that could help to understand the relationship between alterations in neural connections, which are known to cause early cognitive deficit, and the neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Author:
Wiring the brain
(Medical Xpress) — Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a simple mathematical model of the brain which provides a remarkably complete statistical account of the complex web of connections between various brain regions. Their findings have been published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Brain network reveals disorders
(Medical Xpress) — Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich identify a new method of unerringly detecting the presence of pathophysiological changes in the brain. The new method was developed in order to gain a mechanistic understanding of schizophrenia and other spectrum disorders, which will lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments.
Data mining opens the door to predictive neuroscience
The discovery, using state-of-the-art informatics tools, increases the likelihood that it will be possible to predict much of the fundamental structure and function of the brain without having to measure every aspect of it. That in turn makes the Holy Grail of modelling the brain in silico — the goal of the proposed Human Brain Project — a more realistic, less Herculean, prospect.
Fragile X syndrome can be reversed in adult mouse brain
A recent study finds that a new compound reverses many of the major symptoms associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability and a leading cause of autism. The paper, published by Cell Press in the April 12 issue of the journal Neuron, describes the exciting observation that the FXS correction can occur in adult mice, after the symptoms of the condition have already been established.