In medical research, finding a reliable and cost-effective animal model can greatly enhance success in identifying disease mechanisms and genetic pathways, potentially cutting years off drug testing regimes and development of new treatment strategies.
Development
Researchers develop gene therapy to boost brain repair for demyelinating diseases
(Medical Xpress) — Our bodies are full of tiny superheroesantibodies that fight foreign invaders, cells that regenerate, and structures that ensure our systems run smoothly. One such structure is myelina material that forms a protective, insulating cape around the axons of our nerve cells so that they can send signals quickly and efficiently. But myelin, and the specialized cells called oligodendrocytes that make it, become damaged in demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), leaving neurons without their myelin sheaths. As a consequence, the affected neurons can no longer communicate correctly and are prone to damage. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) now believe they have found a way to help the brain replace damaged oligodendrocytes and myelin.
Neuroscientists link brain-wave pattern to energy consumption
Different brain states produce different waves of electrical activity, with the alert brain, relaxed brain and sleeping brain producing easily distinguishable electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. These patterns change even more dramatically when the brain goes into certain deeply quiescent states during general anesthesia or a coma.
Mild cognitive impairment is associated with disability and neuropsychiatric symptoms
In low- and middle-income countries, mild cognitive impairmentan intermediate state between normal signs of cognitive aging, such as becoming increasingly forgetful, and dementia, which may or may not progressis consistently associated with higher disability and with neuropsychiatric symptoms but not with most socio-demographic factors, according to a large study published in this week’s PLoS Medicine.
Researchers increase understanding of gene’s potentially protective role in Parkinson’s
Treatments for Parkinson’s disease, estimated to affect 1 million Americans, have yet to prove effective in slowing the progression of the debilitating disease.