2021

Therapy Manipulates the Immune System to Slow Neurodegeneration Without Triggering Dangerous Inflammation in the Process. A new therapy prompts immune defense cells to swallow misshapen proteins, amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles, whose buildup is known to kill nearby brain cells as part of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study shows. […]

A Mediterranean diet – high in fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil and oily fish – may prevent the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of visual impairment in people over the age of 50. A new study published by researchers from Inserm and […]

Investigators found similarities in the bacterial composition of the mouth among patients with early rheumatoid arthritis and those at risk of developing the disease, compared with healthy individuals who were not at risk. The findings come from a study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. Patients and at-risk individuals had an […]

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Cognitive impairment is a sometimes neglected, yet common, sign and symptom with a profound effect on instrumental activities of daily living. Even before diagnosis, patients may experience cognitive dysfunction that manifests through symptoms such as memory lapses or […]

Bdelloid rotifers are multicellular animals, so small a microscope is needed to see them. Despite their size, they're known for being tough — capable of surviving drying, freezing, starvation and low oxygen. Now, U.S. National Science Foundation-funded researchers have found that not only can they withstand being frozen, but they can […]

Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) experience a lot of testing in the early days of their life, and research shows the associated pain and trauma can contribute to long term neurological deficits. Matthew Bizzarro, MD and Steven Peterec, MD were at a conference on the effects of pain on the […]

Human heart muscle cells are constantly at work – contracting roughly a million times a week in adults. Jessica Pfleger, a new assistant professor joining the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s Center for Vascular and Heart Research, studies how the heart’s genes are regulated in response to stimulation and stress. Her […]

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered a new technique to control inflammatory disorders that also maintains a patient’s ability to fight off infections. Principal investigator Carlos Subauste, professor of medicine and pathology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and his team have identified the interaction of […]

Eating healthy is not easy. This is especially true today, when all the supermarkets are full of ready-made, ready-to-eat kinds of food. It is no wonder why many people choose such products on a daily basis: these ultra-processed meals are produced to taste good, are relatively inexpensive, and do not […]

An international team of scientists from Manchester, Montpellier and Copenhagen have identified why some endurance athletes experience a heart rhythm disturbance called ‘heart block’. The University of Manchester-led study found that long-term exercise in retired racehorses – the best available model of the athlete’s heart – and in mice, triggered […]

As “visual recognition memory” emerges in the visual cortex, one circuit of inhibitory neurons supplants another, and slower neural oscillations prevail. To focus on what’s new, we disregard what’s not. A new study by researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory substantially advances understanding of how a mammalian […]

James Cook University scientists believe they have made a breakthrough in the science of keeping premature babies alive. As part of her PhD work, JCU engineering lecturer Stephanie Baker led a pilot study that used a hybrid neural network to accurately predict how much risk individual premature babies face. She […]