General

Everyone knows that placebo is capable of effectively reducing pain, but people respond differently to placebo treatment. A new study from the University of Luxembourg revealed that it depends heavily on person‘s ability to reinterpret negative events and to control feelings. Interestingly, this was figured out using fMRI technology. Placebo […]

For Myrna Caroline Jacques, digital storytelling is her way of fighting Alzheimer’s. “I thought maybe if I do this and use my brain, the disease won’t take over as soon. “That’s my goal,” the 77-year-old grandma of five said. She may be onto something. A recent UAlberta study on digital […]

A pair of English bulldog puppies are the first patients to be successfully treated with a unique therapy — a combination of surgery and stem cells — developed at the University of California, Davis, to help preserve lower-limb function in children with spina bifida. Because dogs with the birth defect […]

Drawing on available data on people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), researchers at McGill University in Canada had trained a machine-learning algorithm to identify which patients will go on to develop dementia within a 24 month period with 84% accuracy. The data used […]

A mutation that helps make cells immortal is critical to the development of a tumor, but new research at UC Berkeley suggests that becoming immortal is a more complicated process than originally thought. The key to immortalization is an enzyme called telomerase, which keeps chromosomes healthy in cells that divide […]

Gastric carcinoma is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths, primarily because most patients present at an advanced stage of the disease. The main cause of this cancer is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which chronically infects around half of all humans. However, unlike tumour viruses, bacteria do not deposit […]

Scientists have identified a large group of biological ‘labels’ that guide nerves to ensure they make the correct connections and control different parts of the body. Although their research was conducted with fruit flies, the findings offer hope that we could one day reestablish nervous connections in people living with […]

A University of Queensland discovery may lead to new treatments for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). UQ Queensland Brain Institute scientists have discovered that new brain cells are produced in the adult amygdala, a region of the brain important for processing emotional memories. Disrupted connections in the amygdala, […]

Our modern lives are extremely stressful. We have to rush pretty much everywhere and are always haunted by a huge fear of getting late and being replaced. However, you may want to consider this – a new study showed that stress may be a major contributor to the development of […]

UCLA researchers have discovered a new way to activate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow. The research, led by scientists Heather Christofk and William Lowry, may lead to new drugs that could promote hair growth for people with baldness or alopecia, which is hair loss […]

Scientists studying how aging affects the biological clock’s control of metabolism have discovered that a low-calorie diet helps keep these energy-regulating processes humming and the body younger. In a study appearing today in the journal Cell, Paolo Sassone-Corsi, director of the Center for Epigenetics & Metabolism at the University of […]

An international team of scientists, led by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers, has created a human stem cell-based model of a rare, but devastating, inherited neurological autoimmune condition called Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome (AGS). In doing so, the team was able to identify unusual and surprising underlying genetic […]

The first few weeks after sperm meets egg still hold many mysteries. Among them: what causes the process to fail, leading to many cases of infertility. Despite the importance of this critical stage, scientists haven't had a good way to explore what can go wrong, or even what must go […]

Like much of the rest of the body, the brain loses flexibility with age, impacting the ability to learn, remember and adapt. Now, scientists at University of Utah Health report they can rejuvenate the plasticity of the mouse brain, specifically in the visual cortex, increasing its ability to change in […]

In the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, many of the genes required to form new memories are shut down by a genetic blockade, contributing to the cognitive decline seen in those patients. MIT researchers have now shown that they can reverse that memory loss in mice by interfering with the enzyme […]

Scientists report in a new study that by imitating a natural process of cells, they prevented the formation of protein clumps associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia. In lab cultures of human and yeast cells, the scientists stopped the harmful clumping of FUS proteins by exposing them […]

In a study that augurs well for the therapeutic potential of klotho – a life-extending protein hormone that a minority of people naturally produce at high levels – scientists at UC San Francisco have found that administering a fragment of the klotho protein to young, aging or impaired mice rapidly […]

A large, long-term study suggests that middle aged Americans who have vascular health risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking, have a greater chance of suffering from dementia later in life. The study, published in JAMA Neurology, was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “With an […]

Growing older may not have to mean growing frail. A preclinical study has revealed that brief periods of intense physical activity can be safely administered at advanced age, and that this kind of activity has the potential to reverse frailty. Published in the Journal of Gerontology A in June by […]

Attaining independence from one’s parents is an enduring theme in the lives of many organisms. Birds must fly the nest, just as mammals must wean off their mother’s milk. Now a study from Princeton researchers sheds light on a similar sort of separation drama that unfolds almost from the moment […]

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and determining a patient’s prognosis is an inexact business, and that stands in the way of better personalized care and advances in treatment. A new study from The Ohio State University has identified a potential new way of confirming the disease and predicting a patient’s outlook. First, […]

Cells within an injured mouse eye can be coaxed into regenerating neurons and those new neurons appear to integrate themselves into the eye’s circuitry, new research shows. The findings potentially open the door to new treatments for eye trauma and retinal disease. The study appears in the July 26 issue […]

A new study suggests that T cells, which help the body’s immune system recognize friend from foe, may play an important role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study, published in the journal Nature, was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes […]

When women reach “a certain age” they expect some typical symptoms that signal their journey through menopause. New research from the University of Michigan shows symptoms often cluster, and how they do so can suggest who is at risk for health problems and which women likely will experience healthy aging. […]

A stem cell-based method created by University of California, Irvine scientists can selectively target and kill cancerous tissue while preventing some of the toxic side effects of chemotherapy by treating the disease in a more localized way. Weian Zhao, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and colleagues have programmed human bone […]

Scientists have successfully regenerated cells in the retina of adult mice at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Their results raise the hope that someday it may be possible to repair retinas damaged by trauma, glaucoma and other eye diseases. Their efforts are part of the UW […]

The study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, also shows that bipolar patients treated with lithium – the main medication for the illness – have longer telomeres (a sign of slower biological ageing) compared to bipolar disorder patients not treated with lithium. This suggests that the drug may mask the ageing effects associated with bipolar […]

We've heard it before from our doctors and other health experts: Keep your weight down, don't smoke and cut back on the alcohol if you want to live longer. Now, research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health shows that people of fairly normal weight who never smoked […]

UAlberta researchers believe they now have a clearer picture of why people living with HIV so commonly suffer from dementia and other neurocognitive disorders. Researchers compared the brain tissue of 10 HIV patients with no neurological symptoms to the brain tissue of 20 patients suffering from HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), […]

Spinach and kale are favorites of those looking to stay physically fit, but they also could keep consumers cognitively fit, according to a new study from University of Illinois researchers. The study, which included 60 adults aged 25 to 45, found that middle-aged participants with higher levels of lutein – […]