General

It has long been known that disrupted sleep can increase the risk of dementia and anecdotal evidence suggests COVID-19 anxiety is having a detrimental effect on sleep. A new UK-wide study led by academics at the University of Bristol will focus on how the current lockdown is affecting sleep in […]

Children with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) can develop brain and nerve tumors. If a tumor develops within the optic nerve, which connects the eye and the brain, the child may lose his or her vision. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates […]

Cancer and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, might not seem to have much in common, but some researchers now are pinning hopes on the same immune system cell – called the regulatory T cell, or Treg – to better fight both, through immunotherapies that manipulate these […]

Glasses to stop myopia or nearsightedness in children have been shown to work in a multi-site trial of 256 children and will go on sale later this year outside the United States. The glasses are the vision of scientists Jay and Maureen Neitz and ophthalmology colleagues at the University of […]

A molecule commonly produced by gut microbes appears to improve memory in mice. A new study is among the first to trace the molecular connections between genetics, the gut microbiome and memory in a mouse model bred to resemble the diversity of the human population. While tantalizing links between the […]

New USC research reveals how APOE4 — a genetic culprit for Alzheimer’s disease — triggers leaks in the brain’s plumbing system, allowing toxic substances to seep into the brain areas responsible for memory encoding and other cognitive functions. The damage is linked to future problems in learning and memory, even […]

Cornell scientists have developed a new technique for imaging a zebrafish’s brain at all stages of its development, which could have implications for the study of human brain disorders, including autism. Zebrafish are translucent when young, making them good models for live imaging, but they become opaque with age, which […]

Researchers at the Waisman Center made a significant step in understanding the function of a specific protein, FMR1, whose absence causes fragile X syndrome, or FXS. Waisman investigators Xinyu Zhao, Ph.D., and Anita Bhattacharyya, Ph.D., with research associate Meng Li, published their paper “Identification of FMR1-regulated molecular networks in human […]

Two top scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are seeking answers to questions about spinal cord injuries that have long frustrated the development of effective treatments. The scientists, Jonathan Kipnis and Kodi Ravichandran, are teaming up to understand why critical nerve cells called neurons continue to die after […]

A $2 million grant will let UO developmental neurobiologist Judith Eisen probe the relationship between symbiotic bacteria and neural development, using zebrafish as a model organism that could shed light on disease processes in humans. The new five-year grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will allow Eisen to illuminate the […]

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new mathematical machine-intelligence-based technique that spatially delineates highly complicated cell-to-cell and gene-gene interactions. The powerful method could help with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases ranging from cancer to COVID-19 through quantifying crosstalks between “good” cells and “bad” cells. By […]

It is widely appreciated that old people have a poor time of it when it comes to infectious disease. Seasonal influenza kills tens of thousands of older people every year in the US alone. The aged immune system functions poorly, and vaccinations for many conditions have low success rates in older people. Thus […]