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Study in Mice Raises Question: Could PTSD Involve Immune Cell Response to Stress?

By Guest PostMarch 8, 2014Scienceanxiety, anxiety like behavior, behavioral marker, behavioral terms, cellular component, central nervous system, chronic stress, immune cell response, inflammation, inflammatory immune response, john sheridan, jonathan godbout, monocytes, monocytes in brain, mood disorders, ohio state university, post traumatic, pro inflammatory proteins, ptsd, single acute stressor, stress, stress disorder, study in mice, symptom

After chronic stress, primed immune cells in spleen lead to excessive reaction to later event

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Chronic stress that produces inflammation and anxiety in mice appears to prime their immune systems for a prolonged fight, causing the animals to have an excessive reaction to a single acute stressor weeks later, new research suggests.

After the mice recovered from the effects of chronic stress, a single stressful event 24 days later quickly returned them to a chronically stressed state in biological and behavioral terms. Mice that had not experienced the chronic stress were unaffected by the single acute stressor. (more…)

Mystery Solved: How Nerve Impulse Generators Get Where They Need to Go

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2014Health, Scienceankyrin g, axons, body, brain, cell, central nervous system, chen gu, disease, electrical signaling, joshua barry, key protein, kinesin 1, molecular motor, motor protein, multiple sclerosis, mystery solved, nerve cell bodies, nerve impulse, nerve impulse generators, neurological disorders, neuron, nodes of ranvier, ohio state university, parkinson's, peter jukkola, potassium ion channel, protein, sodium ion channel, spinal cord, symptom, yuanzheng g

Study identifies essential molecule for transport of protein from neuron cell body to axon

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have solved a longstanding mystery of the central nervous system, showing how a key protein gets to the right spot to launch electrical impulses that enable communication of nerve signals to and from the brain.

Nerve impulses are critical because they are required for neurons to send information about senses, movement, thinking and feeling to other cell types in the neural circuitry. And an impulse is not fired up just once; it is initiated and then must be repeatedly transmitted along axons – long, slender extensions of nerve cell bodies – to keep the nervous system’s messages stable during their rapid travel. (more…)

One-two punch could be key in treating blindness

By Guest PostMay 1, 2013Scienceachromatopsia, andras komaromy, blindness, central nervous system, cntf, fido, humans, michigan state university, model disease, molecular therapy, most younger dogs, photoreceptors, protein, treatment, university of miami, veterinary ophthalmologist

Researchers have discovered that using two kinds of therapy in tandem may be a knockout combo against inherited disorders that cause blindness. While their study focused on man’s best friend, the treatment could help restore vision in people, too.

Published in the journal Molecular Therapy, the study builds on earlier work by Michigan State University veterinary ophthalmologist András Komáromy and colleagues. In 2010, they restored day vision in dogs suffering from achromatopsia, an inherited form of total color blindness, by replacing the mutant gene associated with the condition. (more…)

A Better Way to Culture Central Nervous Cells

By Guest PostJanuary 31, 2013Sciencealzheimers patients, cell culture, central nervous system, cns neurons, nerve cells, nerve signals, neuron damage

A protein associated with neuron damage in Alzheimer’s patients provides a superior scaffold for growing central nervous system cells in the lab. The findings could have clinical implications for producing neural implants and offers new insights on the complex link between the apoE4 apolipoprotein and Alzheimer’s disease. Results appear in the journal Biomaterials. (more…)

Multiple Sclerosis Study Reveals How Killer T Cells Learn to Recognize Nerve Fiber Insulators

By Guest PostJanuary 12, 2013Healtharsenal, autoimmune disorders, autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune reactivity, axons, blood vessels, body, brain, branched tentacles, cancer, cd4+ t cell, cd8 t cells, central nervous system, chronic multiple sclerosis, corticosteroids, cytoxic t cells, degeneration of axons, electrical impulse conductors, electrical wire, fight disease, generalized immunosuppressants, humans, infection, inflamed lesions, inflammatory response, inflammatory situation, insulation, joan goverman, killer t cells, laboratory models, lesions, luca castelli, methotrexate, mouse model, multiple sclerosis, myelin protein, myelin sheath, nerve cell projections, nerve fibers, no cells, oligodendrocytes, pathogens, peptides, proteins, qingyong ji, spines, support cells, symptoms, tip dendritic cells, tissue damage, transmit signals, university of washington, white blood cells

Misguided killer T cells may be the missing link in sustained tissue damage in the brains and spines of people with multiple sclerosis, findings from the University of Washington reveal. Cytoxic T cells, also known as CD8+ T cells, are white blood cells that normally are in the body’s arsenal to fight disease.

Multiple sclerosis is characterized by inflamed lesions that damage the insulation surrounding nerve fibers and destroy the axons, electrical impulse conductors that look like long, branching projections. Affected nerves fail to transmit signals effectively. (more…)

What Causes Hot Flushes during Menopause?

By Guest PostDecember 15, 2012Healthanimal model, biological mechanisms, black box, blood vessel, brain, brain cells, candy, central nervous system, estrogen replacement therapy, heat, hormone estrogen, hormone signals, hormone treatment, hot flashes, hot flushes, hypothalamus, in the head, kndy neurons, melinda mittelman smith, menopause, naomi rance, nathaniel mcmullen, neuronal switch, neurotransmitter, prostate cancer, sally krajewski hall, skin, skin temperature, tail skin temperature, thermoregulation, thermoregulatory centers, trigger, vasodilation, vital functions

Hot flushes are not “in the head,” but new research suggests they may start there. A UA research team has identified a region in the brain that may trigger the uncomfortable surges of heat most women experience in the first few years of menopause.

Hot flushes – also called hot flashes – affect millions of people, and not just women. Yet, it is still unclear what causes the episodes of temperature discomfort, often accompanied by profuse sweating.

Now a team of researchers around Dr. Naomi Rance, a professor in the department of pathology at the UA College of Medicine, has come closer to understanding the mechanism of hot flushes, a necessary step for potential treatment options down the road. This research was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (more…)

Photoreceptor Transplant Restores Vision in Mice

By Guest PostApril 19, 2012Scienceblindness, brain, central nervous system, cones, degenerate retina, degenerative eye diseases, degenerative eye disorders, diabetes, embryonic stem cells, institute of ophthalmology, macular degeneration, mice, photoreceptor transplantation, photoreceptors, rachael pearson, retinitis pigmentosa, rob buckle, robin ali, rods, stem cell therapies, transplanting photoreceptors, ucl, vision, visual information, visually impaired

Scientists from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology have shown for the first time that transplanting light-sensitive photoreceptors into the eyes of visually impaired mice can restore their vision.

The research, published in Nature, suggests that transplanting photoreceptors – light-sensitive nerve cells that line the back of the eye – could form the basis of a new treatment to restore sight in people with degenerative eye diseases. (more…)

Non-cancerous Brain Tumors Linked to Frequent Dental X-rays

By Guest PostApril 11, 2012Healthbrain tumor, california, central nervous system, connecticut, dental xrays, elizabeth claus, joellen schildkraut, joseph wiemels, lisa calvocoressi, margaret wrensch, massachusetts, melissa bondy, meninges, meningioma, motor control, non cancerous, north Carolina, panorex dental exam, texas, yale

People who received frequent dental X-rays in the past, before dosages were lowered, have an increased risk of developing a meningioma, the most common and potentially debilitating type of non-cancerous brain tumor, a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found. The study is published online in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society.

Meningioma is listed as a rare disease by the National Institutes of Health. The estimated incidence is up to 8 out of 100,000 people, and it occurs more frequently among women than men. Although it is the most frequently diagnosed type of brain tumor, meningioma is listed as a rare disease by the National Institutes of Health. Tumors develop in a membrane that envelops the brain and the central nervous system known as the meninges. They can grow undetected for years and eventually reach the size of a baseball or larger. While they are not cancerous, they can cause debilitating side effects such as headaches, vision problems, and loss of speech and motor control. (more…)

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