Category Research News (General)

A large, long-term study suggests that middle-aged people 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 was published in JAMA Neurology. The…

People who get less rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may have a greater risk of developing dementia, according to a new study published in the August 23, 2017, online issue of Neurology. REM sleep is the sleep stage when dreaming…

Microglia, the brain’s immune cells responsible for eliminating pathogens and cellular waste, may live longer than researchers originally believed. A new study, published in an advance online publication of the journal Nature Neuroscience, shows that in mice these scavenger cells…

Researchers studying the effects of immune cells surrounding blood vessels in the brain have discovered a new pathway involving these cells that may contribute to the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the accumulation…

It has long been understood that a protein called TDP-43 clumps together in brain cells of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and is associated with neuron death. This same protein is thought to…

In a new study, researchers have found the first evidence that the activation of a biological pathway called necroptosis causes cells to die. This neuronal loss is closely linked with Alzheimer’s severity, cognitive decline and extreme loss of tissue and…

A new discovery could help slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neuron disease (MND), dementia and neurological decline associated with ageing. Researchers have identified that tuning up the activity pathway of the DNA’s natural repair toolkit —…

The protein amyloid beta, which accumulates in clumps or plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, is the subject of new research that aims to disrupt the biochemical carving of its precursor protein before it reaches its final,…

Scientists have discovered a new method of observing the brain changes caused by Parkinson’s disease, which destroys motor neurons. Their research suggests that the damage could be tracked by observing fluid changes in a specific region of the brain. Using…

Researchers have revealed the molecular basis of the hereditary form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. These new findings offer compelling insights for the design of novel therapeutic strategies to tackle the disease. The hereditary form of Alzheimer’s disease is caused by…

Changes in the visual systems of newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease patients may provide important biomarkers for the early detection and monitoring of the disease, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative…

Using DNA sequencing, researchers have examined bacteria in post-mortem brains from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Their findings indicate increased bacterial populations and different proportions of specific bacteria in Alzheimer’s, compared with healthy brains. These findings may support evidence that bacterial…

Researchers have discovered a new mechanism leading to the altered functioning of nerve cells in motor neuron disease (MND) that could lead to new treatment approaches for one common form of the disease. While investigating a mutation in a particular…

Researchers have identified altered expression of a gene called ANK1, which only recently has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, in specific cells in the brain. Researchers studied microglia, astrocytes and neurons in individuals with a pathological diagnosis of Alzheimers using…

Many aspects of Alzheimer’s disease remain a mystery, but scientists know that the disease’s progression involves the tau protein. In Alzheimer’s, the tau protein clumps together to form rope-like inclusions in brain cells that eventually strangle neurons. What has not…

New findings published in the journal Brain may help explain why poor sleep has been linked to the development of dementias such as Alzheimer’s. Previous studies have demonstrated that the risk of cognitive problems increases with poor sleep, but they…

A study published in Nature Communications announces a groundbreaking advancement which could potentially help patients requiring stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritic joints or any other condition requiring tissue regeneration. Living organisms’ cells…

A team of researchers has identified two genes that influence a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The new finding, which builds on previous work of identifying 24 susceptibility genes, enables a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disease…

People at risk for Alzheimer’s disease who do more moderate-intensity physical activity, but not light-intensity physical activity, are more likely to have healthy patterns of glucose metabolism in their brain, according to a new study. Results of the research were…

Parkinson’s disease is commonly thought of as a movement disorder, but after years of living with the disease, approximately 25 percent of patients also experience deficits in cognition that impair function. A newly developed research tool may help predict a…

A new study has uncovered a crucial piece into why playing a musical instrument can help older adults retain their listening skills and ward off age-related cognitive declines. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that learning to…

A new study to compare key outcomes in care homes that implemented an individualized music program called MUSIC & MEMORY with similar homes that did not adopt the program found that after homes adopted the program, residents with dementia became…

Recent research on Parkinson’s disease has focused on the gut-brain connection, examining patients’ gut bacteria, and even how severing the vagus nerve connecting the stomach and brain might protect some people from the debilitating disease. But scientists understand little about…

A new study has uncovered a molecular mechanism in the prion protein, a protein responsible for neurodegenerative diseases, which may explain why nerve cells degenerate in these disorders. The findings appear in the journal eLife. The prion protein plays a…

New research shows that the APP gene variant protecting against Alzheimer’s disease significantly decreases plasma beta-amyloid levels in a population cohort. This is a significant discovery because many ongoing drug trials in the field of Alzheimer’s disease focus on decreasing…

A team of researchers is using breakthrough gene-editing technology to develop a new screening tool for Parkinson’s disease. The technology allows scientists in the lab to “light up” and then monitor alpha-synuclein, a brain protein that has been associated with…

A study has found that abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease all share a similar ability to cause damage when they invade brain cells. The finding potentially could explain the mechanism by which Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,…

A new study heightens concerns over the detrimental short- and long-term impact of airborne iron-rich strongly magnetic combustion-derived nanoparticles (CDNPs) present in dogs and young urbanites’ brains. Using transmission electron microscopy, the researchers documented by abundant combustion nanoparticles in neurons,…

The development of Parkinson’s disease is linked to an overabundance of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is found mainly at the end of neurons in what is called the nerve terminal. Since the link was first discovered in the 1990s, researchers…

A phase 2 clinical trial in young adults with Down syndrome of a drug being investigated for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease supports further investigation of its potential, according to the researchers behind the four-week trial of scyllo-inositol, also known…

A multi-institutional team of researchers has discovered how a potential treatment strategy for Huntington’s disease (HD) produces its effects, verified its action in human cells and identified a previously unknown deficit in neural stem cells from patients with HD. In their…

For people with dementia, communicating needs, emotions and interacting with others becomes increasingly difficult as communication deteriorates as dementia progresses. Problems in communicating lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings, which often cause considerable stress for family members, especially the spouse caregivers,…

An international research team has identified a new type of neuron which might play a vital role in humans’ ability to navigate their environments. The discovery is an important step towards understanding how the brain codes navigation behaviour at larger…

Although Parkinson’s disease is often associated with motor symptoms such as stiffness, poor balance and trembling, the first symptoms are often sensory and include a reduced sense of touch and smell. In a study on mice, researchers have now been…

Tau proteins are involved in more than twenty neurodegenerative diseases, including various forms of dementia. These proteins clump together in patients’ brains to form neuronal tangles: protein aggregation that eventually coincides with the death of brain cells. Researchers have now…

By studying cells from patients with motor neuron disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers have revealed a detailed picture of how motor neurons — nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control our muscles and…

By using induced pluripotent stem cells to create endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the brain for the first time for a neurodegenerative disease, researchers have learned why Huntington’s disease patients have defects in the blood-brain barrier that contribute…

Many diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, can be treated with electrical stimulation from an electrode implanted in the brain. However, the electrodes can produce scarring, which diminishes their effectiveness and can necessitate additional surgeries to replace them. Now, in a study…

In a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers have measured how deposits of the pathological protein tau spread through the brain over the course of Alzheimer’s disease. Their results show that the size of the deposit and the speed…

A new article published in JAMA Neurology compares survival rates among patients with synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia and multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism, with individuals in the general population. The population-based study included…

In a new paper, researchers have demonstrated that measuring neurofilaments provides reliable confirmation of an ALS diagnosis. Neurofilaments are structural proteins in the cytoskeleton, which are present in high concentrations in motor neurons. It has long been known that the…

A research team has developed a novel measure of disease progression for Huntington’s disease (HD), enabling them to identify a genetic modifier associated with how rapidly the disease progresses. The study was published in Lancet Neurology. HD is a fatal…

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that autoimmunity—in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues—plays a role in Parkinson’s disease, the neurodegenerative movement disorder. The findings raise the possibility that the death of neurons in Parkinson’s could…

Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain’s front lines of immune defense—cells called microglia—unique. In the process, they discovered further evidence that microglia may play roles in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric…

Researchers have identified two groups of neurons that can be turned on and off to alleviate the movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The activation of these cells in the basal ganglia relieves symptoms much longer than current therapies, like deep…

A new large-scale genetic study found that low body mass index (BMI) is likely not a causal risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, as earlier research had suggested, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.…

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports shows that bone marrow stem cell transplants helped improve motor functions and nervous system conditions in mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by repairing damage to the blood-spinal cord barrier. The…

Scientists have discovered a potential brain imaging predictor for dementia, which illustrates that changes to the brain’s structure may occur years prior to a diagnosis, even before individuals notice their own memory problems. The study, published in the Neurobiology of…

In experiments with a protein called Ephexin5 that appears to be elevated in the brain cells of Alzheimer’s disease patients and mouse models of the disease, researchers show that removing it prevents animals from developing Alzheimer’s characteristic memory losses. In…

For the first time, a variant in UBQLN4 gene has been associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) – a progressive disease resulting in the loss of nerve cells that control muscle movement, which eventually…