nervous system

Peering inside the skull of a mouse to solve meningitis mystery

harminka — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 16:00:25 -0600

NYU Langone Medical Center scientists and their collaborators at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., have discovered an unexpected cause for the fatal seizures seen in mice with viral meningitis, an infection of the central nervous system, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The finding may lead to a new way of thinking about how the human immune system responds to viral diseases.

Mutant proteins result in infectious prion disease in mice

harminka — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:16:38 -0600

A worldwide group of scientists has created an infectious prion disease in a mouse model, in a step that may help unravel the mystery of this progressive disease that affects the nervous system in humans and animals.

Genetic link between immune and nerve systems

harminka — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:01:31 -0500

Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered genetic links between the nervous system and the immune system in a well-studied worm, and the findings could illuminate new approaches to human therapies.

How immune system, brain communicate to control disease

harminka — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:38:08 -0500

In a major step in understanding how the nervous system and the immune system interact, scientists at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have identified a new anatomical path through which the brain and the spleen communicate.

What It's Like to Be a Bat

harminka — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:14:28 -0500

Not many people think about what it's like to be a bat, but for those who do, it's enlightening and potentially groundbreaking for understanding aspects of the human brain and nervous system.

Mixing and matching genes to keep nerve cells straight

harminka — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:13:09 -0500

With fewer than 30,000 human genes with which to work, Nature has to mix and match to generate the myriad types of neurons or nerve cells needed to assemble the brain and nervous system.

Protein key to neuro-regeneration

harminka — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:31:31 -0500

Researchers at Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan and Cancer Research UK, have for first time identified protein that is key to regeneration of damage in peripheral nervous system and which could with further research lead to understanding diseases of our peripheral nervous systems and provide clues to methods of repairing damage in central nervous system, according to paper published this week in Journal of Cell Biology.

Neurons duke it out for survival

harminka — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:36:51 -0500

The developing nervous system makes far more nerve cells than are needed to ensure target organs and tissues are properly connected to the nervous system. As nerves connect to target organs, they somehow compete with each other resulting in some living and some dying.

Come fly with me – Imperial bioengineers map a fly’s nerves

seher — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:54:55 -0500

The nerve cells in a fly’s brain dedicated to analysing visual motion have been characterised in unprecedented detail by scientists.

Researchers engineer first system of human nerve-cell tissue

harminka — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:42:43 -0600

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that living human nerve cells can be engineered into a network that could one day be used for transplants to repair damaged to the nervous system. They report their findings in the February issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

What gives us fingertip dexterity?

harminka — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:44:50 -0600

Quickly moving your fingertips to tap or press a surface is essential for everyday life to, say, pick up small objects, use a BlackBerry or an iPhone. But researchers at the University of Southern California say that this seemingly trivial action is the result of a complex neuro-motor-mechanical process orchestrated with precision timing by the brain, nervous system and muscles of the hand.

Study: why do people scratch themselves?

seher — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:28:36 -0600

Skin might seem like a simple messenger, telling the brain if it's hot, if it's cold, or whether that rock underfoot is sharp.