What makes the human brain unique? Of the many explanations that can be offered, one that doesn't come readily to mind is -- myelin. Conventional wisdom holds that myelin, the sheet of fat that coats a neuron's axon -- a long fiber that co...

In a feat once as unlikely as the miller's daughter of fairytale fame spinning straw into gold, scientists in the United Kingdom have spun fine threads of biocompatible silicone that contain living human brain cells. The cells remained ali...

In mammals, the production of brain cells occurs primarily at the time the nervous system is developing, although certain brain areas generate neurons throughout adulthood. One such area is the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved...

To the multitude of substances that regulate neuronal signaling in the brain and spinal cord add a key player: zinc. By engineering a mouse with a mutation affecting a neuronal zinc target, researchers have demonstrated a central role...

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center have developed a substance that inhibits the progress of multiple sclerosis (MS) in an animal model. The agent, a novel calpain inhibitor, can be administered orally. Calpains are a family of pr...

Dystonia, a group of diseases that cause a patient's muscles to involuntary contract with movement, has had a relatively limited and ineffective number of treatments in the past. New research shows that a recently developed surgical treatm...

Dystonia, a group of diseases that cause a patient's muscles to involuntary contract with movement, has had a relatively limited and ineffective number of treatments in the past. New research shows that a recently developed surgical treatm...

A University of Utah study suggests that memories are held in our brains because certain proteins serve as anchors, holding other proteins in place to strengthen synapses, which are connections between nerve cells. "The essential idea is t...

The University of Illinois at Chicago has enrolled the first patient in the United States in a study of a treatment for the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor. The international, multi-center trial will compare the best sta...

For people unable to simultaneously rub their stomach while patting their head, a twist may be at hand. Touch, rather than concentration, could let people multi-task with their hands, and this may also potentially help improve the perf...