Monthly Archives: February 2012

Science and society: Recruiting adaptive cellular stress responses for successful brain ageing Posted on February 20, 2012 by admin

This paper points out that healthy ageing is influenced by a number of factors which include genetic background, lifestyle and culture. A number of dietary, behavioral and pharmacological interventions have been identified as potential means to slow brain ageing and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Science and society: Recruiting adaptive cellular stress responses for successful brain ageing
Tau deficiency induces Parkinsonism with Dementia in mice by impairing Amyloid Precursor Protein-mediated Iron Export Posted on February 11, 2012 by admin

This study shows that mice lacking tau protein develop Parkinsonism because of intracellular iron accumulation which in turn causes degeneration of dopamine neurons. Tau deficiency appears to impair ferroportin iron export from cells by retention of the amyloid precursor protein. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Tau deficiency induces Parkinsonism with Dementia in mice by impairing Amyloid Precursor Protein-mediated Iron Export
Assessment of Temporal Order Memory during Spatiotemporal Navigation is a behavioral marker for Alzheimer’s differential diagnosis Posted on February 10, 2012 by admin

Episodic memory impairment is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The authors of this study developed a nonverbal navigation test for human subjects to differentially diagnose mild Alzheimer’s Disease from frontotemporal lobe degeneration and normal aging. Comparing navigation test results with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Assessment of Temporal Order Memory during Spatiotemporal Navigation is a behavioral marker for Alzheimer’s differential diagnosis
Memory Enhancement and Deep-Brain Stimulation of the Entorhinal Area Posted on February 10, 2012 by admin

The medial temporal lobe includes the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus which are important for forming memories of daily life experiences. The authors of this study studied human subjects who had intracranial depth electrodes implanted for later epilepsy surgery. Stimulation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Memory Enhancement and Deep-Brain Stimulation of the Entorhinal Area
Impaired nigral dopamine function caused by overexpression of alpha-synuclein Posted on February 10, 2012 by admin

  Aggregation of alpha-synuclein to form insoluble fibrils is associated with brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. In this study, the authors overexpressed human wild-type alpha-synuclein in nigral dopamine neurons of rats. They found that impairments in dopamine release developed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Impaired nigral dopamine function caused by overexpression of alpha-synuclein
Early brain development: light exposure accelerates neuronal cell migration Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

The role of genetics in early brain development has been extensively studied but little is known about environmental stimuli such as light-dark cycles. To examine how light affects brain development after birth, the authors studied the migration of cerebellar neurons … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Early brain development: light exposure accelerates neuronal cell migration
Trans-Synaptic Spread of Tau Protein Pathology in Mouse Alzheimer’s Disease Model Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the presence of beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of abnormal, aggregated tau protein. The earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by accumulation of abnormal tau protein in the entorhinal cortex. Later stages show … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Trans-Synaptic Spread of Tau Protein Pathology in Mouse Alzheimer’s Disease Model