News by Subject Medicine & Health

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have performed a massive and detailed cellular energy audit; they analyzed every gene in the human genome to identify those that drive energy production or energy consumption. The result is a collection of data they call the "ATPome," which not only provides new directions for the field of metabolism research, but also identifies genes and proteins that can be targeted to manipulate cellular energy and treat disease.

Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how the enteric nervous system forms, which could pave the way for new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

While movement problems are the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease, people with the disease often have non-motor symptoms such as constipation, daytime sleepiness and depression 10 or more years before the movement problems start. A new study suggests that eating a healthy diet in middle age may be linked to having fewer of these preceding symptoms. The study is published in the August 19, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Individual frequency can be used to specifically influence certain areas of the brain and thus the abilities processed in them - solely by electrical stimulation on the scalp, without any surgical intervention. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have now demonstrated this for the first time.

Switching off a molecular 'master regulator' may protect the brain from inflammatory damage and neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, reports a study published today in Nature Neuroscience. The study is the first of its kind and points to an entirely new avenue for developing therapies that preserve vulnerable brain cells in Parkinson's disease. Currently, there are no effective ways to prevent Parkinson's or to slow or stop its progression.

Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) scientists have developed implantable hydrogels based on plant polysaccharides (pectins). They can play the role of an artificial extracellular matrix, a special network of molecules that fills the space between body cells. The development to be used as a medium for growing tissues and organs, as well as for drug delivery and brain recovery after removal of malignant tumors glioblastomas. A related article appears in the International Review of Neurobiology.