Explosions can tear apart buildings, send shrapnel flying, and hurtle humans into the air. But explosions also cause damage in ways that aren't as visually apparent. Scientists say the force of a blast can cause brain damage, but questions linger about how the symptoms that emerge after a blast-induced traumatic brain injury are connected to the initial trauma. In their quest to learn more about how symptoms...
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[caption id="attachment_5991" align="aligncenter" width="632"] Dr. Paul Manger's new system developed by MBF Bioscience for analyzing large mammalian brain specimens[/caption] Dr. Paul Manger, Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, studies the brain anatomy of various animals to better understand the relationship between brain structure and function. Some of the mammals he studies have very large brains that don't fit under a conventional research...
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In 2014 researchers used Stereo Investigator in 698 peer-reviewed papers - citing it almost three times more than all other stereology systems combined. Researchers tell us they use Stereo Investigator because: it works with many different microscopes and imaging technologies it provides unbiased data about neuron populations and regions of interest it comes with strong technical and research support provided by MBF Bioscience [caption id="attachment_5790" align="alignnone" width="1394"] source: google scholar[/caption] Dr. Mark West, co-developer of...
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[caption id="attachment_5546" align="aligncenter" width="401"] A representative confocal image of spinal cord tissue fluorescently immunolabeled for SC121 (red) in conjunction with GFAP (green) – markers that allowed researchers to quantify stem cell differentiation and migration. (Image provided by study author Dr. Aileen J. Anderson)[/caption] Research has shown that transplanting human neural stem cells into damaged spinal cords restores locomotor function in a mouse model of spinal cord injury1. Researchers...
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Researchers have identified two strains of mutant C. elegans that lose the majority of their dopaminergic neurons in adulthood, a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The two strains of mutant C. elegans (ot337 and ot477) showed normal development of dopaminergic neurons, however these neurons began to progressively decline in adulthood; and the deterioration was not an occurrence of the normal aging process, the authors say in...
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The human brain undergoes extraordinary development in utero, with major growth continuing throughout childhood, especially during the first year. Scientists know a lot about how the neurons and circuits of the human brain develop in infancy, but a lack of specific knowledge about key elements has left doctors mystified by certain childhood disorders like SIDS and autism. Neuroscientists at Ludwig-Maximillians-University of Munich have made new revelations...
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With some exceptions, humans and animals prefer to live in an environment free of filth. We clean our bodies and our homes so we can live healthy and productive lives. It turns out, the brain does too. Researchers at the University of Rochester discovered that the brain cleans itself during sleep—explaining one of the major reasons we partake in a nightly ritual that has mystified scientists...
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Scientists discovered that inactivity makes brain cells grow, but not in a good way. In a study published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, researchers found more neuronal branching in sedentary rats compared to active rats. The growth occurred in a region of the brain that controls blood pressure, leading the scientists to hypothesize that these changes may be part of the reason inactivity is...
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[caption id="attachment_5226" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Mice with the NHE6 gene mutation show less dendritic branching. Using Neurolucida, researchers traced a GFP-labeled neuron reconstructed with confocal z stacks in a wild type mouse (left) and a mouse with a mutant NHE6 gene (right). Image courtesy of first author Qing Ouyang, PhD, Alpert Medical School, Brown University.[/caption] Children with the neurogenetic disorder Christianson Syndrome experience delays in language and...
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[caption id="attachment_5185" align="aligncenter" width="584"] The granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus. Image provided by Mark Maynard.[/caption] Binge drinking damages brain regions responsible for memory, decision-making, and behavioral control. After a binge, the brain begins to heal itself but not much is known about this self-repair process. In a study published in PLoS ONE, researchers used rats to find that binge drinking damages the hippocampus, and...
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