Nerve in Biological News

Researchers design first model motor nerve system that's insulated and organized like the human body

... at the electrically charged nodes of Ranvier. nerve malfunctions, called neuropathies, involve a ... brain sends and receives electric signals along nerve cells, leading to malfunctions at the nodes of ... have long recognized the need for lab-grown motor nerve cells that myelinate and form nodes of Ranvier in ...

22nd Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Sept. 12-16, 2009, Turkey

... that the adult brain is capable of generating new nerve cells (neurons), and that this process of ... disorders. The interaction between nerve cells that underlies complex mental functions ... its activity in the synapse between the nerve cells. In the next step, the development of ...

MS study offers theory for why repair of brain's wiring fails

... uncovered new evidence suggesting that damage to nerve cells in people with multiple sclerosis ... the body's natural mechanism for repair of the nerve coating called "myelin" stalls out. The ... mice and in human tissue, showed that repair of nerve fibers is hampered by biochemical signals that ...

Reading the brain without poking it

... the prosthetic devices should be controlled from nerve signals collected by electrodes in or on the ... are too large to detect many of the discrete nerve impulses controlling the arms or other body ... tested how well the microelectrodes could detect nerve signals from the brain that control arm ....

Crustacean shell with polyester creates mixed-fiber material for nerve repair

... strength of the synthetic polymer. "A nerve guide requires very strict conditions. It needs ... a peripheral nerve, such as one in a finger, nerve endings continue to grow. But to regain control of the nerve surgeons must join the two fragments. For large ...

Peripheral nerve repair with fat precursor cells led to wider nerves and less muscle atrophy

... (adipose) precursor cells (APCs) could improve nerve regeneration and functional recovery, researchers ... University of Pittsburgh (USA) used biodegradable nerve guides to transplant APCs into the injured ... no treatment, those receiving an autograft but no nerve guide tube, and those receiving an autograft ...

Gene activity reveals dynamic stroma microenvironment in prostate cancer

... related to neurogenesis (the growth of neurons or nerve cells)," said Ittmann. "This independently ... that prostate cancer prompts the growth of new nerve cells, which is linked to poor prognosis." ... new axons, the slender projection that conducts nerve impulses away from the body of ...

Cell's split personality is a major discovery into neurological diseases

... have discovered that cells which normally support nerve cell (neuron) survival also play an active and ... is that the pathway leading to glutamate-induced nerve cell death involves another vital player namely, ... traditionally thought of as 'partner' cells to nerve cells providing support, nutrients and an optimal ...

New insight into Alzheimer's disease pathology

... protein helps form and maintain nerve cell connections, according to a study published ... complex called gamma secretase, which sits in nerve cell membranes and chops up other proteins. Inoue ... and maintenance of dendritic spines the nerve cell's receivers for transmitted signals. These ...

Limping rat provides sciatica insights

... -- A newly developed animal model for the painful nerve condition known as sciatica should help ... by compression, or pinching, of any of the five nerve roots that combine to make up the sciatic nerve. These roots are the parts of the nerve that pass through openings in the spine to the ...

Translating the conversation between the brain and blood vessels

... Abboud defined the identity of a sensor in the nerve endings in the carotid artery in the neck that ... using a pacemaker-like device that stimulates the nerve endings in the blood vessels. Ann M. ... Neurotransmitters relay signals from one nerve cell to another, ...

Long-lasting nerve block could change pain management

... anesthesia in rats without apparent toxicity to nerve or muscle cells. The research was published ... to have a single injection that could produce a nerve block lasting days, weeks, maybe even months," ... is packaged within liposomes, it is able to block nerve transmission of pain without causing ...

Alzheimer cell death in Zebrafish: Demise of neurons observed live for the first time

... Extensive death of nerve cells leads to severe dementia in patients with ... have now successfully observed this demise of nerve cells by life imaging. The scientists inserted a ... Even in animal models, the destruction of nerve cells has only been observable to a very limited ...

Signals from stroking have direct route to brain

... nerve signals that tell the brain that we are being slowly stroked on the skin have their own specialised nerve fibres in the skin. This is shown by a new study ... the skin can relieve pain. The specialised nerve fibres in the skin are called CT nerves ...

Scripps research scientists 'watch' as individual alpha-synuclein proteins change shape

... can accumulate into so-called Lewy bodies inside nerve cells. The protein is also found in the amyloid ... that mimics the lipids found in different nerve cell membranes in the brain. Alpha-synuclein is known to bind to membranes on nerve cells, and lipids are a large component of those ...

Metastatic bone disease patients can walk in Lazarus' footsteps

... and weak. As the bones are replaced with tumor, nerve endings in and around the bone send pain signals ... or cold to desensitize the bone by killing the nerve endings in the vicinity of the metastasis. Once the nerve endings are dead, interventional radiologists can ...

Spun-sugar fibers spawn sweet technique for nerve repair

... The scaffold could be used to promote nerve regeneration by acting as a bridge placed between ... in the limbs and throughout the body because nerve regeneration is more complex in the spinal cord. About 800,000 peripheral nerve injuries are reported annually in the United ...

Case Western Reserve researchers develop 'wireless' activation of brain circuits

... stimuli. The electrodes used in previous nerve stimulations don't accurately recreate spatial ... stimulate neurons for-injury, severed or damaged nerve to restore function- and right now you have to ... interface that restores function following nerve or brain impairments," Strowbridge says. "The ...

Cells with double vision

... these insects can make up for their low number of nerve cells by means of sophisticated network interactions. The neurobiologists examined nerve cells that receive motion information in their ... brain is remarkable: It contains billions of nerve cells, each of which is connected with its ...

Researchers disprove 15-year-old theory about the nervous system

... nervous system 'talks' to muscles through nerve impulses in response to external stimuli. When ... that maturation process." The process of nerve cells maturation is called myelination. During ... wraps or forms around the axons (part of the nerve cell that conducts electrical ....

What happens when we sleep

... states are regulated by two different types of nerve cells (neurons), melanin-concentrating hormone ... to selectively record, label and thus identify a nerve cell containing a particular chemical. This ... even though they comprise less than 10% of the nerve cells in the LH. The reciprocal profiles and ...

Nicotine activates more than just the brain's pleasure pathways

... Oliveira-Maia said. The researchers then measured nerve activity in the chorda tympani (CT), which is a branch of the facial nerve that serves the taste buds in the front of the tongue and found that activity in CT nerve fibers increased when nicotine was put on the ...

Game of two halves leads to brain asymmetry

... protein known as Fgf8 acts as a magnet to attract nerve cells to one side of the brain. . "Fgf8 is ... the two sides to attract the migrating group of nerve cells," says Dr Regan. "This isn't a fair fight, ... and teams up with Fgf8 to attract the group of nerve cells, triggering a cascade of events that lead ...

Protein that regulates hormones critical to women's health found in pituitary

... filled with neurotransmitters and hormones within nerve terminals. When an electrical impulse from one cell reaches a nerve terminal, it triggers the release of calcium, ... let a large or small amount of hormone out of the nerve terminal." This ability to modulate hormone ...

Motor nerve targeting to limb muscles is controlled by ephrin proteins

... proteins present in the developing limb control nerve targeting from the spinal cord to the muscles of ... nervous system is a highly precise and intricate nerve network whose major purpose is to analyze and ... Such precision stems from the accuracy of nerve connections formed between neurons and muscles. ...

Brain enzyme may play key role in controlling appetite and weight gain

... temperature, hunger, and thirst. Specialized nerve cells in the hypothalamus sense whether the body ... growth and proliferation of all cells, including nerve cells. "It turns out that this enzyme, and the ... hypothalamus, an area rich in nutrient-sensing nerve cells. "When we raised the activity of the ...

Epilepsy drug shows potential for Alzheimer's treatment

... are known to lead to the progressive death of nerve cells in the brain linked to many forms of ... brain of amyloid-beta peptide which is toxic to nerve cells. This is thought to be caused by a key ... switches off, leading to the death of the brain's nerve cells. The research team examined changes in ...

Maintaining the brain's wiring in aging and disease

... journal Brain . Alzheimer's disease causes nerve cells in the brain to die, resulting in problems ... and understanding. Little is known about how the nerve cells die, but this new research has revealed how ... is without broadband. The same is true for a nerve cell (neuron) in the brain whose wiring (axons ...

It takes 2 to tango

... details? Thanks to the flexibility of the nerve cell's communication units, called synapses, we ... of the brain. Every one of the hundred billion nerve cells that comprise our brain is a master of data ... can deal with its complicated tasks only when the nerve cells manage to exchange information at the right ...

Prostate cancer spurs new nerves

... demonstrated that the tumors actually promote nerve growth. "This is the first report of this ... relating to those cancers that grow along nerve paths," said Ayala, also a researcher in the Dan ... those with prostate cancer. They found that nerve density was considerably higher in patients with ...

Mammals can be stimulated to regrow damaged inner retina nerve cells

... that mammals can be stimulated to regrow inner nerve cells in their damaged retinas. Located in the ... retina's role in vision is to convert light into nerve impulses to the brain. The findings on retina ... scientists have shown before that certain retina nerve cells from mice can proliferate in a laboratory ...

Exercise increases brain growth factor and receptors, prevents stem cell drop in middle age

... cells differentiate into a variety of mature nerve cells which have different functions, a process ... Society. Rise in corticosterone or fall in nerve growth factor? The researchers built on ... the hippocampus. The second hypothesis is that nerve growth factors -- which encourage new neural cell ...

Forgotten but not gone -- how the brain takes care of things

... do know is that changes in the contacts between nerve cells play an important role. But can these ... words, to successfully process new information, nerve cells make new connections with each other. When ... appendages begin to grow from the activated nerve cell towards its neighbours. Whenever a special ...

In the war against diseases, nerve cells need their armor

... protective covering that insulates and supports nerve cells (neurons). Up until now, very little was ... causing irreversible damage and disrupting the nerve cells' ability to transmit messages. The ... 'one who guides,' is known to guide and direct nerve cell axons to their targets. In the molecular ...

Diabetes researcher gets $5M boost

... nerves over a period of time would match the nerve degeneration found in arms and legs. "We want ... we will, using our method, be able to detect nerve degeneration early and then hopefully cure it," ... non-contact corneal aesthesiometry, measures how nerve degeneration is affecting the function of the ...

Salk scientist Fred H. Gage to receive the Keio Medical Science Prize

... dogma, human beings are capable of growing new nerve cells throughout life. Small populations of immature nerve cells are found in the adult mammalian brain, a ... cells can be induced to become mature functioning nerve cells in the adult brain and spinal cord. Dr. ...

Models of eel cells suggest electrifying possibilities

... to biologists. The mechanism is similar to nerve cells. The arrival of a chemical signal triggers ... to tweak, such as their density in the membrane. nerve cells, which move information rather than energy, ... previously published data on electrocytes and nerve cells to verify its accuracy. Then they ...

Researcher working on destruction of chemical weapons

... that the toxic properties of the organophosphate nerve agents are a serious threat to the health and ... the enzyme acetylcholine esterase, which carries nerve signals. When organs such as the lungs do not receive appropriate nerve signals, control is lost over respiratory ...

NIH EUREKA grant awarded to University of Miami scientist

... process to enhance synapse formation or nerve regeneration. Dr. Chiba's project focuses on developing nerve connectivity by applying tension to individual ... that a mechanical force applied to nascent nerve synapses, or injured ...

Coating improves electrical stimulation therapy used for Parkinson's, depression, chronic pain

... critical step for advancing electrical nerve stimulation therapy. This type of therapy ... leg and back pain. By implanting electronic nerve stimulators, doctors elsewhere have provided a ... interfaces is where the electrode meets the nerve tissue," said Dr. Edward Keefer, instructor of ...