Stories indexed under: Neuroscience

Total: 4

  • Woman sleeping Study puts us one step closer to understanding the function of sleep April 30, 2007 Sleep remains one of the big mysteries in biology. All animals sleep, and people who are deprived of sleep suffer physically, emotionally and intellectually. But nobody knows how sleep restores the brain.
  • In young mice, gregariousness seems to reside in the genes April 4, 2007 In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found evidence that social interactions among young mice result from basic motivations to be with one another. What's more, the researchers say, the extent of a young mouse's gregariousness is influenced by its genetic background.
  • In quest for less risky drugs, scientists listen to neurons March 27, 2007 Since the 1950s, doctors have been ordering medications such as Ritalin to ease symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and prescriptions now number in the millions. Still, though highly effective, so-called “psychostimulant’” drugs are not without risks, leaving many seeking safer alternatives, especially for children.
  • Fragile X protein may play role in Alzheimer’s disease Feb. 13, 2007 A brain afflicted by severe Alzheimer's disease is a sad sight, a wreck of tangled neural connections and organic rubble as the lingering evidence of a fierce internal battle. A new study has now uncovered an unexpected link between this devastating neural degeneration and a protein whose absence causes a different neurological disease - the inherited mental retardation disorder called fragile X syndrome.