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IMAGE: INRS Professor Marc A. Gauthier is a specialist in dynamic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and biomaterials. view more
Credit: Christian Fleury (INRS)
A research team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) has improved the protective effect of a molecule against ischemic stroke, which is caused by an interruption of blood flow to the brain. The results of the study, conducted in collaboration with a Spanish team, were published in the
Communications Biology of Nature Research journal.
Every year in Quebec, about 20,000 people have a stroke. Also known as a cerebral infarction , this sudden neurological deficit can lead to psychological and physical after-effects. These effects result from an increase in glutamate in the brain, which destroys neurons. Glutamate is an essential neurotransmitter for neuronal communication, learning and memory processes, yet above a certain concentration, it becomes toxic to neuronal cells, expl
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Researchers launch program to diagnose genetic diseases in children
A new University of Alberta pilot program aims to find answers and better treatments for children living with rare genetic conditions.
The Undiagnosed Disease Program, launched in January, is a collaboration between the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and U of A researchers from medical genetics and pediatric neurology to provide a diagnosis to patients in the health system who are suspected to have a genetic condition that has not been identified.
“Patients see doctor after doctor, and usually are treated for their symptoms, but an overall diagnosis hasn’t been made,” explained project lead Peter Kannu, chair of the Department of Medical Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. “The concept of the Undiagnosed Disease Program has been operational at many other institutions in North America, and it will be a service that caters to these patients here in Edmonton.
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IMAGE: This photo shows Konkoly watching brain signals from a sleeping participant in the lab. Researchers are working to expand and refine two-way communications with sleeping people so more complex conversations. view more
Credit: K. Konkoly
Dreams take us to what feels like a different reality. They also happen while we re fast asleep. So, you might not expect that a person in the midst of a vivid dream would be able to perceive questions and provide answers to them. But a new study reported in the journal
Current Biology on February 18 shows that, in fact, they can. We found that individuals in REM sleep can interact with an experimenter and engage in real-time communication, said senior author Ken Paller (@kap101) of Northwestern University. We also showed that dreamers are capable of comprehending questions, engaging in working-memory operations, and producing answers.
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Evidence that a sense of our physical selves can develop even without the sense of touch has been uncovered in a new study by researchers in the UK and the United States.
The research shows that if someone loses their sense of touch and proprioception - their sense of body position - as an adult, they may learn compensatory skills using visual cues and conscious thought, or reasoning, to move their bodies.
Someone who has never had a sense of touch or proprioception, however, can find faster, unconscious ways of processing visual cues to move and orient themselves.
A team at the University of Birmingham collaborated with researchers at Bournemouth University and the University of Chicago on the study, published in
Researchers measure baseline activity of single neurons
Our brains are complicated webs of billions of neurons, constantly transmitting information across synapses, and this communication underlies our every thought and movement.
But what happens to the circuit when a neuron dies? Can other neurons around it pick up the slack to maintain the same level of function?
Indeed they can, but not all neurons have this capacity, according to new research from the University of Chicago. By studying several neuron pairs that innervate distinct muscles in a fruit fly model, researchers found that some neurons compensate for the loss of a neighboring partner.