Recent research discoveries in
the development of brain disorders could pave the way to new therapies for treating seizures, and even some children with autism, says a leading oncologist and researcher at the University of Alberta.
Not exact matches
But it's becoming increasingly clear that the effects are serious, and range from momentary unconsciousness, confusion and memory loss — such as that suffered by Kramer — through to whiplash, debilitating headaches, and in the longer term the
development of any number
of emotional distresses and
disorders linked to
brain trauma.
Early organization
of the nonlinear right
brain and
development of a predisposition to psychiatric
disorders.
Dr. Perry's research includes: the effects
of prenatal drug exposure on
brain development, the neurobiology
of human neuropsychiatric
disorders, the neurophysiology
of traumatic life events, and long - term cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social and physiological effects
of neglect and trauma in children, adolescents and adults.
Recently, researchers from Harvard and Mt Sinai found that both environmental chemicals and environmental stress can disrupt the
development of a fetus»
brain and negatively impact the baby's long - term health, even increasing the risk
of autism spectrum
disorders.
Dr. Giedd's research team seeks to use cutting edge technologies to explore the relationship between genes,
brain and behavior in healthy
development and in neuropsychiatric
disorders of childhood onset.
Professor Jianfeng Feng commented that new technology has made it possible to conduct this trail - blazing study: «human intelligence is a widely and hotly debated topic and only recently have advanced
brain imaging techniques, such as those used in our current study, given us the opportunity to gain sufficient insights to resolve this and inform
developments in artificial intelligence, as well as help establish the basis for understanding and diagnosis
of debilitating human mental
disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.»
If clinicians could use
brain scans to identify vulnerable high - risk individuals in early adolescence when the
brain is still developing, it may be possible to curb the
development of the
disorder and help prevent its most debilitating effects.
For example, knowing the precise
brain activity involved could shed light on
disorders in which body awareness is disrupted, such as schizophrenia, and help with the
development of prosthetic limbs that are more easily incorporated into body image.
If the zinc ions or the transcription factor MTF1 were specifically inhibited in the
brain, it is possible that the
development of a seizure
disorder could be prevented.
«The project's goal is to accelerate the
development of technologies for mapping the
brain's circuitry in animal models, specifically in the marmoset monkey, whose neural circuits are much closer to human compared with rodent models, and to connect the results to the diagnosis and treatment
of human neurological
disorders and mental illness.»
They have also used state -
of - the - art information about
brain development to accurately pinpoint new genes and biological pathways implicated in this
disorder.
There may be
brain changes after trauma that act as a risk marker for
development of later illnesses, including bipolar
disorder.
For example,
brain anatomy could be more closely monitored in those people where there is suspicion
of an increased risk
of developing a mental
disorder (the children
of parents with mental health problems, for example), so that the probability
of developing a pathology that interferes with their normal
development can be estimated.
Scientists working in the Smurfit Institute
of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin and the Department
of Psychiatry, RCSI, have discovered that abnormalities in the integrity
of the BBB may be a critical component in the
development of schizophrenia and other
brain disorders.
These early
developments produce
brain networks with a balance
of influences that will excite and inhibit the
brain and a disruption to this natural order has been associated with a number
of common neurodevelopmental
disorders including TS.
«There have been a series
of discoveries over the last five years showing that proteins that control RNA degradation are very important for
brain development and, when they are mutated, you can have spasticity or other movement
disorders,» Dr. Colak says.
These
disorders are associated with abnormal
development of the
brain.
It is known that during this teenaged phase
of brain development, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to psychiatric
disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and drug addiction.
Like misdirected letters and packages at the post office, the neurons made from bipolar
disorder patients also differed in how they were «addressed» during
development for delivery to certain areas
of the
brain.
German and Canadian scientists have built a three dimensional map
of the human
brain to help in the
development of new treatments for neurological
disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
So, the new findings support the idea that genetic differences expressed early during
brain development may have a lot to do with the
development of bipolar
disorder symptoms — and other mental health conditions that arise later in life, especially in the teen and young adult years.
It is a big idea that could help unravel mysteries
of brain development and evolution, and help link neurological and psychiatric
disorders to abnormalities in
brain structure.
The critical role these changes play in
brain development highlights the importance and urgency in understanding neural circuits in more detail and suggests new avenues for investigating the underlying causes
of developmental
disorders such as autism.
The new finding is the latest evidence supporting a growing precision medicine model
of psychiatric disease in which disruptions
of certain genes during
brain development contribute to a person's risk for multiple psychiatric
disorders, with other genetic or epigenetic drivers, random developmental events, or environmental influences determining the specific disease an individual develops, said senior author Benjamin Cheyette, MD, PhD, an associate professor
of psychiatry and a member
of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience at UCSF.
Preclinical studies suggest that Cdk5 is a gene that is important for the normal wiring
of the
brain during early
development and may be involved in some neurodegenerative
disorders, including ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Neurocutaneous
disorders are caused by abnormal
development of cells in the embryonic stage, leading to tumors in various parts
of the body, including the skin, organs, bones,
brain and spinal cord.
Many
of the eight genes are active during
brain development and may play a role in neuropsychiatric
disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, Sanders says.
Exposures
of pregnant women and children to common thyroid - hormone - disrupting toxins may be linked to the increased incidence
of brain development disorders, according to a review published in Endocrine Connections.
«Some neuropsychiatric
disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, are characterized by the abnormal
development of synaptic connectivity in certain key parts
of the
brain,» explains Schneggenburger.
«This study offers new insights about the
brain in AN, which we are using to guide treatment
development efforts, and reduce stigma associated with this life - threatening
disorder,» added Kaye, who is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Eating Disorder Program
disorder,» added Kaye, who is a Professor
of Psychiatry and Director
of the Eating
Disorder Program
Disorder Program at UCSD.
But researchers are beginning to uncover a biological explanation for the problem: they have found a gene that may contribute to its
development as well as a pathological signature
of the
disorder in the
brain.
New research into the causes
of this baffling
disorder is focusing on genes that control the
development of the
brain
Though these findings have been obtained in mice, the scientists hypothesize that disrupted coordination between the
development of the microglia and that
of the
brain contributes to an increased risk
of such neurodevelopmental
disorders as autism and schizophrenia in human beings.
The involvement
of this enzyme in susceptibility to oxidative stress, which has frequently been observed in autistic children, its association with gastrointestinal diseases — which often accompany autistic
disorders — and its role in nerve
development and neurotransmission mean it is an ideal candidate for deregulation
of its expression to lead to the abnormal
brain development observed in ASD.
And if we better understand the
development of our
brain, new treatment options for
disorders of the
brain can presumably arise from this over the long term.»
Scientists studying
brain diseases may need to look beyond nerve cells and start paying attention to the star - shaped cells known as «astrocytes,» because they play specialized roles in the
development and maintenance
of nerve circuits and may contribute to a wide range
of disorders, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers.
ASD is a complex
disorder of brain development.
A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is giving researchers a first look at the early stages
of brain development in patients with Fragile X syndrome, a
disorder that causes mild to severe intellectual disability and is the most common genetic cause
of autism spectrum
disorder.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness: «It is too early to classify schizophrenia as either a neurodevelopmental (impairment
of the growth and
development of the
brain) or a neurodegenerative (progressive loss
of structure or function
of neurons)
disorder, as both seem to occur over the course
of the illness.
In the new study, the researchers discovered that during the second trimester
of human
brain development, oRG cells express genes related to a fundamental signaling pathway called mTOR, defects in which have previously been implicated in autism and several other psychiatric
disorders.
«The method thus opens up completely new opportunities for investigating
disorders in the architecture
of the developing human
brain,» explains Dr. Julia Ladewig, who leads a working group on
brain development.
The cause
of his
disorder has yet to be pinpointed, but it almost certainly stems from a problem in the early
development of his
brain.
Animal models and clinical trials have shown that antioxidants and anti-inflammatory drugs could not only reduce symptoms associated with the
disorders but also prevent the appearance
of neurobiological abnormalities and transition to psychosis if given early during
brain development.
Similarly, Neanderthal variants impacting
development of a particular suspect
brain area may help to inform cognitive disability seen in certain
brain disorders, say the researchers.
They're now reporting in ACS» Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that a compound from hops could protect
brain cells from damage — and potentially slow the
development of disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
These so - called bioreactors, and the mini-brains they foster, should open other new and valuable windows into human
brain development,
brain disorders and drug testing — and perhaps even produce neurons for treatment
of Parkinson's disease and other
disorders, the investigators say.
Schizophrenia is generally considered to be a
disorder of brain development and it shares many risk factors, both genetic and environmental, with other neurodevelopmental
disorders such as autism and intellectual disability.
Pattwell studies the
development of the
brain, particularly the neural circuits associated with fear, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress
disorder using mice as a model.
Increased expression
of a gene linked to autism spectrum
disorders (ASDs) leads to a remodeling
of dendrites during
brain development, according to a new study conducted in cultured neurons and an ASD mouse model published in JNeurosci.