Category Health/Medical

Penn researchers leading the DARPA-funded Restoring Active Memory project constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients. Above, the image on the left represents the ~30,000 electrodes used in the study. On the right is a rendering of a whole-brain network derived from electrical activity during memory processing. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Pennsylvania

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients with electrodes implanted directly on the brain...

Cancer cells. Credit: Dr. Cecil Fox, National Cancer Institute

Cancer researchers seeking non-toxic alternatives to harmful chemotherapy are reporting a highly significant result for a humble cold remedy. N-Acetyl cysteine – or NAC – is routinely used as a dietary supplement and as a decongestant given to children to ward off a cold. Now, clinical trials in the US indicate the cheap, over-the-counter drug, is a first rate inhibitor of the tumour stroma, a cell compartment which is fundamental to the spread of cancer. The results, published in Seminars in Oncology, confirm a long-held theory that cancer cells are being sustained and strengthened by the presence of MCT4, a protein which ‘brings them’ energy, in the form of lactate, from neighbouring cells.

Patients taking high dosages of NAC...

Highlights •Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is vulnerable to stresses imposed by excess cholesterol •Nrf1 binds and senses excess cholesterol in ER membrane to protect from such stress •Nrf1-deficient liver massively accumulates cholesterol, resulting in liver disease •Nrf1 protects liver by suppressing inflammation and promoting cholesterol excretion

Harvard researchers have illuminated a critical player in cholesterol metabolism that acts as a molecular guardian in cells to help maintain cholesterol levels within a safe, narrow range. Nrf1 senses and responds to excess cholesterol, and could represent a potential new therapeutic target in a multitude of diseases where cholesterol metabolism is disrupted.

It has been accepted for decades that high cholesterol in the blood can set the s...

A team of scientists identified a molecule that may reduce stroke-induced brain damage. Credit: Image courtesy of the NINDS

Multi-step screening process leads to molecule that may protect brain cells. In the fight against brain damage caused by stroke, researchers have turned to an unlikely source of inspiration: hibernating ground squirrels. While the animals’ brains experience dramatically reduced blood flow during hibernation, just like human patients after a certain type of stroke, the squirrels emerge from their extended naps suffering no ill effects. Now a potential drug could grant the same resilience to the brains of ischemic stroke patients by mimicking the cellular changes that protect the brains of those animals.

“For decades scientists have been searching for an effective brain...