Category Health/Medical

Plastic cells: A fast spiking interneuron in the cerebral cortex of the mouse. Image adapted from King’s College London press release.

It implies ‘hardware’ in our brain is tuneable and could have implications that go far beyond basic neuroscience – from informing education policy to developing new therapies for neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

Researchers from the MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, led by Professor Oscar Marín have discovered some neurons in the cerebral cortex can adapt their properties in response to changes in network activity – such as those observed during learning of a motor task...

Highlights •Melatonin levels negatively correlate with multiple sclerosis relapses in humans •Melatonin treatment ameliorates pathology in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis •Melatonin blocks ROR-γt expression and Th17 differentiation •Melatonin boosts Tr1 development via Erk1/2 and ROR-α

Researchers have found an explanation that could lead to a deeper understanding of multiple sclerosis and more targeted treatment options for patients. By first looking broadly at possible environmental factors and then deeply at preclinical models of MS, the research team found that melatonin – a hormone involved in regulating a person’s sleep-wake cycle – may influence MS disease activity.

Why do symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) seem to get better in the winter and worse in the summer? The...

Mindfulness meditation is associated with benefits to mental and physical well-being, but a new study suggests that it may also come with a particular downside for memory. The findings show that participants who engaged in a 15-minute mindfulness meditation session were less able to differentiate items they actually encountered from items they only imagined.

Wilson and colleagues wondered whether the very mechanism that seems to underlie the benefits of mindfulness – judgment-free thoughts and feelings – might also affect people’s ability to determine the origin of a given memory...

Using long-lived smokers as their phenotype, the authors of a study identified a network of SNPs (a DNA sequence variation occurring commonly within a population) that allow certain individuals to better withstand environmental damage (like smoking) and mitigate damage. Collectively, these SNPs were strongly associated with high survival rates.

Morgan E. Levine said: “We identified a set of genetic markers that together seem to promote longevity. What’s more, many of these markers are in pathways that were discovered to be important for aging and lifespan in animal models. There is evidence that these genes may facilitate lifespan extension by increasing cellular maintenance and repair...