RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-26 Research News Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. But there is some evidence, both epidemiological and molecular, that smokers are at reduced risk for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD). Epidemiologi
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-26 Research News How do Schwann cells know how much myelin to wrap around an axon during development? It's not a trivial problem—a small difference in myelin thickness can change signal transduction speed through the axon, with potentially devastating c
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-25 Research News Studying the similarities between humans and mice is easy. Studying the differences can be almost impossible. Take the cerebral cortex. The highly folded, gyrencephalic human cortex has much evolved from the smooth, lysencephalic brain of ro
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-24 Research News As part of the tangled web of pathology that leads to Alzheimer’s disease, inflammation is associated with local immune responses. For example, recent data indicate that both AD patients and elderly healthy people have circulating Aβ-reactiv
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-19 Research News A loss of activity in areas of the brain that typically fire up when our brains are at rest may prove to be an accurate diagnostic marker for the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published March 15 in the onl
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-19 Research News It can be a template, a receptor, an enzyme, or metabolic regulator. But can it be all of these at one time? The answer seems to be yes. This week, American and Japanese researchers assigned new skills to the already versatile RNA. Fred Gage
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-19 Research News Ozone protects us from solar radiation, sterilizes, and even cleans our clothes. It’s also a summer hazard in areas where its levels in surface air rise beyond safe levels. And here is a new environmental concern to ponder, if admittedly a f
INTERVIEWS 2004-03-15 Interviews Sheldon Goldberg In 2002, Sheldon Goldberg assumed the top job at the (Alzheimer's Association) after 30 years in national associations and long-term care management (See bio [.pdf]). Prior to becoming president and CEO of the associatio
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-15 Research News A multi-institutional collaboration led by Sam Gandy at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, has vaccinated rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) against the Aβ peptide in an effort to establish a more human-like animal model than mice for u
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-14 Research News Researchers who follow the ups and downs of protein expression in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may well think they are being taken on a roller coaster ride. Early on, many proteins are upregulated, and at later stages, they become downregulated.
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-14 Research News A report in press in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, published online February 24, adds to the growing body of evidence that traces the etiology of Parkinson's disease to the mitochondria. Jie Shen and colleagues at Brigham and Wom
INTERVIEWS 2004-03-08 Interviews William A. Haseltine Note: On March 25, Haseltine announced that he will retire from Human Genome Sciences later this year. He will continue his not-for-profit work, some of which he discussed below. As founder, Chairman, and CEO of the biote
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-08 Research News In the current Archives of General Psychiatry, George Uhl and Robert Grow from the National Institutes of Health compile an overview of the known genetic components of major brain diseases and then apportion the cost to society accordingly.
RESEARCH NEWS 2004-03-05 Research News In this week’s PNAS, Fernando Nottebohm and colleagues at Rockefeller University, New York, report that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protects newborn neurons in songbirds. BDNF has also been linked to long-term potentiation, memo