Month: June 2015
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Blood to feeling: McMaster scientists turn blood into neural cells
Scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to make adult sensory neurons from human patients simply by having them roll up their sleeve and providing a blood sample. Specifically, stem cell scientists at McMaster can now directly convert adult human blood cells to both central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) neurons as well as…
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Study on cerebral astrocytes in depression and suicide
Towards a better understanding of the mechanisms of depression A new study published by the team of Naguib Mechawar, Ph.D., a researcher with the McGill Group for Suicide Studies (MGSS) of the Douglas Institute (CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île de Montréal) and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, sheds new light on the…
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Researchers get a closer look at how the Huntington’s gene works
Huntington’s disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntington’s disease gene, but it has long been a mystery why some people with the exact same mutation get the disease more severely and earlier than others. A closer look at the DNA around the Huntington’s disease (HD) gene offers researchers a new understanding of how…
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How your brain reacts to emotional information is influenced by your genes
Your genes may influence how sensitive you are to emotional information, according to new research by a UBC neuroscientist. The study, recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found that carriers of a certain genetic variation perceived positive and negative images more vividly, and had heightened activity in certain brain regions.
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Every bite you take, every move you make, astrocytes will be watching you
Chewing, breathing, and other regular bodily functions that we undertake “without thinking” actually do require the involvement of our brain, but the question of how the brain programs such regular functions intrigues scientists. A team lead by Arlette Kolta, a professor at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Dentistry, has shown that astrocytes play a…
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The α6 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor determines variability in chronic pain sensitivity
Dr. Jeffrey Mogil from McGill University led an important study published recently in Science Translational Medicine showing that expression levels of the α6 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), is highly associated with allodynia, a prominent symptom of chronic pain.