The humble fruit fly may have something to teach us about forgoing empty calories for more nutritional ones – especially when we’re hungry.
While the flies initially prefer food with a sweet flavour, they quickly learn to opt for less sweet food sources that offer more calories and nutritional value, according to new research by University of British Columbia zoologists.
Study provides strong evidence of a biological process that embeds social experience in DNA that affects not just a few genes but entire networks of genes.
Early life experience results in a broad change in the way our DNA is “epigenetically” chemically marked in the brain by a coat of small chemicals called methyl groups, according to researchers at McGill University. Continue reading
International study with researchers at The Neuro reveals links with other neurodegenerative diseases
Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University working with a team at Oxford University have uncovered the genetic defect underlying a group of rare genetic disorders.
Have you ever wondered why some people find it so much easier to stop smoking than others? New research shows that vulnerability to smoking addiction is shaped by our genes. A study from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University shows that people with genetically fast nicotine metabolism have a significantly greater brain response to smoking cues than those with slow nicotine metabolism. Continue reading
Synaptic plasticity, or the ability of neurons to form, strengthen, or weaken connections with each other, has long been studied as the basis for learning and memory. While the cellular processes and biological mechanisms involved are complex, much progress has been made at the Brain Research Centre and other research institutes around the world towards understanding this dynamic brain process.
Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study finds that treatment of maternal depression with serotonin reuptake inhibitors(SRIs) can accelerate babies’ ability to attune to the sounds and sights of their native language, while untreated maternal depression can prolong the period of tuning. Continue reading
To determine the role of BDNF in humans, Carl Ernst, PhD, from McGill’s Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, screened over 35,000 people referred for genetic screening at clinics and over 30,000 control subjects in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Continue reading
Researchers demonstrate the key role played by a protein in learning and memory
Learning and remembering are based on molecular mechanisms that are still poorly understood. According to some experts, information is stored in the brain and reactivated as required by strengthening synapses that link neurons together. The strength of these links depends on the abundance of neurotransmitters, receptors, and of all other molecules involved in chemical transmission of information. Continue reading
A new test that measures eye movement while watching television helps detect neurological disorders earlier including Parkinson’s disease, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The low-cost test, developed at Queen’s University and the University of Southern California, provides new insight into how specific disorders affect attention.
Eight years ago, Brian MacVicar discovered that astrocytes—cells that surround nerve cells and all blood vessels in the brain—have a primary role in regulating blood flow within the brain, which provided a new target for potential therapies for stroke, migraine, and vascular dementia. Now he and Hyun Beom Choi, a research associate in his lab, have uncovered a new role for this heroic brain cell: detecting problems in the brain and delivering nutrients to keep brain cells healthy in times of critical need. Continue reading
