A long-awaited first step towards a cure for a devastating brain disease
Glia in neurodegeneration: Gladiators or traitors?
Neurons are far from the only cell type in the brain; other cells like astrocytes and microglia are also crucial for brain function. In certain diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s where we see irreversible neuron death, researchers are starting to ask: what role do these other cell types play?
Parsing Parkinson’s pathology
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder that affects 1% of the U.S. population above the age of 60. Symptoms of Parkinson’s impact all facets of life. You might be wondering- if Parkinson’s is so common, why haven’t we been able to develop a cure? Here, we break down some of the aspects of Parkinson’s pathology that make it such a complicated disease to understand.
Don’t move a muscle
Our body’s built-in brakes keep us safely still even while our brains remain active during REM sleep.
Growing evidence for a link between viral infections and brain diseases
A new study finds links between several viruses and brain diseases. We’ll break down what this study does and doesn’t tell you about what to think next time you get the flu.
Alzheimer’s disease: What’s causing some of our neurons to die?
A recent study suggests that an Alzheimer’s disease-related protein could explain why specific neurons die first.