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Scientists have discovered a single master gene that programmes ear hair cells into either outer or inner ones, overcoming a major hurdle that had prevented the development of these cells to restore hearing, according to new research published in Nature. “Our finding gives us the first clear cell switch to make one type versus the [...]
Researchers have found that a suite of complementary tests can quantify changes in dogs suspected of suffering from cognitive decline. The approach could not only aid owners in managing their elderly canine’s care, but could also serve as a model for evaluating cognitive decline progression in – and treatments for – humans with Alzheimer’s disease. [...]
It’s often said that a little stress can be good for you. Now scientists have shown that the same may be true for cells, uncovering a mechanism that might help prevent the build-up of tangles of proteins commonly seen in dementia. A characteristic of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – collectively known as neurodegenerative [...]
Cognitive impairment as a result of severe COVID-19 is similar to that sustained between 50 and 70 years of age and is the equivalent to losing 10 IQ points, say a team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. The findings, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, emerge from the NIHR COVID-19 [...]
A study has found a promising new treatment for patients with the second-most common form of dementia in people under 60, resulting in a stabilising of escalating behavioural issues, and a reversal of brain shrinkage due to the disease. It is the second clinical trial to show that the drug, sodium selenate, may be slowing [...]
Parkinson's disease is perhaps best known for its movement-related symptoms, particularly tremors and stiffness. But the disease is also known to hinder vocal production, giving those with Parkinson's a soft monotonous voice. Those symptoms, research has suggested, often appear much earlier in the disease's development - sometimes decades before movement-related symptoms. New research by University [...]
In the search for eternal youth, faecal transplants may seem like an unlikely way to reverse the ageing process. However, scientists at the Quadram Institute and the University of East Anglia have provided evidence, from research in mice, that transplanting faecal microbiota from young into old mice can reverse hallmarks of ageing in the gut, [...]
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a smartphone app that could allow people to screen for Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and other neurological diseases and disorders - by recording closeups of their eye. The app uses a near-infrared camera, which is built into newer smartphones for facial recognition, along with a regular [...]
A detailed microsimulation, using a database of 40 million people, has examined the future of Japan’s ageing population up to 2043. It projects that more people will live longer, and that overall years spent living with dementia will decrease. However, the model highlighted the diversity of impacts on different segments of the population, as Japanese [...]
Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine are studying why neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as apathy and irritability, appear in most Alzheimer’s disease patients before the onset of memory loss. The study, led by Yao-Ying Ma, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology, was recently featured in the publication Molecular Psychiatry. The team of researchers identified a receptor [...]
