When Albert Einstein died in 1955, his brain was put in a jar of formaldehyde and sectioned at the University of Pennsylvania by the pathologist Thomas Harvey, who discovered that the brilliant scientist had more astrocytes (or glial cells) than an average male brain. This finding remained underestimated until the 90s, when Stephen J. Smith […]
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Posts with tag 'professionals'
Gut microbes induce serotonin production
We know, thanks to years of investigation, that our intestine is populated by 1-2 kilograms of microorganisms, almost the equivalent of an average human brain. We also know that this living and transforming universe is critical for digestion of food, regulation of immune system, response to drugs and susceptibility to disease. Recently, amazing data indicate […]
Sleep traps memory. The role of dopamine
With only 100,000 neurons, the fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster confirms that sleep is not only good for skin and mood, but also for memory. American researchers at Florida Campus of The Scripps Research Institute published in the journal Cell that remembering and forgetting are two processes closely related, dependent on the activation or inactivation of […]
A mouse model for type B tyrosine hydroxilase deficiency
Tyrosine Hydroxylase Deficiency (THD) is an inborn error of dopamine synthesis. Around 70 cases of THD have been identified so far, with manifestations ranging from mild movement disorder to encephalopathy with parkinsonism. Based on the clinical signs observed, two main forms have been described. Type A has a more attenuated phenotype and it is normally […]
Mitochondrial disorders: impaired neurotransmission and seizures
Seizure are frequent symptoms of inborn errors of metabolism. In particular, 26–60% of all mitochondrial disorders occur with epilepsy, and 169 genetic mutations affected mitochondrial function have been associated to seizures. Dr. Zsurka and Dr. S Kunz from Bonn University, Germany, proposed an accurate review, recently published in the journal Lancet Neurology, of the relationship […]
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