Heena Sharma Blog

  Whether you have contracted Covid-19 or not, your brain is likely to have changed over the past few months. The virus itself can cause a number of neurological problems, along with anxiety and depression. The isolation and worry caused by the pandemic can similarly alter our brain chemistry and cause mood disorders. In our new paper, published in Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews, we have investigated how to best overcome the brain changes linked to the pandemic. Let’s start with Covid-19 infection. In addition to mood disorders, common symptoms include fatigue, headaches, memory loss and problems with attention. There may be a number of reasons for these brain changes, including inflammation and cerebrovascular events (a syndrome caused by disruption of blood supply to the brain). Research suggests that the virus may gain access to the brain via the forebrain’s olfactory bulb, which is important for the processing of smell. Loss of smell is a symptom in many patients with C...

Research have engineered biohybrid nerve tissue -- containing both living cells and non-living components -- to develop 3D models of neural networks , an advance that may lead to better understanding of how the brain works. The researchers, including Gelson Pagan-Diaz from the University of Illinois in the US, said the produced tissue is similar to a computer processing unit, which provided the basic principle to today's supercomputers. The study, published in the journal PNAS, noted that the 3D tissue , consisting of neurons, can provide the ability to develop tissue models for drug screening, or processing units for biological computers. The researchers said using a 3D model of these networks outside the body may offer researchers a new tool to understand how these connections work. These models, they said, can help shed light on how abnormalities form such as what gives rise to diseases such as Alzheimer's. According to the researchers, the 3D tissues can be...

In a recent study, biologists discovered how head injuries adversely affect individual cells and genes that can lead to serious brain disorders . The researchers at the University of California studied more than 6,000 cells in 15 hippocampal cell types -- the first study of individual cell types subject to brain trauma . Each cell has the same DNA, but which genes are activated varies among different cell types. Among the 15 cell types are two that were previously unknown, each with a unique set of active genes. The life scientists provide the first cell 'atlas' of the hippocampus -- the part of the brain that helps regulate learning and memory -- when it is affected by traumatic brain injury . The team also proposed gene candidates for treating brain diseases associated with traumatic brain injuries, such as Alzheimer's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder. "Every cell type is different," said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, co-senior author of the...

A novel brain network that links pain in Parkinson's disease (PD) to a specific region of the brain has been revealed by scientists. Health News : A novel brain network that links pain in Parkinson's disease (PD) to a specific region of the brain has been revealed by scientists. The research has revealed why a subset of neurons in part of the brain called the subthalamic nucleus is a potential target for pain relief in PD, as well as other diseases such as dementia, motor neuron disease and Huntington's, and certain forms of a migraine. People with PD often report unexplained pain such as burning, stabbing, aching, itching or tingling sensations that are not directly related to their other PD symptoms. Treatment with deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus can help with the movement-related symptoms of PD, but recent studies have shown it also reduces pain. The way it does this, however, is currently unclear. Lead author Arnaud Pautrat sai...