Category Archives: Neuroscience

By Taylor Woetzel    In our rapidly evolving medical landscape, elucidation of many causal disease factors has declassed a myriad of diseases from heralds of death to minor inconveniences, easily treated by modern medicine. Once life-threatening diseases like smallpox and poliomyelitis have been virtually eradicated, owing to insights in virology that led to the production ofContinue reading “The link between viral infection and neurodegenerative disease   “

By Isabella Savin The canonical role of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in the brain is to mature into oligodendrocytes (OLs), the cells that produce the fatty myelin sheath enwrapping neurons. Upon recognition of damaged myelin, OPCs migrate to the site of damage and undergo a strict differentiation programme into OLs. OPCs persist throughout all 6Continue reading “Oligodendrocyte precursor cells: beyond myelination”

By Emmeleia Psyllaki Coronavirus disease 2019, widely known as COVID-19, is a very infectious disease that is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 or SARS-CoV-2 for short1.  The intensity of symptoms of infection can vary from those of a mild to moderate respiratory illness and relatively quick recovery without medical attention to thoseContinue reading “Can COVID-19 aggravate Alzheimer’s Disease?“

By Alice de Bernardy Myelin insulates neurons and enable a faster nerve conduction across the nervous system. This quite simplistic and straight forward definition presents myelin as an accessory helping us “think fast”. But Myelin’s fundamental role in health and implication in diseases presents it as a major regulator of nervous system integrity and fundamentalContinue reading “Myelin function and its implication in neurodegeneration“

By Alice de Bernardy Brain metastases are among the most critical diagnosis in the field of cancer therapies1. But the brain being a well-protected organ, we’ll try here to understand how cancer cells can metastase to the brain and how we can try to study this process in the lab.  But firstly, what is metastasis? It’sContinue reading “Metastasis to the brain and how to model it in vitro“

By Alice de Bernardy Currently, lumbar punction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) represents the main source of information we have about a brain’s health in vivo. While animal models have allowed for a vast amount of research to be conducted, they can be limiting in reflecting the level of complexity of the Human brain and can’t alwaysContinue reading “A brain in a dish, the future of brain organoids“

By Alice de Bernardy *article written in June, 2022 It has widely been shown that exercise improves the mood and makes people “happy”.1 Exercise can result in beneficial outcomes such as raising the level of confidence, taking part in a social activity, and achieving objectives. However, during exercise, one might experience a particular “flow” reaching itsContinue reading “The role of endocannabinoids in a Runner’s High“

By Laima Susta It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. German and Spanish are accessible to foreigners: English is not accessible even to Englishmen.1 The above musings on the complexity of language originate from “Pygmalion”, Bernard Shaw’s play in which he explores theContinue reading “Flowers or flores: The neuroscience underpinning bilingualism“

By Pia Skok Ageing is defined as a functional decline and deterioration in organism’s lifetime.1 We often associate ageing with decrease in cognitive function, mobility issues and less elastic, more fragile skin. But what are the biochemical reasons behind these commonly observed ageing symptoms? There are nine molecular and cellular hallmarks of ageing that togetherContinue reading ““The hallmarks of ageing””