Soy Goo May Fight Alzheimer's

Bexarotene removes plaque built up on brain

(NEWSER) - Scientists were "shocked and amazed" at the effects of a common cancer drug in battling Alzheimer's in mice. The disease causes a buildup of plaque in the brain—but just hours after mice received bexarotene, the plaque began to disappear and the mice got smarter, AFP reports. The drug increases a protein that helps get rid of the plaque. "Things like this had never, ever been seen before," says a scientist at Case Western Reserve University. More»

Could the process work for humans?

(NEWSER) - Harvard scientists have reversed the aging process in mice, injecting them with an enzyme that healed tissue and reportedly spurred the growth of new neurons in their brains. Now they’re wondering if they can apply some of these benefits to humans. But differences between human and mice bodies make things complicated—and potentially dangerous, the Guardian reports. More»

And the breakthrough it led to

(NEWSER) - When Thomas Harvey performed Albert Einstein's autopsy, he removed his brain, which was standard procedure. But what he did next wasn't standard at all: He put the brain in a jar of formaldehyde and made off with it. NPR relates the strange tale in a segment this morning. Harvey said he was driven by a sense of scientific duty, and through the years would freely distribute bits of the brain to leading neuroanatomists. More»

(NEWSER) - Moments of forgetfulness attributed to Alzheimer’s disease could in fact be caused by a loss of vision, the Boston Globe reports, and new research asserts that cranking up contrast—by using colored dinner plates, for instance—could help. “Let’s say you put keys down on the counter and can’t find them,” a researcher says. “People say, ‘Of course she can’t find them—she has Alzheimer’s.’ Well, what if she can’t see them?” More»

Low frequency ultrasound shown to release neurotransmitters

(NEWSER) - Bombarding the brain with sound waves may not seem like the most logical way to repair damage, but a new study shows that ultrasound may have therapeutic uses, reports the Economist. While ultrasound technology has long been used to take images of human interiors, such as fetuses in the womb, an Arizona lab has suggested that at lower frequencies, these sound waves could be used to manipulate nerves without harming them. More»