Recently Found Brain Part Serves As Guardian Layer

Researchers have found a previously unidentified area of brain anatomy that serves as a barrier of defense and a base from which immune cells watch the brain for inflammation and infection. The human brain only reluctantly divulges its secrets, including the intricate nature of neural networks and fundamental biological processes and structures. Only recently have developments…

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Microglial TREM2 Has Protective Role In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Microglia play a protective role in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to new preclinical studies from Mayo Clinic scientists and collaborators1. The finding could provide a potential therapeutic target for the disease. The loss of neurons characterizes the neurodegenerative diseases of Alzheimer’s and ALS. In Alzheimer’s, the lost neurons handle memory…

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Microglia Help Regulate Blood Flow In The Brain

Microglia help regulate blood flow and maintain the brain’s critical blood vessels, University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have found. It is an important but previously unknown role for these immune cells that protect the brain from disease and injury. The findings1 may prove important in cognitive decline, dementia and stroke, among other conditions…

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Unique Microglia Cells Linked To OCD And Anxiety

A new lineage of specialized brain cells, called Hoxb8-lineage microglia, has been investigated in a study by University of Utah scientists. They established a link between the lineage and obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety in mice. “More women than men experience debilitating anxiety at some point in their lives. Scientists want help these people to…

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TREM2 Supports Microglia Metabolic Health In Alzheimer’s Disease

Individuals with distinct mutations in the gene TREM2 are three times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who carry more common variants of the gene. Until now, scientists had no explanation for the link. New research in mice at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that the high-risk mutations in…

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Overactive Microglia May Cause Alzheimer’s Neurodegeneration

A surprising effect of microglia has been demonstrated for the first time by researchers at the University of Zurich. If these scavenger cells of the brain lack the TDP-43 protein, they not only remove Alzheimer’s plaques, but also synapses. This removal of synapses by these cells presumably lead to neurodegeneration observed in Alzheimer’s and other…

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Could Microglia Protect Against Alzheimer's Damage?

Groups of immune cells in the brain heretofore associated with Alzheimer’s actually protect against the disease by containing the spread of damaging amyloid plaques, a new Yale University School of Medicine study shows. The findings give further support for the idea that inflammation byproducts of these immune cells are probably not a major culprit in…

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Major Depression As A Microglial Disease

Major depression may be caused by abnormalities in immune cells of the brain, and the idea could revolutionize next-generation psychiatric medication treatment, according to Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers. Microglia cells in the brain, acting as the first and main form of active immune defense of the central nervous system, may be a key in causing…

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