Brain’s immune system gets activated in schizophrenia

November 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not? Scientists suspect that part of the answer to the mystery lies in a gene called FOXP2. When mutated, FOXP2 can disrupt speech and language in humans.

November 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa can 'switch on' production of molecules that kill white blood cells - preventing the bacteria being eliminated by the body's immune system, say researchers the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark. P. aeruginosa is responsible for many hospital-acquired infections and also causes chronic infections in those with pre-existing medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis (CF).

October 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study, conducted by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King's College London, suggests that abnormalities in the white matter of the brain appear to influence the development of schizophrenia. The white matter of the brain consists of nerve fibres that connect parts of the brain and help regulate behaviour.

October 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that antiepilectic drug treatments administered when the brain is developing could trigger schizophrenia-like behaviour. A history of seizures during infancy leaves a person at significantly higher risk of developing schizophrenia later in life, but researchers aren't sure whether the seizures themselves or the drugs used to treat them are to blame.

October 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A research team, including an Indian-origin boffin, has made a new discovery that could lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The discovery by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL is based on the unexpected finding that when the brain's immune cells (microglia) are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove amyloid plaques-considered a hallmark of the disease, instead of causing them or making them worse.

October 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The stigma linked to mentally ill people of being dangerous is completely unwarranted, says a new study, which found that homicides of strangers by people with schizophrenia are exceptionally rare and unpredictable events. The international study initiated by a team of Sydney researchers, is one of a series of studies of homicide by the mentally ill by two senior lecturers in psychiatry at the University of New South Wales, Dr Olav Nielssen at St Vincents Hospital and Dr Matthew Large at Prince of Wales.

October 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Depression leads to elevated inflammatory proteins in the human body, according to researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Led by Dr.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A research team from The University of Texas, including an Indian origin scientist, has come closer to creating a vaccine for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by creating an antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of neutralizing genetically diverse HIV strains. "The complexity of HIV has for long thwarted development of an effective HIV vaccine.

September 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the Emory Vaccine Center have shown that HIV relies upon a number of strategies rather than use any preferred escape route to escape immune system pressure. The human immune system has the ability to temporarily overpower HIV in early infection.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed a novel drug that delivers anti-cancer compounds straight to the tumour. Lead researcher Dr.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - While many people tend to use idioms very frequently and easily, Italian researchers have found that when it comes to understanding them, humans have to use both sides of their brain. For the study, the researchers investigated how the brain recognises that the first phrase means the same as the second, and have suggested that we use both hemispheres to understand idioms.

September 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A gathering of scientists in Scotland on Tuesday heard that effective new treatments to fight potentially lethal fungal infections in people with cancer, or those with weakened natural immunity, could be developed by gaining fresh insights into a microbe's multilayer defence mechanisms. The suggestion presented during the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh were based on a study by Prof.

September 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a first of its kind functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, researchers at Columbia University have identified an area of the brain, called the CA1 subfield, which is involved in the earliest stages of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. The researchers claim that activity in the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus may help predict the onset of the disease, offering opportunities for earlier diagnosis and for the development of drugs for schizophrenia prevention.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Cities and human brains have evolved in strikingly similar ways, says a new study. Just as advanced mammalian brains require a robust neural network to achieve richer and more complex thought, large cities require advanced highways and transportation systems to allow larger and more productive population.

September 2nd, 2009 Single flu dose or two? Why doctors aren't sureWASHINGTON — Why do scientists warn it may take two doses of vaccine to protect against swine flu when one dose is the norm in a regular flu season? Blame your naive immune system. It takes the immune system a while to ramp up to fight unique types of influenza.