Nature Portfolio: Unveiling the Connection Between Testosterone and Anxiety
Anxiety is a typical stress response, but it can become overwhelming for those grappling with anxiety disorders, significantly impacting their daily lives. Research indicates a close association between low testosterone levels and anxiety, even though the precise nature of this relationship remains...
Science Signaling: PTEN contributes to Alzheimer’s disease
The phosphatase PTEN antagonizes the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)–AKT pathway by converting the phospholipid PIP3 to PIP2. PIP3-mediated PI3K-AKT signaling in neurons increases synaptic strength of active synapses, a phenomenon called long-term potentiation (LTP). Mutations in PTEN are...
Nature Neuroscience: Targeting PTEN interactions for Alzheimer's disease
Depression of AMPA receptor–mediated synaptic currents and impairment of long-term potentiation, triggered by amyloid-β, are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's pathophysiology. These dysfunctions are now linked to upregulated PDZ domain–dependent PTEN translocation to spines, contributing to...
Too much Aβ weakens neural synapses by favoring long-term depression, but how? A report published January 18 in Nature Neuroscience suggests that the peptide does so by hijacking the neuron’s own mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. Scientists led by José Esteban from the Spanish Research Council...
New study reveals drugs that may improve memory and learning
DRUGS that improve connections between nerve cells in the brain may be able to improve people's memory and help understand disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, scientists have revealed.
New Protein Improves Memory, Offers Insight Into Learning Process
A recent study in PLoS Biology should give hope to the forgetful. A collaborative research group in Europe, spanning Spain, Switzerland and Denmark, developed a small protein called FGL that enhances memory formation and learning in rats, and now they have some explanation as to why. The study's...
Peptide Sparks Synaptic Plasticity, Improves Memory in Rodents
A small peptide called FGL boosts learning and memory when administered to rodents, and is poised to begin clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease patients this year. Intriguingly, FGL sharpens memory in wild-type rats as well as in several disease models. While prior studies suggested that the...
