Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Glial Cells Assist in the Repair of Injured Nerves

Glial Cells Assist in the Repair of Injured Nerves. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. ScienceDaily, 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.

Jan. 28, 2013 — Unlike the brain and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system has an astonishing capacity for regeneration following injury. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen have discovered that, following nerve damage, peripheral glial cells produce the growth factor neuregulin1, which makes an important contribution to the regeneration of damaged nerves.

Original source (Journal reference): A role for Schwann cell-derived neuregulin-1 in remyelination. Stassart RM, Fledrich R, Velanac V, Brinkmann BG, Schwab MH, Meijer D, Sereda MW, Nave KA. Nature Neuroscience, 2012; 16 (1): 48 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3281

Eye movements in patients with neurodegenerative disorders

Eye movements in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. Review, Tim J. Anderson & Michael R. MacAskill, Nature Reviews Neurology, advance online publication, Published online 22 January 2013 | doi:10.1038/nrneurol.2012.273

Keywords: neural pathways, brain regions, eye movements, cerebrum, brainstem, cerebellum, neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disorders, disease severity, objective evaluation, saccade performance.