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Researchers investigate neuron differentiation in fruit fly brains
The brains of all higher order animals are filled with a diverse array of neuron types, with specific shapes and functions. Yet, when these brains form during embryonic development, there is initially only a small pool of cell types to work with. So how do neurons diversify over the embryo’s...
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'Transformative' education: Dr. Jeanne Goldberg on her journey to radiology and why she supports MCB
As she viewed the radiograph in Decatur Memorial Hospital’s Radiology Department’s reading room, Jeanne Bullock Goldberg was fascinated by what she saw: the bones and innermost details of a hand.
It was 1965, and having just graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School, she had applied for a...
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New study suggests link between temporal lobe epilepsy and reproductive endocrine dysfunction
A new study from the University of Illinois further helps explain links between epilepsy and reproductive comorbidities. The Christian-Hinman laboratory's findings were published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease.
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Researchers funded to develop ultrasound imaging tools to study Alzheimer's disease
Interdisciplinary researchers at the Beckman Institute, including Molecular & Integrative Physiology Professor Dan Llano, received federal funding to develop ultrasound imaging methods for studying the neurovascular changes underlying Alzheimer's disease. Their low-cost, widely accessible...
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Recent research from Christian-Hinman lab provides foundation for new experimental designs to study epilepsy
Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of focal epilepsy, often have seizures that start from one side of the hippocampus and not the other. Such patients may also experience complications such as cognitive impairment and reproductive endocrine disruption. Although it’s been...
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New ultrasound tool measures blood flow, images microvasculature in the brain
Researchers at the Beckman Institute developed a technique for producing super-resolution ultrasound images of tissue microvasculature in just a fraction of the time previously needed. Their work could enable future research into the neurovascular mechanisms behind conditions like Alzheimer’s...
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Decoding Life with MCB: Eating Disorders
Life is extraordinary. So is the work we do. In a brand new podcast series, Decoding Life with MCB, the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores the impact of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni in each episode.
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Research illuminates balancing act for protein linked to Fragile X Syndrome and Alzheimer's disease
A new study by researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign suggests the overexpression of a particular gene could serve as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Their findings could also lead to better understandings of the links between Alzheimer’s disease, Fragile X Syndrome, and...
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Decoding the molecular clock that controls neurogenesis in visual center of Drosophila
The nervous system is made up of diverse cells that arise from progenitors in a specific time-dependent pattern. In a new study, published in Nature Communications, researchers have uncovered the molecular players involved and how the timing is controlled.
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MCB team identifies compound with potent antiseizure effects
Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe – the most common type of epilepsy – discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice. The...