Neuroscience Archives

UNC School of Medicine Graduate students Kimberly Lukasik and Maria Ortiz-Juza were among 51 students from around the country named as Gilliam Fellows by the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

UNC School of Medicine researchers led by Hyejung Won, PhD, used a new kind of computational tool to parse the complicated genetics that put some people at higher risk of becoming addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and likely other substances of abuse.

Led by Juan Song, PhD, scientists at the UNC School of Medicine used optogenetic techniques to stimulate specific brain cells to increase production of neural stem cells and neurons relevant to memory and emotion processing in animal models.

Restoring lost gene activity prevents many disease signs in an animal model of the rare, single-gene neurodevelopmental condition. The UNC Neuroscience Center lab of Ben Philpot, PhD, led this research.

UNC School of Medicine researchers led by Ian Shih, PhD, used fMRI and a genetic mouse model to study the effects of a neurotransmitter on brain network functional connectivity, a dynamic process crucial for human health and behavior.

Research led by Mark Shen, PhD, Heather Hazlett, PhD, and Joseph Piven, MD, from UNC-Chapel Hill is the first to demonstrate overgrowth of the amygdala in the first year of life, before babies show most of the behavioral symptoms that later consolidate into a diagnosis of autism. This overgrowth may be unique to autism, as babies with fragile X syndrome show a different brain growth pattern.

Four research teams at the UNC School of Medicine won $25,000 pilot grants with the goal of increasing collaborations throughout the neurosciences, as part of a UNC NeuroSpark event.

Led by Ben Philpot, PhD, and Matt Judson, PhD, the new therapy was generally well-tolerated and prevented key signs of the condition in animal models.

Led by Katie Baldwin, PhD, research published in Neuron shows how the loss of the protein hepaCAM drives brain development dysfunction and plays an important role in neurological disorders.

The discovery, from the UNC School of Medicine lab of Mark Zylka, PhD, offers pain researchers a new, precise target to treat inflammation associated with neuropathic pain.

Hyejung Won, PhD, and Jason Stein, PhD, in the UNC Department of Genetics and members of the UNC Neuroscience Center, led a genome-wide association study to find that lowered expression of a gene called DDHD2 may increase a person’s likelihood of autism.

Limited Submissions: Internal Call for Proposals NIH Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) UNC Internal deadline: 11:59PM, Monday, November 9, 2020 *Please distribute to relevant faculty*

Tag: Neuroscience

Lukasik, Ortiz-Juza Selected as HHMI Gilliam Fellows

Scientists Reveal Genetic Architecture Underlying Alcohol, Cigarette Abuse

Stimulating Brain Circuits Promotes Neuron Growth in Adulthood, Improving Cognition and Mood

Gene Therapy Could Treat Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome, Proof-of-Concept Study Suggests

Scientists Detail Brain Dynamics Implicated in Neurological Conditions

Scientists Identify Overgrowth of Key Brain Structure in Babies Who Later Develop Autism

UNC NeuroSpark Research Award Winners Selected

Gene Therapy Shows Early Promise as Angelman Syndrome Treatment

Scientists Discover Key Player in Brain Development, Cell Communication

Scientists Find New Cell Type Implicated in Chronic Pain, Inflammation

Scan of Genomes for Inherited Variants Implicates New Gene Important in Autism

Limited Submissions Internal Call for Proposals: NIH Neuroscience Development for Advancing the Careers of a Diverse Research Workforce (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)