Medicine & Health

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have discovered that the fluid around the brain flows to areas critical for normal brain development and function, suggesting that disruptions to its circulation may play an underrecognized role in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research from the lab of Hong Chen, at the McKelvey School of Engineering and the School of Medicine, and collaborators found that using focused-ultrasound-mediated liquid biopsy in a mouse model released more tau proteins and another biomarker into the blood than without the intervention. This noninvasive method could facilitate diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have discovered a biomarker for a rare, deadly brain disease known as corticobasal degeneration (CBD). The biomarker could accelerate efforts to develop treatments for CBD.

Seniors Sam Norwitz and Ephraim Oyetunji, both majoring in neuroscience in Arts & Sciences, were finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world’s most prestigious academic honors.

New School of Medicine research provides clues to falling fast asleep — or lying wide awake. Studying fruit flies, the researchers found that brain neurons adapt to help the flies stay awake despite tiredness in dangerous situations and help them fall asleep after an intense day.

Research in animals led by Washington University and the Roslin Institute in Scotland shows that supplying a vital missing enzyme helps to improve CLN1 disease, a rare but fatal brain disorder.

Bruce Carlson, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, recently won a $980,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study neuronal plasticity and the evolvability of animal behavior.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have identified a pathway in the brains of mice that is activated when the animals see other mice scratching. They found that this so-called “contagious itching” is controlled through a visual pathway that operates independently of the visual cortex.

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine are joining a national network, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to map the intricacies of the brain, with a goal of deepening knowledge of how the brain works and generating new insights into how the brain functions in healthy people — and how it malfunctions in Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, autism and numerous other conditions.

A comprehensive analysis of federal data by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine shows people who have had COVID-19 are at an elevated risk of developing neurological conditions within the first year after infection.