Brain
Artificial Sweetener: Tastes Great, But Unfulfilling
Modern life is a junk food paradise, with a multitude of options for sweet or salty satisfaction available at the corner store. But humans haven’t always lived in such resource-rich environments, and our brains evolved at a time when finding sufficient food was the preeminent struggle in life. That has led some scientists to propose […]
A Stem Cell Trojan Horse Against Brain Tumors
The medical playbook against tumors is typically a three-pronged approach: cut as much of the tumor out as possible, then attack it with radiation and chemotherapy drugs. But some tumors don’t make it easy. Brain tumors, for example, are difficult to extract without causing serious and permanent damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Whole brain radiation […]
LabBook July 20, 2012
Welcome to LabBook, our weekly roundup of University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences research news from around campus and the world wide web. Each Friday, LabBook will recap the week on the blog, link to news stories about our faculty and studies, and briefly summarize a handful of recent publications by our researchers. THE […]
A New Dial on the Neuronal Mixing Board
On the cartoon version of a neuron, the dendrites are the bad hair day, the tentacles that sprout in every direction from the cell body or soma. Surrounding neurons make their connections onto these projections, releasing neurotransmitters that travel across the synapse to the receiving dendrites where they produce excitation or inhibition. Thousands of these […]
LabBook July 6, 2012
Welcome to LabBook, our weekly roundup of University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences research news from around campus and the world wide web. Each Friday, LabBook will recap the week on the blog, link to news stories about our faculty and studies, and briefly summarize a handful of recent publications by our researchers. THIS […]
A Dress Rehearsal For Brain Death
In the movies, death in the hospital is usually portrayed as a clear-cut event. A steadily beeping heart monitor changes to a high-pitched drone, the doctor sadly removes his mask, and the family begins to mourn. But in reality, judging when life has truly ended is often a complex and nuanced task. With ventilators, heart […]
LabBook June 22, 2012
Welcome to LabBook, our weekly roundup of University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences research news from around campus and the world wide web. Each Friday, LabBook will recap the week on the blog, link to news stories about our faculty and studies, and briefly summarize a handful of recent publications by our researchers. THIS […]
LabBook June 8, 2012
Welcome to LabBook, our new weekly roundup of University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences research news from around campus and the world wide web. Each Friday, LabBook will recap the week on the blog, link to news stories about our faculty and studies, and briefly summarize a handful of recent publications by our researchers. […]
Drugs & Exercise: A 1-2 Punch for Parkinson’s?
Exercise is increasingly an important component of treating Parkinson’s disease. To supplement the effects of medication or surgery, Parkinson’s patients may undergo physical therapy or programs such as Tai Chi to improve motor symptoms including balance, gait, and tremor. Generally, the idea behind these exercises is to strengthen the body’s muscles to compensate for the […]
The Eel-Like Fish With a Human-Like Spine
By Rob Mitchum Us land animals like to think we’re so special. For instance, our spines are typically organized into five regions — cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal — each with their own distinct vertebral anatomy. Because aquatic species often have much simpler spinal morphology, usually split into mere body and tail segments, paleontologists […]
