Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
The news that legendary Green Bay Packer quarterback Bart Starr has undergone stem cell therapy to recover from a stroke has raised the profile for a promising but unproven regenerative treatment intended to replace dead neurons with live ones.
A biologist who uses mathematical models to illuminate the changes within ecosystems and a neuroscientist who’s exploring how stem cells can treat diseases of the brain and spinal cord are the newest recipients of Steenbock Professorships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Title: Tai Chi as a potential therapy for ADHD Legend: Healthy young adults in a tai chi course reported reduced levels of inattention compared to controls. Photo: © Mariann Seriff (https://nccih.nih.gov/news/multimedia/images/details/2862) Citation: Converse AK, Ahlers EO, Travers BG, Davidson RJ (2014) Tai chi training reduces self-report of inattention in healthy young adults. Frontiers in Human …
Fathers who read to their infants with autism and take active roles in caregiving activities not only promote healthy development in their children, they boost moms’ mental health too, new research suggests.
A new study by Waisman Center investigators Andy Alexander, PhD, professor of medical physics and psychiatry, Janet Lainhart, MD, professor of psychiatry and Brittany Travers, PhD, assistant professor of kinesiology, indicates a nerve bundle at the base of the brain is structurally compromised in people with autism. The study was recently featured by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.
Legend: Left panel: General patterns of [11C]PiB binding in participants with Down syndrome (DS). PiB binds to amyloid-β plaques, a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The top row shows nonspecific white matter binding. The middle row shows elevated PiB binding only in the striatum (pointed out by the arrows), which is unique to the …
Two Waisman Center programs will benefit from The Evjue Foundation grants. The Waisman Center Clinics are the recipient of $11,500 to enhance exam rooms to minimize light and sound issues to better serve individuals with disabilities; and $20,000 is designated for improvements to the Discovery Garden, the fully-accessible outdoor learning and play space adjacent to …
Applying a dramatically improved method for "editing" genes to human stem cells, University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist and Waisman Center investigator Su-Chun Zhang has shown a new way to silence genes in stem cells and their progeny at any stage of development.
Title: Cell cycle-linked MeCP2 phosphorylation modulates adult neurogenesis Legend: Representative images (left) of adult neural progenitor cells (aNPCs) isolated from wild type (WT) and Mecp2S421A;S424A/y hippocampus with BrdU pulse labeling, followed by immunocytochemistry analysis. (middle) Representative images of Tuj1+ neurons differentiated from WT and Mecp2S421A;S424A/y aNPCs. (right) Representative images of GFAP+ astrocyte differentiated from WT and …
Title: Up-regulation of NHE1 protein expression in reactive hippocampal astrocytes Legend: A.Expression of NHE1 protein in hippocampal astrocytes. Immunofluorescence signals of NHE1 and GFAP were shown under normoxia control or OGD (2 h) plus 0 h, 5 h, or 24 h REOX. Green: GFAP, red: NHE1 (arrows), blue: To-pro-3 nuclear staining. Scale Bar: 20 mm. …
