Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Picture a crisp October morning in Madison, Wisconsin – the bright colors of fall leaves, mists over the blue waters of Lake Mendota and – on one Sunday (the 14th this year) – a crowd of excited people waiting to run, walk or roll in the 2018 Waisman Whirl for ALL Abilities!
In 1998, UW–Madison developmental biologist James Thomson introduced the world to the first laboratory-derived human embryonic stem cells. Twenty years later, UW–Madison remains at the forefront of stem cell research. The Waisman Center at UW–Madison is a hub of stem cell research, especially in the fields of human development, developmental disabilities and neurodegerative disorders. You …
Research by Waisman affiliate Jon Audhya shows new insight into the molecular basis underlying the neurodegenerative condition, hereditary spastic paraplegia (HPS). His recent study shows how a mutation in the TFG gene–one of several linked to HPS–impairs neurons from forming structures needed to transmit signals properly. Read the full article, please visit https://www.med.wisc.edu/news-and-events/2018/september/nerve-cell-protein-factory/
By Marianne Spoon, UW Communications Many factors can influence the development of a baby during pregnancy and after birth, but until recently, researchers knew little about the relationship between an expectant mother’s mental health and the subsequent development of her baby after birth. Findings from a University of Wisconsin–Madison team published Monday, Aug. 27, in …
Individuals undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan often need to minimize movements for up to 10 minutes at a time to maximize scan quality. That can be challenging for many people.
In an upcoming study in Current Biology, published online Aug. 16, researchers at the Arizona State University Department of Psychology and the Waisman Center report a factor that is important for language learning in children: the predictability of the learning environment.
Xinyu Zhao, PhD, received the 2018 National Fragile X Foundation (NFXF) Research Award for outstanding contributions to the understanding of fragile X syndrome. Zhao is a professor of neuroscience and Waisman Center investigator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In a study published in Aging Cell, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison show that mice making too much of a human protein called AT-1 show signs of early aging and premature death, which are also symptoms of the human disorder progeria. Researchers were able to reverse the signs of accelerated aging and early death …
How does stress put some children at risk of psychiatric disorders when they grow up? To find out, researchers compared their genomes to those of kids whose childhoods were relatively tranquil.
Could understanding the ebb and flow of calcium in brain cells provide clues that help researchers develop a treatment for a devastating neurological disease? Rett syndrome, a rare, non-inherited neurological disorder that mostly affects girls and causes severe deterioration in their ability to speak, eat, move and even breathe easily is caused by variations in …
