Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
To test the hypothesis that cognitively unimpaired individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) neuropathology differ from individuals with AD dementia on biomarkers of neurodegeneration, synaptic dysfunction, and glial activation.
Title: Associations of prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms with infant white matter microstructure Legend: Decreased frontal neurite density in the prefrontal white matter (blue highlighted regions) of 1-month old infants was associated with higher prenatal maternal depression and anxiety. Advanced diffusion MRI brain scans were performed on 101 infants at the Waisman Center for this …
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 …
When we speak, we are able to use what we hear about that speech (auditory feedback) to alter our speech movements both in real time within a single word (feedback control) as well as over longer time scales across multiple utterances (feedforward control).
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.
Disorders of speech production may be accompanied by abnormal processing of speech sensory feedback. Here, we introduce a semi-automated analysis designed to assess the degree to which speakers use natural online feedback to decrease acoustic variability in spoken words.
Adult neural stem cells in mouse models of fragile X syndrome (FXS) have elevated histone acetylation, leading to reduced neurogenesis. Treatment with either Nutlin-3 or Curcumin rebalances histone acetylation and rescues cognitive functions
