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Il coordinare facilmente ed efficacemente movimenti come il parlare e il camminare è essenziale nello svolgimento della vita quotidiana. L’abilità di orchestrare questi movimenti con successo è generalmente chiamata “coordinazione mootoria”. Anche se i pazienti di SCA in genere sono in grado di iniziare movimenti coorporei, la loro abilitá di Read More…
How do you remember your name? Thank your hippocampus, a part of the brain that lies buried in the cerebrum and plays an important role in memory. The hippocampus looks like a seahorse when removed from the brain and hence the name (derived from Hippokampus, the Greek word for seahorse). Read More…
Nerve cells (aka neurons) are unique cells in that they have long, and thin extensions called axons which form connections with and talk to other neurons. This particular shape of neurons determines how quickly they can get their messages to other cells. You can think of the axons in the Read More…
I nucleotidi anti-senso (anche noti come ASOs o AON, dall’inglese Antisense oligonucleotides) sono piccole molecole che possono essere usate per prevenire o alterare la produzione di proteine. Le proteine sono la forza lavoro della cellula, e dirigono la maggior parte dei processi cellulari. Le proteine sono prodotte in due fasi: Read More…
A genome is a person’s complete set of DNA which provides the instructions to make and maintain their body’s functions. Throughout the entire genome, there are genetic differences between individuals known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs (pronounced “snips”). These variations may be unique or may occur in many people. Read More…
The human brain contains about 170 billion cells. Half of these are neurons and the other half are lesser known cells called glia. Glial cells include astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia. Astrocytes tile the entire brain and interact closely with neurons. Astrocytes are very important for neuronal function, in many ways Read More…
A gene is the basic physical unitof heredity. Every living cell contains genetic information that determines an organism’s development, form, and function. This genetic information is encoded by two macromolecules: DNA and RNA. DNA consists of two strands of phosphate and sugar molecules connected by pairs of nitrogenous bases to Read More…
Autophagy is an important disposal mechanism in our bodies, and it is not as scary as the word sounds. The word autophagy is derived from Greek, with ‘auto’ referring to ‘self’ and ‘phagy’ meaning ‘eating’. Autophagy is important for the growth and development of our cells. It helps to restructure Read More…
Patients with ataxia share many common symptoms, including a loss of coordination. While these symptoms might be easy to see in patients, testing movement ability is not as straightforward in mouse models of ataxia. Because of this, researchers use something called the “rotarod performance test” to assess motor coordination and Read More…
The process of publishing a scientific article begins when a group of scientists set out to answer an outstanding question in their field. They then design and conduct a set of experiments to answer this question. Once the scientists feel that their results answer their questions, one of them – Read More…
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