Cognitive Labs

Duke researchers are asserting that eating curry-prepared foods two or more times per week may reduce the chance of Alzheimer's by targeting amyloid plaque formations.

In particular, the team of scientists believes that curcumin, which helps to make up the spice tumeric, works to prevent the spread of amyloid protein plaques in the brain, linked to the onset of Alzheimer's in a number of previous studies.



Speaking at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK, lead researcher Professor Murali Doraiswamy said: "There is very solid evidence that curcumin binds to plaques, and basic research on animals engineered to produce human amyloid plaques has shown benefits."

Greg Cole at UCLA has found similar benefits in other research. 1 | pdf

The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease was first recognised by the German neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1905.

Labels: amyloid, cole, curcumin, doraiswamy, Duke, tumeric, ucla

Traumatic nerve injury was once believed incurable. Now, UCLA researchers have shown that axons can rewire severed links by creating slender filaments that re-connect a disrupted network such as the CNS (central nervous system).

Experiments conducted on mice at the University of California in Los Angeles showed for the first time that the central nervous system can rewire itself to create small neural pathways between the brain and the nerve cells that control movement.

This startling discovery could one day open the way to new therapies for damaged spinal cords and perhaps address conditions stemming from stroke and multiple sclerosis, according to the study.

Normally, the brain relays messages that control walking or running via neural fibers called axons...

Labels: axon, blog, dendrites, nature, ucla

Researchers such as Greg Cole (UCLA/VA) previously have studied the antioxidant properties of curry - attributing it to curcumin. But new research reveals the exact compound...

bisdemethoxycurcumin, an ingredient in curcumin that may help the immune system clear the amyloid beta that forms the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin is a natural substance found in tumeric root, frequently used in Indian curries. Using blood samples of Alzheimer's patients, researchers found that bisdemethoxycurcumin boosted immune cells called macrophages to clear amyloid beta.

Labels: alzheimers, bisdemethoxycurcumin, cole, curcumin, curry, ucla