African-Americans may be twice as likely as Caucasian Americans to develop Alzheimer’s disease, but nobody knows why because studies investigating the underlying causes of illness have historically drawn from a nearly all-white pool of research participants. Consequently, little is known about how the neurodegenerative disease arises and progresses in people of non-Caucasian backgrounds.

Picture this: A soccer referee, dreaming he’s on the pitch, flings his arm up with an imaginary red card and accidentally smacks his sleeping partner in the face. Funny? Maybe on TV. In real life, acting out dreams is not only bad for domestic harmony, it can be a warning sign of looming neurodegenerative disease.

The cerebellum can’t get no respect. Located inconveniently on the underside of the brain and initially thought to be limited to controlling movement, the cerebellum has long been treated like an afterthought by researchers studying higher brain functions.

An ancient part of the brain long ignored by the scientific world appears to play a critical role in everything from language and emotions to daily planning. It’s the cerebellum, which is found in fish and lizards as well as people. But in the human brain, this structure is wired to areas involved in higher-order […]

Nobody knows why some children’s backs start to curve to one side just as they hit puberty. Most children diagnosed with scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, have no known risk factors.

People with a progressive form of multiple sclerosis (MS) face a gradual decline of brain function that slowly strips away the ability to walk and may cause problems with speech and vision. Available treatments are only modestly effective at slowing the decline.