If you’re old enough, you might remember hearing about the mad cow disease crisis in Europe at the end of the 90s. This disease was caused by something called prions, aggregates of misfolded proteins that become infectious. For a protein aggregate to be considered as prion it is necessary that the interactions among its molecules…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating autoimmune condition whereby neurons lose their myelin sheath leading to impaired neural transmission, neural degeneration and motor symptoms. Multiple factors have been considered to influence its development, like vitamin D, but now, a couple of studies have shown that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is linked to multiple sclerosis. You…

Why some people get migraines while others don’t? New research indicates that it might be due to specific brain changes in migraine sufferers, Particularly, in the centrum ovale, a white matter region underneath the cerebral cortex. New data presented at the yearly meeting of the Radiological Society of North America points towards brain differences among…

If you’re like me and spent hours of your day sitting at a desk typing on a keyboard, I am sure you have imagined how cool it’d be to just have your thoughts translated into typed words just like that. Well, new research on brain implants recently published in the journal Nature has shown that…

In previous articles we introduced the potential of caloric restriction (CR), that is a reduction of between 20-40% of the normal caloric intake, to extend lifespan and improve the healthspan, thereby delaying the onset of aging related diseases. But, is CR recommended for everyone? Today we review caloric restriction in the context of disease. While…

Some people are cool not getting enough sleep. I am, however, not one of those. After almost two years of sleep deprivation I can say I am close to becoming the grumpy dwarf from Snow White. Until not too long ago, I didn’t even have an excuse but now maybe…Keep on reading at MappingIgnorance.org