blood-brain barrier

Psychological Stress Damages Brain’s Blood Vessels

Mouse Study Illuminates Potential Mechanism Behind Mood and Anxiety Disorders

red blood cells flowing through a blood vessel

Millions of Americans suffered from depression and anxiety even before COVID-19 began upending their lives. To make matters worse, the stresses of living through a pandemic might not only worsen mental health but could also wreak havoc on the brain itself. New IRP research has found that psychological stress damages blood vessels in the brains of mice and dramatically alters the behavior of genes in certain blood vessel cells.

Experimental Therapy Reverses Neurological Effects of Malaria

MRI brain scans of mice with (right) and without (left) cerebral malaria, indicating areas of damage to the blood-brain barrier

For Americans and others living outside the tropics, a mosquito bite is nothing more than an itchy inconvenience, but for billions of others, it can lead to a life-or-death battle with malaria. In some cases, the illness can wreak havoc on the brain. A new IRP study has used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to demonstrate that an investigational therapy can reverse that damage in mice.

Exercise Releases Brain-Healthy Protein

Reblogged from the NIH Director's Blog.

Five images of different exercise activities

We all know that exercise is important for a strong and healthy body. Less appreciated is that exercise seems also to be important for a strong and healthy mind, boosting memory and learning, while possibly delaying age-related cognitive decline. How is this so? Researchers have assembled a growing body of evidence that suggests skeletal muscle cells secrete proteins and other factors into the blood during exercise that have a regenerative effect on the brain.