News
In a study led by the University of Pittsburgh and published in Nature Biomdical Eingineering, researchers found an electrical pulse delivered to the spinal cord of amputees from their prosthetic limb "significantly" reduced pain coming from the missing limb. Learn More
Postdoctoral researcher Cristiano Aguzzoli, associate professor Tharick Pascoal, and their Pitt School of Medicine team report in JAMA Open Network that brain inflammation, rather than amyloid plaque or tau tangles, are the origin of irritability and agitation in people with Alzheimer's disease. Learn More
In Nature Medicine, Tharick Pascoal shows that abnormal astrocyte activation combined with amyloid build-up are disease harbingers. Learn More
Pitt builds a critical mass of researchers in multiple disciplines to probe a broad range of possible culprits that converge to cause the disease. Learn More
Julia Kofler leads studies on the roles that age, genetics, substance abuse, and the number of hits to the head play in the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Learn More
Tim Greenamyre, who has studied Parkinson's for more than 30 years, sees new hope on the horizon. Learn More
The items tell the story of the pioneering work to develop and test the first polio vaccine at Pitt. Learn More
Vatsun Sadagopan and colleagues devised a machine-learning model to study sound-processing networks in the guinea pig brain. Learn More
In Nature Neuroscience, Bill Stauffer shows that monkeys use mathematical reasoning to tackle complex problems. Learn More
Peter Strick says a new map of the motor cortex, out of Wash U, helps explain the brain's nuanced control of organs like the heart, as well as neural connections that link movement with emotions. Learn More
Rebecca Price finds that small infusions of ketamine, more frequently used as an anesthetic, appear to create "a burst of plasticity in the brain." Learn More
José-Alain Sahel's work spans stem cell implantation, gene therapy, innovative pharmacologic approaches, optogenetics, and an artificial retina to treat vision impairments. Learn More
Pitt's Marlene Behrmann and colleagues found that, while half a child's brain can't fully replicate an intact one, hemispherectomy patients can still recognize faces and words. Learn More
Jennifer Lingler leads a $2.1 million NIH-funded study on the psychological and social impact of learning that you or a family member with memory problems has biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Learn More
In Nature Medicine, a Pitt team shows how electrical stimulation allows a paralyzed patient to open and close her hand, lift her arm above her head and handle a fork, a decade after her stroke. Learn More
One research group will identify specific proteins that drive neurodegeneration and develop an algorithm to predict risk of dementia based on genetic and clinical parameters. Learn More
Her research focuses on neural engineering, drug delivery in the central nervous system, and biosensors. Four of her patents have been licensed. Learn More
Avniel Ghuman says patterns of brain activity appear to hover “on the edge of order and disorder...This may be an optimal place for the brain to be.” Learn More
Micky Collins has an even more packed patient schedule after Sarah Polley's memoir, “Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations With a Body of Memory.” Learn More
The fusiform gyrus, which processes visual cues, also becomes active when you hear a familiar voice, Taylor Abel and colleagues report in the Journal of Neurophysiology. Learn More