The Neuroscience Initiative at University of Utah Health represents a commitment, by the University of Utah and the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences office, to unify basic, translational, and clinical research efforts towards a better understanding of the brain in disease and health. This vision is currently being accomplished by linking clinicians, scientists, and the broader neuroscience community at University of Utah Health. Our neuroscience research community, ranging from neurologists to imaging specialist to molecular biologists (>150 investigators) spans across 7 colleges and schools, 15 centers and institutes, and more than 32 departments.
Macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) affects about one in 5,000 people, causing a gradual loss of central vision, typically after age 40. As part of an international research effort directed by the Lowy Medical Research Institute (LMRI), Bernstein has spent 15 years working with MacTel patients, sifting through family genetic histories.... Read More
Researchers at University of Utah Health have identified a link between autism and steroid hormone changes detected in the mother’s blood. These changes, which suggest increased estrogen activity, can be seen early in the second trimester. The pilot study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, opens a new direction in autism research.... Read More
Mice scurry around while foraging for food, but genetics may be the unseen hand controlling these meandering movements. Researchers at University of Utah Health are using machine learning to draw links between genetic controls that shape incremental steps of instinctive and learned behaviors. The results are available online in Cell Reports on August 13.... Read More
Research suggests that oxytocin neurons initially evolved as a defensive mechanism to protect against pain and injury. Oxytocin, the ‘love’ hormone commonly associated with mother-child bonding and romance, has long been studied in association with social behaviors. But oxytocin also has a less well-understood side.... Read More
Keven Walgamott had a good “feeling” about picking up the egg without crushing it. What seems simple for nearly everyone else can be more of a Herculean task for Walgamott, who lost his left hand and part of his arm in an electrical accident 17 years ago. But he was testing out the prototype of a high-tech prosthetic arm with fingers that not only can move, they can move with his thoughts. And thanks to a biomedical engineering team at the University of Utah, he “felt” the egg well enough so his brain could tell the prosthetic hand not to squeeze too hard.... Read More
Dr. Perry Renshaw, Professor of Psychiatry, was induced as a Fellow of the Society at the 2019 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Conference in Montreal, Canada. ... Read More
The annual Neuroscience Initiative Seed Grant Symposium provides an opportunity for seed grant recipients to share their most recent findings with the University of Utah neuroscience community. Seed grants of $50,000 are awarded each year to collaborative groups of researchers from diverse departments and colleges across the university with the goal of facilitating the growth of new and innovative science.... Read More
Temporal lobe epilepsy is a seizure disorder that may result from head trauma, childhood injuries, tumors, brain malformations, and infections. Karen Wilcox, PhD, Chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Utah Health, received a $2.6 million Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to explore the role of infection in an intractable, non-genetic-form of epilepsy. ... Read More
Utah Brain Awareness Week teaches students and the public about the brain and brain health as part of an international outreach campaign.... Read More
