In patients with neurodegenerative diseases, there is a spectrum of smell dysfunction
ranging from severe loss, as seen in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, to …

▪ Abstract Nerve growth factor (NGF) was discovered 50 years ago as a molecule that
promoted the survival and differentiation of sensory and sympathetic neurons. Its roles in …

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a small dimeric protein, structurally related to
nerve growth factor, which is abundantly and widely expressed in the adult mammalian …

We recently demonstrated that stress-induced cognitive deficits in rats do not correlate with
hippocampal neuronal loss. Working on the premise that subtle structural changes may …

The serine/threonine kinase Akt is a component of many receptor signal transduction
pathways and can prevent cell death following growth factor withdrawal. Here, we show that …

Degeneration of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) contributes to cognitive
dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Down's syndrome (DS). We used Ts65Dn and …

Without receptor stimulation, cells from multicellular organisms die by apoptosis. Here we
show that lymphocytes deprived of receptor stimulation undergo progressive atrophy before …

Exposure to stressful events and elevated level of stress hormones are associated with
impaired spatial memory and neuronal damage in the hippocampus. These neurons are …

Changes in neurotrophic factor expression in the brain are part of the stress response.
Decreased BDNF may contribute to hippocampal damage that occurs during chronic stress …

Chronic stress can accelerate age-related damage to the hippocampus. Adrenal
glucocorticoids are thought to be responsible for this damage because of their ability to …