Normal aging is usually associated with a decline in memory, although it is unclear what factors play a role. In a new study, researchers studied specific interneurons, which serve as communication centers that connect other neurons, in the regions of the brain that are important for learning and memory.

Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of how the human microbiome, or the collection of microbes the live on and inside of us, has a major connection to health and human physiology. Microbial engineering, which changes the structure of the microbiome through methods such as probiotics, antibiotics, and microbe transplants, has been found to be a useful strategy for improving human health, but the mechanisms underlying this improvement are still unclear and difficult to test.

Researchers studying epileptic seizures of the temporal lobe – the most common type of epilepsy – discovered a compound that reduces seizures in the hippocampus, a brain region where many such seizures originate. The compound, known as TC-2153, lessened the severity of seizures in mice.

The scientists report their findings in the journal Epilepsia.

Mice with a genetic mutation that’s been observed in patients with epileptic encephalopathy, a severe form of congenital epilepsy, exhibit not only the seizure, developmental and behavioral symptoms of the disorder, but also neural degeneration and inflammation in the brain, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers found in a new study. The findings highlight the mutation as an important part of the disease’s pathology and a potential target for treatment.

A new approach to treating breast cancer kills 95-100% of cancer cells in mouse models of human estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancers and their metastases in bone, brain, liver and lungs. The newly developed drug, called ErSO, quickly shrinks even large tumors to undetectable levels.

Led by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the research team reports the findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

After a primary tumor is treated, cancer stem cells may still lurk in the body, ready to metastasize and cause a recurrence of the cancer in a form that’s more aggressive and resistant to treatment. University of Illinois researchers have developed a molecular probe that seeks out these elusive cells and lights them up so they can be identified, tracked and studied not only in cell cultures, but in their native environment: the body.