Inserm Newsroom - Press room of the French national institute of health and medical research

Caffeine and its analogues revert memory deficits by normalizing stress responses in the brain

A study published in the journal Scientific Reports from Nature publishing group, describes the mechanism by which caffeine counteracts age-related cognitive deficits in animals.

The study coordinated by Portuguese researchers from Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM Lisboa) and collaborators from Inserm in Lille, France, along with teams from Germany and United States, showed that the abnormalexpression of a particular receptor – the adenosine A2A, target for caffeine – in the brain of rats induces an aging-like profile namely memory impairments linked to the loss of stress controlling mechanisms.

Artificial retinas: promising leads towards clearer vision

A major therapeutic challenge, the retinal prostheses that have been under development during the past ten years can enable some blind subjects to perceive light signals, but the image thus restored is still far from being clear. By comparing in rodents the activity of the visual cortex generated artificially by implants against that produced by “natural sight”, scientists from CNRS, CEA, Inserm, AP-HM and Aix-Marseille Université identified two factors that limit the resolution of prostheses. Based on these findings, they were able to improve the precision of prosthetic activation. These multidisciplinary efforts, published on 23 August 2016 in eLife, thus open the way towards further advances in retinal prostheses that will enhance the quality of life of implanted patients.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio

The world’s finest athletes will meet at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to try to win Olympic medals, thus testing their bodies to the limit.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio

The world’s finest athletes will meet at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to try to win Olympic medals, thus testing their bodies to the limit. What are the risks for the top athletes? What methods would enable them to optimise their physical abilities? What lines of prevention can be developed? How […]

Unconscious processing operates under conscious influence

In a study published in the new international scientific journal Neuroscience of Consciousness, Benjamin Rohaut, Inserm researcher, and Lionel Naccache, leader of the team “Picnic lab: Physiological Investigation of Clinically Normal and Impaired Cognition,” both of whom are also clinicians attached to the Neurology Department at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, AP-HP, provide proof that unconscious semantic processing of a word exists, but that it is subject to very strong conscious influences. The work was conducted in collaboration with their colleagues at the Brain and Spine Institute – AP-HP/CNRS/Inserm/UPMC and the Laboratory of Cognitive Psychology (CNRS/AMU).

One hour of physical activity per day may attenuate the increased risk of death associated with sitting time

A meta-analysis of data from over one million people, published on July 27th in a new Series of The Lancet ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, emphasize the importance of physical activity to attenuate the harmful effect of sitting time.

One hour of physical activity per day may attenuate the increased risk of death associated with sitting time

A meta-analysis of data from over one million people, published on July 27th in a new Lancet Series ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, emphasize the importance of physical activity to attenuate the harmful effect of sitting time. The researchers classified individuals into four groups according to how active they were, less than 5 mins a day, […]

A virtual brain helps decrypt epilepsy

Researchers at CNRS, INSERM, Aix-Marseille University and AP-HM have just created a virtual brain that can reconstitute the brain of a person affected by epilepsy for the first time. From this work we understand better how the disease works and can also better prepare for surgery. These results are published in Neuroimage, on July 28, 2016.

Inserm, France’s rising research star according to Nature

The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) is the only research institution in France listed in the World Top 100 institutions with the most progress in the last 3 years. This is indicated by the Nature Index 2016 Rising Stars, which highlights the big contribution of Inserm researchers to publications in the best 68 journals selected by Nature. This ranking identifies the most brilliant institutions to watch in 2016 and in the coming years.

Schizophrenics: type of birth and particularities of the disease

According to a few studies, when their brain suffers from a lack of oxygen, babies born by caesarean section are more likely to develop some mental disorders including schizophrenia. Researchers from Inserm compared two populations of patients with schizophrenia – delivered vaginally or by caesarean section – in order to determine the particular characteristics associated […]