Reading Time: 6 minutesThe global MND research community is once again preparing for one of the most anticipated events of the year—the 36th International Symposium on ALS/MND. This annual
Author: Research Information Team
The MND Association’s vision is a world free from MND. Realising this vision means investing more in research, further developing partnerships with the research community, funding bodies and industry, while ensuring that advances in understanding and treating MND are communicated as quickly and effectively as possible.
36th Symposium: San Diego Causes and disease mechanisms Genetic Research Markers of Disease Progression MND Research Models of MND Symposium
Understanding what goes wrong in MND
Reading Time: 7 minutesOur DNA contains genes, which are the instructions to make proteins, and proteins are the building blocks of our cells. Changes to the instructions in genes can affect not only what proteins are made, but how proteins are made. Understanding the changes in genes and proteins that are linked to MND can help us to understand what goes wrong in MND and why.
Reading Time: 6 minutesMND doesn’t just affect movement – it can also impact thinking and behaviour. Research has suggested that around a third of people with MND also develop changes to their thinking and learning, language and communication and behaviour and emotions. For some people with MND, these changes may be a sign of a type of dementia, known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Reading Time: 7 minutesMND affect cells in the brain and spinal cord, including motor neurons, which connect the brain to the muscles. This makes it challenging to study the disease in people with MND, because researchers cannot take biopsies of cells from brains or spinal cords in the same way that can be done for some other diseases. Therefore, researchers must find other ways of studying MND, such as using cell models in the lab to help to understand disease biology at a microscopic level.
Reading Time: 5 minutesIn our previous blog, we took a walk through the early stages of the research journey, learning how researchers discover new things about MND and
Reading Time: 4 minutesOur first Life in the Lab blog introduced the who, what, where, when, and why of MND research. Now, we will take a walk through
Reading Time: 7 minutesHave you ever wondered what life in the lab really looks like? Who are the people working tirelessly to understand MND and find effective treatments
Reading Time: 3 minutesIn July, we held MND EnCouRage UK 2025 in Loughborough, which saw 21 early career researchers from across the UK and Ireland and over 25
Reading Time: 7 minutesThere is an urgent need for more effective treatments for MND. Researchers are focused on identifying more potential treatments for the disease and these are