Feature Channels: Neuro

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Anecdotal evidence suggests that the hypothalamus, a structure lying deep within the brain may be involved in generating laughter. Gelastic epilepsy, a rare condition characterized by laughing seizures, is commonly the result of a congenital brain lesion (called hamartoma) within the hypothalamus. Researchers seeking to identify the specific site (nuclei) within the hypothalamus that might be involved in expressing laughter reported their findings at the American Epilepsy Society’s 65th annual meeting.

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Certain visual patterns and flashing images can provoke seizures in susceptible individuals, particularly among children and adolescents. Some media reports on the recent introduction of 3D-television sets suggest that this new technology may cause seizures in some viewers. Children who have epilepsy are somewhat more vulnerable to the provocative stimuli than their peers. But there has been no systematic examination of the potential effects 3D-TV may have on patients with epilepsy.

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Epilepsy surgery is safe, effective and often curative in selected candidates. Although candidates for epilepsy surgery in the United States are estimated between 100,000 and 200,000, fewer than 5,000 such surgeries are conducted each year. The cause of this disparity is multi-factorial, including an unexplained low level of referrals by physicians and choices made by patients themselves. Two studies investigating why patients choose to defer or forego epilepsy surgery.

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Bromide is not FDA-approved for use in the United States. But it is among anticonvulsants available in Germany and other European countries. Research reported today at the American Epilepsy Society’s 65th annual meeting by investigators from Germany suggests that bromide may have promise in treating patients with SCN1A-associated Dravet syndrome with intractable seizures.

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Scientists investigating the fundamental cause of Dravet syndrome, a severe childhood epilepsy, have reprogrammed fibroblasts, a type of skin cell, from Dravet patients and generated patient-specific neurons. Further study revealed that these patient-derived neurons showed increased excitability, abnormal neuronal behavior that can produce seizures.

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Dravet syndrome is a severe genetic epilepsy that appears early in life. About 75 percent of cases can be attributed to mutations in the SCN1A gene encoding the sodium channel NaV1.1. The remaining patients with this syndrome are without a definitive molecular genetic diagnosis. Research presented today at the American Epilepsy Society’s 65th Annual Meeting has found a non-SCN1A candidate gene and suggests that Dravet syndrome may be caused by any one of a number of yet unidentified genes.

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Seizures in women of childbearing age commonly show patterns of exacerbation that involve hormones as a factor. Investigators today reported the favorable outcome of a multicenter randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial of progesterone therapy in reducing these perimenstrually exacerbated (catamenial) seizures. Results of the NIH-sponsored study are being presented during the American Epilepsy Society’s 65th annual meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center. (Abstract 3.191).

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In women of childbearing age with epilepsy, seizure exacerbation may occur either at the time of menstruation or ovulation. Investigators in a specialized epilepsy center have analyzed the data on a group of patients with seizures associated with their menstrual cycles (catamenial seizures) for type of epilepsy, seizure frequency, response to medication, neuroimaging findings, and seizures during pregnancy. (Abstract 3.168)

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Mayo Clinic researchers have identified critical steps leading to myelin destruction in neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a debilitating neurological disease that is commonly misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings could lead to better care for the thousands of patients around the world with NMO. The paper was published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

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A preliminary University at Buffalo study of 252 volunteers has found an association between CCSVI and as many as three characteristics widely viewed as possible or confirmed MS risk factors.

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New research finds a marker used to detect plaque in the brain may help doctors make a more accurate diagnosis between two common types of dementia – Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The study is published in the November 30, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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One of the earliest known impairments caused by Alzheimer’s disease - loss of sense of smell – can be restored by removing a plaque-forming protein in a mouse model of the disease, a study led by a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher finds.

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Previous studies have suggested a particular hotspot in the brain might be responsible for perceiving pitch, but auditory neuroscientists are still debating whether this “pitch center” actually exists. A review article discusses a recent study claiming the pitch center may not exist after all, or may not be located where research has suggested.

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Using advanced imaging techniques and cognitive tests, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital for Einstein, have shown that repeatedly heading a soccer ball increases the risk for brain injury.

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Images of prisoners’ brains show important differences between those who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren’t, according to a new study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.

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Studies have shown that people who are overweight in middle age are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease decades later than people at normal weight, yet researchers have also found that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI). A current study examines this relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and BMI. The study is published in the November 22, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Among the many hurdles to be cleared before human embryonic stem cells can achieve their therapeutic potential is determining whether or not transplanted cells can functionally integrate into target organs or tissues.

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The article authors Marvin Chum and Wai Pui Ng describe the neurosurgical, vascular, otolaryngological, and psychological injuries sustained by an 11-year-old boy who was attacked by a Siberian tiger housed at a private home.

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The human brain is bombarded with a cacophony of information from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Now a team of scientists at the University of Rochester, Washington University in St. Louis, and Baylor College of Medicine has unraveled how the brain manages to process those complex, rapidly changing, and often conflicting sensory signals to make sense of our world.

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In a new study scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have shown that the sense of smell can be improved. The new findings, published online November 20, 2011, in Nature Neuroscience, suggest possible ways to reverse the loss of smell due to aging or disease.

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St. Jude Medical announces the publication of results from the first mulit-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation for depression.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and collaborators have discovered a powerful new protein in the eye of the fruit fly that may shed light on blinding diseases and other sensory problems in humans.

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People with a history of stroke or diabetes who were given clot-busting drugs to break up blood clots after stroke fared better than those who did not receive the drugs, according to a study published in the November 16, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A new study using magnetic resonance imaging data of 406 adult human twins affirms the long-standing idea that the genetic basis of human cortical regionalization – the organization of the outer brain into specific functional areas – is similar to and consistent with patterns found in other mammals, indicating a common conservation mechanism in evolution.

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An older nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) called dipyrone may offer a new approach to reducing injury to brain tissue after a stroke, according to a study in the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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New York State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein joined administrators and faculty members of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University last Friday to officially open their new Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory. Several pieces of high-tech diagnostic and monitoring equipment, including advanced electroencephalogram (EEG) systems, stimulus delivery equipment and specialized video recording devices, were purchased through a $1 million capital grant that Senator Klein secured for Einstein in the 2009-2010 budget cycle.

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The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University will showcase “How ‘Thinks’ Work,” an exhibition designed to explore the human thinking process in relation to mathematics, human perception, philosophy, language and nature.

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Own Brain Helps Singles Make Better Choices - A scientific test, now called BrainDesire, helps singles make better choices by tapping into their own brain for finding Mr Right or Ms Right.

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Researchers from the Max Planck Florida Institute are contributing to 13 symposia, lectures and poster sessions at the Society for Neuroscience 41st Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, November 12-16, 2011. The first U.S. institute of the German-based Max Planck Society, the Institute brings together leading scientists to seek fundamental answers about brain function and neural circuits.

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Two proteins conspire to promote Lou Gehrig’s disease, according to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

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Yawning cools the brain, sinuses aid process, say Maryland, Princeton Scientists.

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A team of researchers co-led by the University of Pennsylvania has developed and tested a new high-resolution, ultra-thin device capable of recording brain activity from the cortical surface without having to use penetrating electrodes.

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People with Parkinson’s disease may be more likely to have a movement disorder called leg motor restlessness, but not true restless legs syndrome as previous studies have suggested, according to a study published in the November 9, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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In a paper published in the November 9 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and University of Washington describe in deeper detail the pathology of a devastating neurological disorder, but also reveal new cellular targets for possibly slowing its development.

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A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence shows that brain overgrowth in boys with autism involves an abnormal, excess number of neurons in areas of the brain associated with social, communication and cognitive development.

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UCLA researchers used a unique brain scan to assess the levels of amyloid plaques and tau tangles in older adults with a type of severe depression called major depressive disorder (MDD).

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A study published in the current issue of Neurology finds brain stimulation - already an approved treatment for Parkinson's and essential tremor - can offer significant relief to patients with epilepsy that is hard to treat with medication. Most notably, Henry Ford Hospital researchers found that the patients who were treated with the NeuroPace Responsive Neurostimulation system had a nearly 40% reduction in seizures.

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Low oxygen supply (hypoxia) to vulnerable brain tissue is a major contributor to the risk of death or major disability after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), reports a study in the November issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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A new study shows a person’s stroke risk profile, which includes high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes, may also be helpful in predicting whether a person will develop memory and thinking problems later in the life. The research is published in the November 8, 2011, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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To avoid surgery on the wrong vertebral level, a new technique involving percutaneous placement of a fiducial screw in a specific thoracic vertebra to localize the appropriate operative site is explained.

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Researchers were surprised to find that in some cases, the protection afforded by “leatherhead" early 20th-century football helmets was often comparable to or better than that provided by 21st-century varsity helmets currently in use.

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Researchers at UCLA have identified the group of neurons that mediates whether light arouses us — or not.

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The brain was built for cooperative activity, whether it be dancing on a TV reality show, building a skyscraper or working in an office.

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A hard probe inserted in the cerebral cortex of a rat model turns nearly as pliable as the surrounding gray matter in minutes, and induces less of the tough scarring that walls off hard probes that do not change, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found.

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Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy.

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Research reveals autistic individuals are in fact superior in multiple areas

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An experimental drug called Ocrelizumab has shown promise in a Phase 2 clinical trial involving 220 people with multiple sclerosis (MS), an often debilitating, chronic autoimmune disease that affects an increasing number of people in North America. It usually strikes young adults and is more common in women than in men.

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In an article to be published in the November 2, 2011 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience (31(44):15757–15767; DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2287-11.2011), a team of researchers at Boston University, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School present evidence that a dynamic, metastable frequency-band-dependent scaffold of brain function-al connectivity exists from which transient activity emerges and recedes.

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Just as the 'Occupy Wall Street' has brought attention to financial disparities in American society, researchers from Indiana U. and the Netherlands are highlighting the disproportionate sway of "Rich Clubs" within the human brain.

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New research shows people with dementia who have a stroke are more likely to become disabled and not return home compared to people who didn’t have dementia at the time they had a stroke. The study is published in the November 1, 2011, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.