Parkinson’s Researchers Focus on Chemical from Soil Bacteria
University of AlabamaA chemical produced by common soil bacteria may kill neurons that produce dopamine, according to a study publishing Oct. 6.
A chemical produced by common soil bacteria may kill neurons that produce dopamine, according to a study publishing Oct. 6.
Drivers with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease may be at higher risk of crashes on foggy days and other times of low visibility. The research, involving a driving simulation test, is published in the October 6, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
UVA professor of neurosurgery Neal Kassell believes that MRgFUS - the technological marriage of magnetic resonance imaging and focused ultrasound - may be the most important therapeutic development since the scalpel. That notion will soon be explored by dozens of his colleagues from nine specialties who will engage in a robust program of research projects and clinical trials at UVA's new Focused Ultrasound Center, which was dedicated on September 14.
Researchers map common brain wave spikes in dying patients. What do the findings suggest about the workings of our brains as we die.
While the human brain responds very differently to religious and nonreligious propositions, the process of believing or disbelieving a statement, whether religious or not, seems to be governed by the same areas in the brain.
This study suggests that a single gene, called GSK-3, controls the signals that determine how many neurons actually end up composing the brain. This has important implications for patients with neuropsychiatric illness, as links have recently been drawn between GSK-3 and schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder.
Two University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout development.
Nicotine addiction plagues millions. A group of Grinnell College researchers recently uncovered a “key” that may “unlock” proteins and guide efforts to develop treatments for nicotine addiction. The research, conducted by Grinnell biological chemistry students and led by Mark Levandoski, associate professor of chemistry, examined the family of proteins in the nervous system that respond to nicotine.
To address a consumer trend that is gaining momentum, the Ethics, Law and Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has released a special report, “Responding to requests from adult patients for neuroenhancements,” which was published in the September 23, 2009, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the AAN.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded Rush University Medical Center approximately $5.5 million in grants to study how epigenetic changes – chemical modifications to genes that result from diet, aging, stress, or environmental exposures – define and contribute to memory formation and cognitive decline.
While the occasional all-nighter to cram for exams or finish a grant proposal may seem like no big deal, losing sleep night after night could take its toll on brain health in later life, two new studies suggest. Read the full report on Alzforum.
In honor of the centennial celebration of the Neurological Institute of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia (NYP/CUMC), a daylong neuroscience symposium and gala dinner is being held on Fri., Sept. 25, 2009.
Leon Reijmers, PhD, of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, has been selected to receive an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award. This prestigious award will support Reijmers’ research into the mechanisms of long-term memory.
Following one of the largest studies ever conducted in Parkinson’s disease (PD), researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine report today in The New England Journal of Medicine that rasagiline, a drug currently used to treat the symptoms of PD, may also slow the rate of disease progression.
UMDNJ researchers have identified a protein, vimentin, that normally appears twice in a lifetime - when neurons in the brain are formed and when the brain's neurons are under siege from Alzheimer's, suggesting a promising new pathway for novel therapeutic agents to fight the disease.
The brain never sits idle. Whether we are awake or asleep, watch TV or close our eyes, waves of spontaneous nerve signals wash through our brains. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies studying visual attention have discovered a novel mechanism that explains how incoming sensory signals make themselves heard amidst the constant background rumblings so they can be reliably processed and passed on.
Chronic sleep deprivation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease makes Alzheimer's brain plaques appear earlier and more often, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report online this week in Science Express.
Billions of dollars are spent yearly targeting the toxic peptide amyloid beta to thwart Alzheimer’s— but what if this is the wrong target? A UCLA argues just that and says that a better working hypothesis is the "myelin model."
New research finds poor money management skills may indicate that a person with mild memory problems will soon develop Alzheimer’s disease. The study is published in the September 22, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Inability to handle financial transactions or manage money may be an early indicator that a person with mild memory problems soon is likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Alzheimer’s Disease Center, part of the Department of Neurology.
Startling new statistics on the worldwide prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are being released today as countries across the globe join together in recognition of World Alzheimer's Day. McGill University has experts available for phone interviews.
Rush University Medical Center is participating in a large-scale, multi-center clinical trial in the U.S. and Canada to determine whether a vitamin-like substance called coenzyme Q10, in high doses, can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers have long known of the brain’s ability to learn based on visual motion input, and a recent study has uncovered more insight into where the learning occurs.
UCLA researchers found that drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again. The finding may hold implications for human rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered how one antioxidant protein controls the activity of another protein, critical for the development of spinal cord neurons. The research, publishing this week in Cell, describes a never-before known mechanism of protein control.
In honor of the centennial celebration of The Neurological Institute of New York, part of Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, a daylong neuroscience symposium is being held on Friday, Sept. 25, 2009.
Cognitive testing by telephone in elderly individuals is generally as effective as in-person testing, according to a new study by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers.
A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology, developed in full collaboration with the Child Neurology Society, finds that children with microcephaly, that is, children whose head size is smaller than that of 97 percent of children are at risk of neurologic and cognitive problems and should be screened for these problems.
Individuals whose occupation involves contact with pesticides appear to have an increased risk of having Parkinson’s disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Among individuals with mild cognitive impairment, often considered a transitional state between normal cognitive function and Alzheimer’s dementia, those who have more difficulties performing routine activities appear more likely to progress quickly to dementia, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, post-operative stroke occurred in approximately 2 percent, was not correlated with significant carotid artery narrowing, but was more common among patients who had combined cardiac and carotid procedures, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
A nationwide study led by UCLA shows that clinicians may be able to accurately predict within a week whether a particular depression drug will be effective by using a non-invasive test that takes less than 15 minutes to administer.
Early research holds promise for new therapies and better prediction of patient outcomes.
Patients undergoing brain surgery sometimes are awakened during surgery to talk, so surgeons can steer clear of critical areas. Recent improvements in surgical techniques are improving outcomes.
After suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than 26 years, a 67-year-old man from Germany has become the first person to be implanted with the world's smallest deep brain stimulator.
A key statistic that consumer groups and the media often use when compiling hospital report cards and national rankings can be misleading, researchers report in a new study.
In Neurogenic Communication Disorders: Life Stories and the Narrative Self, University of Arkansas researchers challenge readers to explore “the messy but powerful relationships between communication impairment and maintenance of a viable sense of self.”
The belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, according to new research. As a result, previous findings may have overestimated atrophy and underestimated normal size for the older brain.
Researchers from the University of Haifa discover that the addition of the phosphor molecule to a the NMDA receptor in the brain is a necessary step in memory formation
An international team of scientists has identified two more genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. The group, led by investigators from the School of Medicine at Cardiff in the United Kingdom and including scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, completed the largest genome-wide association study ever involving patients with Alzheimer's disease. The study pooled DNA samples from more than 19,000 older European and U.S. residents. Seven thousand had Alzheimer's disease, and the others had no clinical symptoms of the disorder.
Mount Sinai researchers have found that real-time brain imaging suggests that patients with Borderline Personality Disorder are physically unable to activate neurological networks that can help regulate emotion.
Cities are organized like brains, and the evolution of cities mirrors the evolution of human and animal brains, according to a new study by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
New research from Columbia University Medical Center has illuminated a previously unknown leptin-serotonin pathway in the brain that simultaneously promotes appetite and bone mass accrual. The research, which explains how leptin – well-known appetite-suppressing hormone – acts in the brain, is published in the Sept. 4 issue of Cell.
Researchers discovered that moderate-to-severe brain stem trauma stimulates an involuntary rigid-forearm posture, dubbed the fencing response. The presence of a visible, objective symptom of brain injury could be of use to athletic trainers and coaches in making return-to-play decisions.
A researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine has been awarded more than $9.8 million to head a five-year National Institute on Aging Program Project Grant.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida and their collaborators worldwide have discovered that a single gene promotes development of essential tremor in some patients and Parkinson’s disease in others. These are two common but distinct neurological disorders. Notably, patients with essential tremor shake when they move, and Parkinson’s disease patients shake when they are at rest.
Getting a cold, stomach bug or other infection may lead to increased memory loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to research published in the September 8, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
While smoking cigarettes appears to significantly increase a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis, using Swedish snuff does not, according to a study published in the September 1, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) are requesting neurologists to report any possible new cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) following 2009 H1N1 flu vaccination using the CDC and U. S. Food and Drug Administration Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Neurosurgeon Keith L. Black, M.D., will receive a Pioneer in Medicine Award at the World Congress of the International Brain Mapping & Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society (IBMISPS).