Feature Channels: Neuro

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/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Physicians from Carolinas HealthCare System's Neurosciences Institute and Levine Cancer Institute are among the authors of a study that was accepted for publication by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study, released on July 26, 2016, shows that patients with the most common form of brain tumor can be treated in an effective and substantially less toxic way by omitting a widely used portion of radiation therapy. These results will allow tens of thousands of patients with brain tumors to experience a better quality of life while maintaining the same length of life.

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — Patients with three or fewer metastatic brain tumors who received treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) had less cognitive deterioration three months after treatment than patients who received SRS combined with whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). These findings are according to the results of a federally funded, Mayo Clinic-led, multi-institution research study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Among patients with 1 to 3 brain metastases, the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone, compared with SRS combined with whole brain radiotherapy, resulted in less cognitive deterioration at 3 months, according to a study appearing in the July 26 issue of JAMA.

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University of Iowa researchers suspect that sleep twitches in human infants are linked to sensorimotor development. Read on to learn how new parents can contribute to their study.

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An odor identification test may prove useful in predicting cognitive decline and detecting early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, according to research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.

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Ben Taub Hospital's recent state and national certifications and accreditations place the Harris Health System hospital among nation's elite cutting-edge stroke centers. Designations and accreditations are increasingly important to determine where stroke patients are taken by fire departments and EMS personnel.

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According to researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, you might be. Drug-seeking behavior can be prompted or cued by certain kinds of drug-associated stimuli. Prior research shows that this behavior likely depends on interactions between the brain’s frontal activity and release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the ventral striatum (a structure deep inside the brain that is related to motivated behavior and reward). Previously, the authors of this study, using positron emission tomography (PET), found that beer flavor alone (from small, non-intoxicating amounts of beer) elicited dopamine release in beer drinkers. Here, the authors examined a subset of the previous group, using a similar design, but with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – a technique that reveals brain activation.

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Researchers comparing mouse and macaque brains have found evidence of an evolutionary universal brain structure in mammals that enables comparisons of cortical networks between species. A new study from a researcher at the University of Notre Dame could provide insights into brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.

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In a series of experiments at the University at Buffalo, the embryonic stem cell gene Nanog kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries and other telltale signs of growing old.

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According to studies, approximately one out of every 40 individuals in the United States is a carrier of the gene responsible for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurodegenerative disease that causes muscles to weaken over time. Researchers at the University of Missouri developed a new molecule in April 2014 that was found to be highly effective in animal models exhibiting SMA. Now, testing of that compound is leading to a better prognosis for mice with the disease and the possibility of potential drugs that will improve outcomes for patients with SMA.

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The first case of Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual will be presented in a poster session at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2016 in Toronto July 27. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer’s risk begins to escalate.

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Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease are invited to participate in the PD Buddy Program, which matches them with first-year UofL medical students for a series of one-on-one meetings designed to benefit both students and the patients. The program is the only one of its kind for Parkinson’s patients.

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In a study of 48 adults with a diagnosis of Early Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment, almost half reported positive changes in life outlook and quality of life, countering the assumption that this diagnosis would have a uniformly negative impact.

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esearchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control studied the prevalence of suicide among people with epilepsy compared to the population overall and estimated that the annual suicide mortality rate among those with epilepsy was 22 percent higher than in the general population. Results are online in the journal Epilepsy and Behavior.

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A new scientific study has characterized a checkpoint protein that allows certain brain tumor cells to avoid the immune system.

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When asked how lack of sleep affects emotions, common responses are usually grumpy, foggy and short-tempered. While many jokes are made about how sleep deprivation turns the nicest of people into a Jekyll and Hyde, not getting enough shut-eye can lead to far more serious consequences than irritability, difficulty concentrating and impatience.

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If Dr. Kalipada Pahan's research pans out, the standard advice for failing students might one day be: Study harder and eat your cinnamon!

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A new protein which will help scientists to understand why nerve cells die in people with Alzheimer's disease has been designed in a University of Sussex laboratory.

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A team led by Nicolas Bazan, MD, PhD, Boyd Professor and Director of LSU Health New Orleans' Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has developed neuroprotective compounds that may prevent the development of epilepsy. The findings will be published online in Scientific Reports, a Nature journal, on July 22, 2016.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and Scripps Clinic have received a grant of nearly $2.4 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support safety and quality tests of a potential stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

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• A metabolite that is normally excreted in urine was linked with impaired cognitive function in patients with kidney failure. • The metabolite has been previously linked to cognitive impairment in other patient populations.

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The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) at Georgia State University has received a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate the neurochemical mechanisms underlying social stress in males and females.

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In football, player-vs.-player hits will likely cause more severe head impacts than other impacts, according to a new study by a University of Georgia researcher.

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Adaptation in reaching -- gradual improvement of motor control in response to a perturbation -- is a central issue in motor neuroscience.However, even the cortical origin of errors that drive adaptation has remained elusive. In a new paper published in Neuron, Inoue, Uchimura and Kitazawa have shown that error signals encoded by motor cortical neurons drive adaptation in reaching.

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Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics have found a gene responsible for an intellectual disability disorder and proven how it works. The research, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, details the role of a gene called BCL11A in a new intellectual disability syndrome.

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Prof. Fiona Doetsch's research team at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has discovered that the choroid plexus, a largely ignored structure in the brain that produces the cerebrospinal fluid, is an important regulator of adult neural stem cells. The study recently published in "Cell Stem Cell" also shows that signals secreted by the choroid plexus dynamically change during aging which affects aged stem cell behavior.

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Transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys display a full spectrum of symptoms resembling the human disease, ranging from motor problems and neurodegeneration to emotional dysregulation and immune system changes, scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University report.

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Duke University could receive up to $19 million to lead early-stage clinical trials for new drugs to treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and neuropathy.

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Long-term treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics decreased levels of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and activated inflammatory microglial cells in the brains of mice in a new study by neuroscientists from the University of Chicago.

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A multidisciplinary research team led by University of Houston scientist Jarek Wosik has developed a high-temperature superconducting coil that allows magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners to produce higher resolution images or acquire images in a shorter time than when using conventional coils.

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Atlanta, Ga - 07/20/2016 - The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) and HCR ManorCare announced today that the two organizations are working together to provide a collaborative approach to providing support to those affected by Lewy body dementia.

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The cerebral cortex resembles a vast switchboard. Countless lines carrying information about the environment, for example from the sensory organs, converge in the cerebral cortex. In order to direct the flow of data into meaningful pathways, the individual pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex act like miniature switchboard operators. Each cell receives information from several thousand lines. If the signals make sense, the line is opened, and the information is relayed onward. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now shown for the first time that contact points between specific neuron types are clustered in groups on the target neuron. It is probable that signals are coordinated with each other in this way to make them more "convincing".

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A detailed new map by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis lays out the landscape of the human cerebral cortex. The map will accelerate progress in the study of brain diseases, as well as help to elucidate what makes us unique as a species.

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Jersey Shore is the only Comprehensive Stroke Center in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and is the leading regional provider for advanced stroke care

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Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) are studying how cognitive therapy that uses mindfulness techniques, such as meditation, quiet reflection and facilitator-led discussion, may serve as an adjunct to pharmacological treatments for youth with anxiety disorders.

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The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor, the most common movement disorder, in patients who do not respond to medication. The scalpel-free approach has been pioneered by Jeff Elias, MD, at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who led an international clinical trial that demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of the device.

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Two new grants from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) will enable New Yorkers with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and their families, to get the most comprehensive care and support services available in the New York City area. NYU Langone Medical Center is launching its Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Family Support Program and is establishing a Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.

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In research using patient medical records, investigators from Johns Hopkins and Sheppard Pratt Health System report that people with serious mental disorders who were hospitalized for mania were more likely to be on antibiotics to treat active infections than a group of people without a mental disorder.

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People who selectively recalled positive information over neutral and negative information performed worse on memory tests conducted by University of California, Irvine neurobiologists, who said the results suggest that this discriminating remembrance may be a marker for early stages of memory loss in the elderly.

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Using a robust model for Parkinson’s disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers and colleagues have discovered an interaction in neurons that contributes to Parkinson’s disease, and they have shown that drugs now under development may block the process.

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New findings published today by a team of researchers led by Dr. Andres Lozano at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre (KNC) of Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) have provided further insight into the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Available research suggests that noninvasive stimulation of a specific brain area can reduce food cravings—particularly for high-calorie, "appetitive" foods, according to a review in the Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Abnormalities in brain regions involved in forming insight may help explain why some people with anorexia nervosa have trouble recognizing their dangerous, dysfunctional eating habits.

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Cedars-Sinai scientists are seeking to build an improved stem-cell model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to accelerate progress toward a cure for the devastating neurological disorder. Their findings demonstrate that current models can be enhanced by the aging of motor neurons to show how ALS damages cells later in life.

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Mapping damage to the brain’s white matter connections after stroke can predict long-term language deficits, improve the understanding of how language is processed in the brain and potentially inform a course of rehabilitative therapy that would be more effective.

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St. Joseph's Hospital - A new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) has cast doubt on the clinical significance of brain deposits of gadolinium (a chemical contrast agent commonly used to enhance MRI imaging).

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Contrary to popular belief, taking estrogen after menopause may not affect the memory and thinking abilities of healthy women no matter when the treatment is started. The research is published in the July 20, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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The confidence in our decision-making serves to both gauge errors and to revise our approach, New York University neuroscientists have found. Their study offers insights into the hierarchical nature of how we make choices over extended periods of time, ranging from medical diagnoses and treatment to the strategies we use to invest our money.

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A toxic Alzheimer’s protein can spread through the brain via the extracellular space that surrounds the brain’s neurons, finds a study from Columbia University Medical Center.

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Penn Medicine has established the Penn Neurodegeneration Genomics Center (PNGC) as a national focal point for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) genetics research. The Center, an interdisciplinary program that brings together faculty members in neurodegenerative disorders, human genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and biostatistics.