Feature Channels: Neuro

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A new study from Western University is helping to explain why the long-term use of common anticholinergic drugs used to treat conditions like allergies and overactive bladder lead to an increased risk of developing dementia later in life. The findings show that long-term suppression of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine - a target for anticholinergic drugs - results in dementia-like changes in the brain.

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Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is one of six recipients of a five-year, $10.8 million award from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, to establish the Coordinating Center for Genetics and Genomics of Alzheimer’s disease.

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A five-year, projected $10.8 million award from the National Institute on Aging will establish the Coordinating Center for Genetics and Genomics of Alzheimer’s Disease, a joint venture of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and five other institutions.

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She no longer recognizes a Van Gogh, but can tell you how to prepare a watercolor palette. The sharp contrasts in an amnesia patient’s memory profile suggest conventional wisdom about how the brain stores knowledge is incorrect.

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Researchers at the George Washington University received $1.6 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to find ways to restore parasympathetic activity to the heart through oxytocin neuron activation. This heart-brain connection could improve cardiac function during heart failure.

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An international team led by researchers at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE) based at the University of Washington is one of three finalists in a race to produce an implantable wireless device that can assess, stimulate and block the activity of nerves that control organs.

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Older adults experience deficits in inhibition, which can affect how quickly they process information visually, according to a new study involving the University of Arizona.

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A simple model consisting of four risk factors can help surgeons to predict the risk of complications after surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM)—a common condition causing compression of the spinal cord in the neck, reports a study in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A recently introduced technology called the Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) can provide a less-invasive approach for difficult-to-treat aneurysms of the arteries supplying blood to the front of the brain, reports a study in the July issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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In a proof-of-principle study, a team of physicians and bioinformatics experts at Johns Hopkins reports they were able to diagnose or rule out suspected brain infections using so called next-generation genetic sequencing of brain tissue samples.

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — The incidence of Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism increased significantly in 30 years from 1976 to 2005, Mayo Clinic researchers reported today in a study in JAMA Neurology. This trend was noted in particular for men age 70 and older. According to the researchers, this is the first study to suggest such an increasing trend.

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Cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with abnormal brain structure in children, according to a new study in Biological Psychiatry.

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"Clock genes" turn on and off, or "Express", in rhythmic patterns throughout the body to regulate physiological conditions and behaviour. When and how these genes express, especially in tissues outside the brain, is still poorly understood. Until now, scientists have lacked sufficient means to simultaneously monitor gene rhythms in specific tissues in freely moving subjects.

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The results of the largest genetic study on migraine thus far were published online in the journal Nature Genetics today, June 20. The study was based on DNA samples of 375,000 European, American and Australian participants. Almost 60,000 of them suffer from migraine

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A recent study concluded that very young, healthy children undergoing short surgical procedures requiring a single exposure to general anesthesia did not exhibit any effect on the cognitive outcomes tested, according to SmartTots, a public-private partnership of the International Anesthesia Research Society and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, the group cautioned that more research is needed to identify problems that might exist under different circumstances.

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Measuring antibody levels in the blood could be used to detect a person’s heart attack risk after researchers, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), discovered that higher levels of these antibodies are linked to a lower heart attack risk.

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Two dozen of the world’s best memory athletes will battle head-to-head for their share of $75,000 prize money as the Extreme Memory Tournament (XMT-2016) returns to  the headquarters of San Diego-based Dart NeuroScience June 24-26.Sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis and  Dart NeuroScience, the live-streamed competition offers the internet public a chance to observe some of the word’s most amazing memory champs in action.

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A new study by a Florida State University researcher shows that both a lack of stimulation in the workplace and a dirty working environment can have a long-term cognitive effect on employees.

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A natural molecule shows benefit in a preliminary clinical trial for Parkinson’s Disease

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Having a first-degree relative with epilepsy may increase a person’s risk of being diagnosed with autism, according to a study published in the June 15, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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UCLA researchers have discovered that people with Parkinson’s disease have a form of impaired decision-making that may be a major contributor to the movement problems that characterize the disease.

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The early years of medical training can be stressful, even traumatic at times, as students and residents directly confront the mortality of their patients and the enormity of their responsibility as physicians. Students report feeling overwhelmed, professors note that exceptional students feel unsure of themselves, and residency managers note high levels of burnout and depression.

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Small trial from the Buck Institute and UCLA succeeds using systems approach to memory disorders.

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The brains of teenagers with serious antisocial behaviour problems differ significantly in structure to those of their peers, providing the clearest evidence to date that their behaviour stems from changes in brain development in early life, according to new research led by the University of Southampton and the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in Italy.

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Two of the highest-qualified neurosurgeons in New York City are now part of NYU Lutheran Medical Center, a member of NYU Langone Health System and its central hub in Brooklyn, and add decades of experience to one of the region’s most talented neurosurgery teams.

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People with multiple sclerosis often have trouble with memory, attention and mental processing. New research shows some of these issues could stem from sleep disorders.

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According a new study, fetal exposure to commonly used SRI drugs may affect brain activity in newborns. The researchers suggest that the effects of drugs on fetal brain function should be assessed more carefully, Indications for preventive medication should be critically evaluated, and non-pharmacological interventions should be the first-line treatment for depression and anxiety during pregnancy.

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Although math skills are considered notoriously hard to improve, Johns Hopkins University researchers boosted kindergarteners’ arithmetic performance simply by exercising their intuitive number sense with a quick computer game.

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A subtle change to the amyloid beta protein affects its aggregation behavior and stabilizes an intermediate form with enhanced toxicity.

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A new study found that the NFL, NBA and NHL teams traveling from west to east had a higher winning percentage compared to teams traveling in the opposite direction.

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A team of sleep researchers at the University of California, Riverside, led by psychology professor Sara C. Mednick, has found that the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for control of bodily functions not consciously directed (such as breathing, heartbeat, and digestive processes) plays a role in promoting memory consolidation – the process of converting information from short-term to long-term memory – during sleep.

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Although brains—even adult brains—are far more malleable than we used to think, they are eventually subject to age-related illnesses, like dementia, and loss of cognitive function. Someday, though, we may actually be able to replace brain cells and restore memory.

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Dennis W. Dickson, M.D., a neuropathologist at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida, will receive the highest honor bestowed by the American Association of Neuropathologists (AANP), an international society of physicians and scientists who study, diagnose and treat diseases related to the brain, nerves and muscles.

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The first study to systematically measure the number of neurons in the brains of birds has found that they have significantly more neurons packed into their small brains than are stuffed into mammalian and even primate brains of the same mass.

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For the first time, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has released official consensus recommendations for the amount of sleep needed to promote optimal health in children and teenagers to avoid the health risks of insufficient sleep.

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The Botox toxin has a sweet tooth, and it’s this craving for sugars – glycans, to be exact – that underlies its extreme ability target neuron cells in the body … while giving researchers an approach to neutralize it.

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A new nano-fabricated platform for observing brain cancer cells provides a much more detailed look at how the cells migrate and a more accurate post-surgery prognosis for brain cancer (glioblastoma) patients.

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Washington, DC (June 13, 2016) —More than 20 million Americans live with kidney diseases. About 650,000 have end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and need dialysis or a transplant to live. Kidney diseases disproportionately affects minority populations; African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are four times more likely to develop kidney failure, and African Americans in low income neighborhoods are 57 percent less likely to make the transplant list.

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The Salk Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of Sung Han as an assistant professor in the Clayton Foundation Peptide Biology Laboratories. Han will study small molecules, called neuropeptides, which affect the brain’s defense response and contribute to sensory hypersensitivity in neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety and autism.

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Simon Fraser University research aimed at helping people get to sleep will be highlighted at an international sleep conference next week. Luc Beaudoin, an adjunct professor in cognitive science and education, created the mySleepButton® app two years ago (a new version with the world's first configurable "body scan" will be released shortly).

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Scientists have discovered a unique pattern of scarring in the brains of deceased service members who were exposed to blast injury that differs from those exposed to other types of head injury. This new research was published online June 9 in Lancet Neurology, “Characterisation of Interface Astroglial Scarring in the Human Brain after Blast Exposure: a Post-mortem Case Series.”

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Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report they have developed an experimental laboratory test that accurately clocks the “speed” of human brain tumor cell movement along a small glass “track.” The assay, so far tested on the cells of 14 glioblastoma patients, has the potential, they say, to predict how quickly and aggressively a given cancer might lethally spread.

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Paul A. Northcott, Ph.D., selected for support as a promising early-career scientist focused on cancer research.

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Researchers, led by Michael Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System, using an advanced imaging technique, have been able to predict which patients who’d recently suffered concussions were likely to fully recover.

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Montefiore and Einstein researchers leverage social media to yield important insights on migraine associated-smells and hallucinations.

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Skilled readers can quickly recognize words when they read because the word has been placed in a visual dictionary of sorts which functions separately from an area that processes the sounds of written words, say Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists. The visual dictionary idea rebuts a common theory that our brain needs to “sound out” words each time we see them.

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A new drug to prevent migraine was associated with fewer headache hours for people with chronic migraine within three to seven days after the first injection, according to a study published in the June 8, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Chronic migraine is defined as headaches occurring at least 15 days per month. Study participants had migraine attacks for an average of 20 years prior to treatment.

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New research from Umeå University in Sweden indicates that dispensed medication for psychiatric diagnosis can be related to air pollution concentrations. The study covers a large part of the Swedish population and has been published in the journal BMJ Open.