Feature Channels: Neuro

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Twitter Chat Hosted by @MontefioreNews on February 29, at 2 p.m., #Monte_NETs

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Sharks are among the most threatened of marine species worldwide due to unsustainable overfishing. They are primarily killed for their fins to fuel the growing demand for shark fin soup, which is an Asia delicacy. A new study by University of Miami (UM) scientists in the journal Marine Drugs has discovered high concentrations of BMAA in shark fins, a neurotoxin linked to neurodegenerative diseases in humans including Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig Disease (ALS). The study suggests that consumption of shark fin soup and cartilage pills may pose a significant health risk for degenerative brain diseases.

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Neurologists will meet with members of Congress on the need for fair Medicare reimbursement to help prevent a shortage of neurologists available to care for the one in six people currently affected by neurologic disease. A shortage of neurologists will continue to increase patient wait times for diagnosis and treatment.

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New research suggests women who have migraine or have had them in the past are at an increased risk for developing depression compared to women who have never had migraine. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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A new study reveals a dazzling degree of biological diversity in an unexpected place – a single neural connection in the body wall of flies.

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The Virginia Tech – Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences announces the first ever publication with data on head impacts from youth football players. The paper, published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, includes the details of over 700 head impacts measured on 7- and 8-year- old youth football players.

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New research finds foreign-born Hispanics now living in the United States appear to be less likely to have a stroke compared to non-Hispanic white people. The research was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. The research is also being simultaneously published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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A new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit finds a strong correlation between brain dominance and the ear used to listen to a cell phone, with more than 70 percent of participants holding their cell phone up to the ear on the same side as their dominant hand.

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New research suggests that mothers who experience migraine may be more likely to have a baby with colic than mothers without a history of migraine. Colic is defined as excessive crying in an otherwise healthy infant. The research was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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The American Academy of Neurology is issuing an updated guideline that recommends monitoring the spinal cord during spinal surgery and certain chest surgeries to help prevent paralysis, or loss of muscle function, related to the surgeries. The guideline, which was developed with the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society, is published in the February 21, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology and also in the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology.

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A study of mothers and their young babies by neurologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that mothers who suffer migraine headaches are more than twice as likely to have babies with colic than mothers without a history of migraines.

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A new drug is showing promise in shielding against the harmful effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in rats, according to a study that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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New research looks at whether clot-busting drugs can safely be given to children who have strokes. The research was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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An estimated 3,200 medical professionals — including neurosurgeons, neurosurgical residents, medical students, neuroscience nurses, clinical specialists, physician assistants and allied health professionals — will be among the 7,000+ attendees at the nation's leading neurosurgical conference.

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Findings presented at International Stroke Conference.

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A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that autism does not appear suddenly in young children, but instead develops over time during infancy.

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New research suggests weight training for two years significantly improves the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease compared to other forms of exercise such as stretching and balance exercises. The clinical trial, which compared two forms of exercise for Parkinson’s disease, was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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New findings suggest that weight training can significantly improve motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease, and a four-year, $3 million federal grant to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Colorado-Denver will also look for benefits of aerobic exercise in recently diagnosed patients.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, sports-related concussions are an epidemic in this country. With more than three million sports-related concussions happening every year, research shows the effects can be long-lasting, even leading to permanent brain damage and early onset of dementia. Dr. Howard Derman, director of the Methodist Concussion Center in Houston, shares some of the common misconceptions about the brain and the severity of head injuries.

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Leading representatives of the American Epilepsy Society, American Academy of Neurology, and the Epilepsy Foundation today reported they have grave concerns about the implications and potential misuse of the anticonvulsant (AED) drug comparisons study recently released by the U.S. Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study’s intent is to provide an evidence-based analysis of the Effectiveness and Safety of Antiepileptic Medications in Patients With Epilepsy. But the AHRQ report has little clinical value according to the specialists in neurology and epilepsy and could negatively impact patient care.

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When a person is experiencing a prolonged convulsive seizure, quick medical intervention is critical. With every passing minute, the seizure becomes harder to stop, and can place the patient at risk of brain damage and death. This is why paramedics are trained to administer anticonvulsive medications as soon as possible -- traditionally giving them intravenously before arriving at the hospital.

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Simple tests such as walking speed and hand grip strength may help doctors determine how likely it is a middle-aged person will develop dementia or stroke. That’s according to new research that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a common treatment for patients with chronic pain or movement disorders. Now a unique set of experiments shows that electrical stimulation in some of the same brain areas can also affect respiratory function, according to a study in the February 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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The amount and quality of sleep you get at night may affect your memory later in life, according to research that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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A larger waistline may be linked to an increased risk of decreased mental functioning in people infected with the AIDS virus HIV, according to research published in the February 14, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers have found.

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UCLA scientists used a brain imaging tool that effectively tracked and predicted cognitive decline over a two-year period. The team had previously developed this tool that can assess the neurological changes associated with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.

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By employing complex machine learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans, researchers at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell were able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, in her way, communicate accurately.

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/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Concussions and the issues that can occur following one, continue to be a serious problem for football players. However, one simple game strategy: proper helmet fit, may be one of the easiest game winners for prevention, say researchers presenting their study at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in San Francisco.

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New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. MCI is the stage between normal memory loss that comes with aging and early Alzheimer’s disease.

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Ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New UCLA research may one day help you improve your memory. UCLA neuroscientists have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating a critical junction in the brain. Published in the Feb. 9 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the finding could lead to a new method for boosting memory in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.

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Researchers have identified how a specific gene protects dopamine-producing neurons from dying in both animal models and in cultures of human neurons.

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Parkinson’s disease researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure.

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A new scoring method can help doctors quickly decide which stroke patients will respond well to the clot-busting drug alteplase, according to a study published in the February 7, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A new study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology may explain why people can hold visual information in high detail in their working memory.

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An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver at the American Stroke Association's 2012 international conference in New Orleans on Feb. 3.

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Johns Hopkins neurologists report success with a new means of getting rid of potentially lethal blood clots in the brain safely without cutting through easily damaged brain tissue or removing large pieces of skull.

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In a surprising finding with significant implications for older women, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and NYU School of Medicine have found that high levels of triglycerides (blood fats) are the strongest risk factor for the most common type of stroke in older women – more of a risk factor than elevated levels of total cholesterol or of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (known as “bad” cholesterol). The study appears online today in Stroke.

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Brain researchers from world-leading universities will be convening at the University of Haifa and will present over 100 new studies in the field, focused on revealing the answer to the question of where and how memory is stored.

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Findings open new opportunities for studying Alzheimer’s and testing potential therapies.

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High levels of the protein beta-amyloid in the brain that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease may affect brain performance even in healthy adults, according to a study published in the February 1, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A new comparison of the procedures to help prevent strokes by removing or relieving blockages in the arteries of the neck concludes they are equally effective at halting repeat blockage.

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Experiments in brain-injured rats show that stem cells injected via the carotid artery travel directly to the brain, where they greatly enhance functional recovery, reports a study in the February 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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U-M study finds new evidence that touch-sensing nerve cells may fuel tinnitus. Future treatments may target these cells.

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In an animal study, Mount Sinai researchers found that decaffeinated coffee may improve glucose utilization in the brain, reducing the risk for Type 2 diabetes and the brain dysfunction associated with some neurological disorders.

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Despite advances in the diagnosis and treatment of unruptured brain aneurysms, outcomes have remained stagnant over the last 10 years. This can be explained by the dramatic proliferation of minimally invasive endoscopic coiling procedures at lower-volume community hospitals, where outcomes are inferior.

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Stowers researchers discovered that a prion-like protein plays a key role in storing long-term memories.

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The concept of the subliminal message is now familiar. A subconscious suggestion can help a person bring about positive change, such as smoking cessation, or otherwise influence one’s actions. The science behind reaching this suggestive state and how to successfully present a message of change has its own journey.

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Researchers have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors.

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Researchers have discovered that the most common receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the eye, which may explain links between cataracts, epilepsy and use of a number of antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs.