Feature Channels: Neuro

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In the first study to utilize continuous EEG monitoring (cEEG) to define the incidence of early post traumatic seizures (EPTS) in children compared to published rates in adults, investigators at the University of Colorado followed pediatric patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to Denver Children’s Hospital over a nine month period.. Their report presented here at the 64th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting suggests that the incidence of EPTS in children with moderate to severe TBI is more than twice the rate in adults. (Platform C.05)

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Approximately 5 – 30% of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) develop post traumatic epilepsy (PTE). The onset of seizures in patients who are susceptible to PTE can range from weeks or months to more than a decade after TBI. In a presentation at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting, scientists report that the analysis of routine MRI scans can reliably quantify the disruptions in the blood brain barrier that are increasingly believed to be a prominent contributor to epilepsy development.

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Status epilepticus (SE) is a true medical and neurologic emergency. To better understand the causes, treatment approaches and associated outcomes among SE patients, investigators at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System retrospectively reviewed all SE cases treated within their system over an eight year period.

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Exposure to nicotine during pregnancy leads to a decrease in adult stem cells and a change in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of the offspring, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Researchers say this could be a possible cause for behavioral problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seen in children whose mothers smoked.

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According to the AANS, in 2009, an estimated 1.5 million people were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for head injuries related to common products found inside the home. While Christmas decorations are not a leading cause of head injury, there is a documented head injury trend in December and January when people are using ladders to decorate their homes. The AANS offers head injury prevention tips to help keep you safe during the holiday season and all year round.

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Post-traumatic seizures and epilepsy can develop anytime from immediately to days or weeks to more than a decade after brain injury. Not all military personnel who have experienced combat-related TBI obtain care in the VA hospital system. Many integrate into civilian medical practice and receive care from healthcare professionals who might not recognize TBI as the cause of the epilepsy.

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Neuropsychologists at Baylor University have found the particular cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the age-dependent effect of alcohol in teens that may cause the reduced motor impairment.

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Using a new brain imaging technique, Washington University neuroscientists could see an investigational drug for Parkinson’s disease get into a patient’s brain and affect blood flow in several key structures, an indicator the drug may be effective. In the future, similar brain scans could speed the development of new drugs and help clinicians learn whether established drugs are working.

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The American Academy of Neurology has developed a new tool to help doctors gauge how well they are caring for people with Parkinson’s disease. The new quality measures are published in the November 30, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Mimicking the reflective iridescence of a butterfly's wing, investigators have developed a color-changing patch that could be worn on soldiers' helmets and uniforms to indicate the strength of exposure to blasts from explosives in the field. Future studies aim to calibrate the color change to the intensity of exposure to provide an immediate read on the potential harm to the brain and the subsequent need for medical intervention.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination.

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There’s good news for women with epilepsy. Breastfeeding your baby while taking your seizure medication may have no harmful effect on your child’s IQ later on, according to a study published in the November 24, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Buck Institute, Yale University and University of California, Berkeley scientists identify three caspase inhibitors that block HD-associated neuronal damage in cell culture; follow up experiments are underway in mice

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More than half of all combat-related injuries sustained by U.S. troops are the result of explosions, and many of those involve injuries to the head. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, about 130,000 U.S. service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained traumatic brain injuries — ranging from concussion to long-term brain damage and death — as a result of an explosion. A recent analysis by a team of researchers led by MIT reveals one possible way to prevent those injuries — adding a face shield to the helmet worn by military personnel.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have published a study showing listeners can become effectively deaf to sounds that do not conform to their brains’ expectations.

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Columbia University and Neuromatters, LLC announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for rapid identification of relevant images.

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Researchers have determined the biological basis of your brain’s ability to quickly switch from detecting an object moving in your direction to determining what the object is: neurons located at the beginning of the brain’s sensory information pathway changing their level of simultaneous firing.

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Johns Hopkins Children’s Center scientists have discovered that high blood levels of a protein commonly found in the central nervous system can predict brain injury and death in critically ill children on a form of life support called extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO.

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A new book entitled “Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring” has been published by Cambridge University Press, co-authored by Nationwide Children’s Hospital Pediatric Neurologists Gloria M. Galloway, MD, and Khaled M. Zamel, MD; Marc R. Nuwer, MD, of UCLA; and Jaime R. Lopez, MD of Stanford University.

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Researchers -- led by James Eberwine, PhD, the Elmer Holmes Bobst professor of Pharmacology and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute -- have documented a novel form of splicing in the cytoplasm of a nerve cell, which dictates a special form of a potassium channel protein in the outer membrane. The channel protein is found in the dendrites of hippocampus cells -- the seat of memory, learning, and spatial navigation -- and is involved in coordinating the electrical firing of nerve cells. Dendrites, which branch from the cell body of the neuron, play a key role in the communication between cells of the nervous system. Diseases such as epilepsy that are based on electrical misfiring in the brain could be targets of manipulation of the type splicing of splicing studied.

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Frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele is a type of facial malformation that is rarely seen in developed countries, but is quite common in many Southeast Asian countries. A compelling article in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics details the experiences of a cross-cultural surgical team who performed humanitarian work from 2004-2009 repairing the faces and spirits of Cambodian children.

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Exposure to even dim light at night is enough to cause physical changes in the brains of hamsters that may be associated with depression, a new study shows.

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By tracking the fate of a group of immature cells that persist in the adult brain and spinal cord, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in mice that these cells undergo dramatic changes in ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

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A protein known to exist in the brain for more than 30 years has been found to play a regulatory role in the formation of the amyloid beta in the brain, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease

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There is growing evidence that exposure to a group of chemicals known as type-2 alkenes -- which are found in the smoke inhaled from cigarettes, the exhaust of automobiles and even in French fries – can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Can Curry, Wine and Apple Skins Offer an Antidote?

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A comprehensive program combining education and rule enforcement has been effective in reducing the high rate of brain and spinal cord injuries among rugby players, reports the November issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

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New results from a study by neuroscientists at Rush University Medical Center suggest that people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease exhibit a specific structural change in the brain that can be visualized by brain imaging. The findings may help identify those who would most benefit from early intervention.

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Two speech pathologists have developed a system of software applications for nonverbal dysphagia patients.

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Strokes, seizures and other neurological complications related to heart surgery account for "considerable morbidity and mortality," Loyola University Health System neurologists report.

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A brain area known to play a critical role in vision is divided into compartments that respond separately to different colors and orientations, Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered. The findings have important implications for furthering our understanding of perception and attention.

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The spleen, an organ that helps the body fight infections, might also be a source of the cells that end up doing more harm than good at the site of a spinal cord injury, new research suggests.

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If researchers could determine how to send signals to cells responding to a spinal cord injury, they might be able to stop one type of cell from doing additional damage at the injury site and instead, coax it into helping nerve cells grow.

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A new study suggests that the handwriting problems that affect children with autism are likely to continue into their teenage years. The research is published in the November 16, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Kennedy Krieger researchers confirm children with autism are unlikely to outgrow handwriting problems, recommend intervention therapies.

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Fisetin, a naturally occurring compound found in strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, slows the onset of motor problems and delays death in three models of Huntington's disease, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The study, published in the online edition of Human Molecular Genetics, sets the stage for further investigations into fisetin's neuroprotective properties in Huntington's and other neurodegenerative conditions.

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A study led by researchers in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows unexpected and extensive natural recovery after spinal cord injury in primates. The findings, to be published November 14 in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience.

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Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may blame their daytime difficulties on simple sleepiness, but new research suggests that their brains may be to blame. Specifically, their cognitive challenges may be caused by structural deficits in gray matter, brought on by the intermittent oxygen deprivation that comes with OSA.

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Dr. Rosemarie Booze, a top neuroscientist at the University of South Carolina, is conducting NIH-funded research on a phtyoestrogen compound in liquorice root that could prevent the cell death associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

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A Saint Louis University neuropsychologist offers advice to veterans recovering from mild traumatic brain injury.

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Contrary to earlier research, a new, long-term study suggests that cholesterol level in mid-life may not be linked to later development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the November 10, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the results suggest that large decreases in cholesterol levels in old age could be a better predictor of developing the memory-robbing disease.

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High cholesterol levels in middle age do not appear to increase women’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life, new Johns Hopkins-led research finds, despite a body of scientific evidence long suggesting a link between the two.

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New findings by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center suggest that serotonin – a brain chemical known to help regulate emotion, mood and sleep – might also have anti-diabetic properties.

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The clot-busting drug rt-PA remains the most beneficial proven emergency treatment for strokes caused by blood clots, according to an editorial in the November issue of Archives of Neurology.

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UCLA researchers have identified in the mouse the molecular cascade that drives the process of reconnection or sprouting in the adult brain after stroke.

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Preschool-aged children who demonstrate fearless behavior also reveal less empathy and more aggression towards their peers. This has been shown in a new study that was carried out at the University of Haifa's Faculty of Education.

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Humans can actually regulate the activity of specific neurons in the brain, increasing the firing rate of some while decreasing the rate of others. And study subjects proved this by manipulating an image on a computer screen using only their thoughts.

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A new UCLA study published in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain's ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

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Researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center and colleagues from the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, and Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network have a functional MRI study in the current edition of Neurology. Conventional bedside assessments of consciousness rely on motor responses to indicate awareness and therefore may underestimate capacity for cognition, the researchers say.

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Continuing its mission to help neurologists best treat their patients, the American Academy of Neurology has launched Neurology: Clinical Practice, a new medical journal aimed at providing doctors with the latest information on how to improve outcomes for the one in six people affected by a neurologic disorder. The new journal will be sent as a supplement to the November 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the world’s most widely read and highly cited peer-reviewed neurology medical journal.

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People admitted to the hospital on a weekend after a stroke are more likely to die compared to people admitted on a weekday, regardless of the severity of the stroke they experience, according to new research published in the November 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.