Feature Channels: Neuro

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Using new one-of-a-kind “mouse models” that promise to have a significant impact on future Parkinson’s disease research, Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers are among the first to discover how mutations in a gene called LRRK2 may cause inherited (or “familial”) Parkinson’s disease, the most common form of the disease. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, is the first in vivo evidence that LRRK2 regulates dopamine transmission and controls motor performance, and that the mutation of LRRK2 eliminates the normal function of LRRK2, leading to Parkinson’s disease.

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New research shows that a high level of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation in the blood, is associated with brain changes that are linked to problems with executive thinking skills. The study is published in the March 30, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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McGill University researcher and international collaborators genetically manipulate a rat to create the ideal model for studying Alzheimer’s disease in humans.

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Researchers discover that a modified protein plays a key role in memory processes.

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Children with brain injuries may use gesture to signal they need help in developing language, research at the University of Chicago shows. The children who make the fewest gestures early in development also develop spoken vocabulary more slowly.

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You see pictures of a monkey, scrambled eggs and a brightly dressed group of women laughing. Research scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the California Institute of Technology see electrical spikes coming from the neurons of your brain.

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A recent study suggests that a deficiency of a protein in the brain of Down syndrome patients could contribute to the cognitive impairment and congenital heart defects that characterize the syndrome.

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Clinicians may be able to better predict the effects of strokes and other brain injuries by adapting a scanning approach originally developed for study of brain organization, neurologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

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People with Alzheimer’s disease experience a rate of cognitive decline four times greater than those with no cognitive impairment according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

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For more than 30 years, scientists have known that multiple sclerosis (MS) is much more common in higher latitudes than in the tropics. Because sunlight is more abundant near the equator, many researchers have wondered if the high levels of vitamin D engendered by sunlight could explain this unusual pattern of prevalence.

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The American Academy of Neurology has issued a new guideline recommending the most effective treatments to help people with Parkinson’s disease who experience sleep, constipation, and sexual problems, which are common but often underrecognized symptoms. The guideline is published in the March 16, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors. The finding, published in the March Archives of Surgery, suggests a scenario in direct contrast to recommendations from federal health care agencies encouraging better access and quality of health care for people of all races.

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A family history of Alzheimer’s is one of the biggest risk factors for developing the memory-robbing disease, which affects more than 5 million Americans and is the most common form of senile dementia. Now an international collaboration led by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers has found the likely basis for this heightened familial risk—especially from the maternal side.

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On March 21, Benny Zafrani will be running the Los Angeles Marathon. That, by itself, is not remarkable – after all, thousands of others will be doing the same thing. However, Benny is on a mission to raise funds for pediatric brain tumor research. And his mission was spurred by personal experience.

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Regularly participating in activities, like sports, can increase the risk of head injury. Physical blows to the head, even mild ones, can be common causes of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Dr. Todd Trask, neurosurgeon at the Methodist Neurological Institute, cautions those who participate in activities where head injuries are a possibility, and offers tips on how to protect the head and prevent injuries. (Note: March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month.)

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New research from Vanderbilt University reveals for the first time how our brains coordinate two different types of attention and why we may be temporarily blinded by surprises.

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Researchers have new insight into the relationship between Parkinson’s disease and smoking. Several studies have shown that smokers have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. A new study published in the March 10, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, shows that smoking for a greater number of years may reduce the risk of the disease, but smoking a larger number of cigarettes per day may not reduce the risk.

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Many Americans will lose an hour of sleep on March 14, the first day of daylight-saving time—making it harder to wake up, causing difficulty in staying alert and increasing the chance of sleepy-driving car crashes. However, this is not the only time when the amount of sleep should be of concern because many aspects of health are related to sleep. Read on for more information.

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Two winners have been selected for the Promising New Investigators Travel Scholarship Awards given annually by the Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Information Service (NMSIS).

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Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and UTHealth’s Medical School will collaborate on the largest clinical trial of hypothermia (brain cooling) for stroke to date. The ICTuS 2 study (Intravascular Cooling for Acute Stroke) will be led by overall principal investigator Patrick D. Lyden, M.D., former director of the UC San Diego Stroke Center and currently chairman of the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai.

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Patients already taking warfarin who develop an acute stroke appear more likely to experience a brain hemorrhage following treatment with an intravenous clot-dissolving medication, even if their blood clotting function appears normal, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Many important clinical and basic scientific advances have been made in the past five years in the field of neuro-oncology, according to an editorial and several articles in the March issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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In a far-reaching dialogue, three pioneering researchers -- Nicholas Spitzer, Kwabena Boahen and Hongkun Park -- discuss the synergy between nanoscience and neuroscience, what it means for the future, and how it is driving current research.

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Having a shingles infection that affects the eyes may increase the risk of stroke, according to new research published in the March 3, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Michael J. Friedlander, the Wilhelmina Robertson Professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience and the director of Neuroscience Initiatives at the Baylor College of Medicine, has been named founding executive director of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

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University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers have taken a significant step in developing a vaccination approach to reverse the neurological damage seen with Parkinson's disease.

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New research shows women who don’t receive a clot-busting drug after a stroke fare worse than men who are not treated. The study is published in the March 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Tocris Bioscience and Columbia University today announced that they have expanded their license agreement to include RuBi-Glutamate and RuBi-4AP, two additional novel caged compounds with significant applications for basic science research.

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Latest REGARDS data includes more than 26,500 participants followed for nearly five years with a documented 299 strokes. In the 45-54 age group, blacks had a 2.5-fold greater stroke rate compared to whites, and the stroke rate was greater than 12 percent higher in eight Southeast states known as the Stroke Belt. Notably, racial differences in stroke rates disappear and ultimately flip as age increases, UAB researchers said.

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MIT neuroscientists have designed a new MRI sensor that responds to the neurotransmitter dopamine, an achievement that may significantly improve the specificity and resolution of future brain imaging procedures.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center hope they have begun paving a new pathway in the fight against drug dependence.

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A large nationwide study that includes neurologists from Mayo Clinic has found that blacks are substantially less likely than whites to know that they have atrial fibrillation or to use warfarin, the most common treatment for the condition. Atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm, significantly increases risk of stroke. Warfarin is known to reduce that risk.

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A major study shows that a minimally-invasive procedure is as effective and safe as the gold standard for treating blockages of the carotid artery, giving patients who prefer a less invasive procedure a proven alternative.

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Women are almost three times more likely to have midlife stroke than men, according to findings presented at International Stroke Conference

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In reports of two new studies, researchers led by Johns Hopkins say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don’t develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to treat, prevent or modify the disorder or its symptoms.

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Professor of Mathematics Mark Holmes and his graduate student Lisa Rogers are using math to develop a new computer model that can be easily manipulated by other scientists and doctors to predict how different environmental, medical, or physical changes to a person’s body will affect their sleep. Their model will also provide clues to the most basic dynamics of the sleep-wake cycle.

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Children can have strokes, and the strokes can recur, usually within a month, according to pediatric researchers. Unfortunately, the strokes often go unrecognized the first time, and the child does not receive treatment before the recurrence.

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UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death. In addition, they found a specific genetic variation in some individuals that seems to disconnect that link, rendering them more biologically resilient in the face of adversity.

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A paralyzed patient implanted with a brain-computer interface device has allowed scientists to determine the relationship between brain waves and attention. The experiments, published this week in the journal Neuron, reveal the intricate dynamics of the attentive brain.

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Researchers from the Center for Research in Biological Systems (CRBS) at the University of California, San Diego have rolled out beta version 0.7.5 of the Whole Brain Catalog™. In this beta version, developers have improved features to enhance the Catalog's usability as a free, open access environment in which neuroscientists can contribute, share and analyze data.

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When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

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Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have found that elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of phosphorylated tau231 (P-tau231), a damaged tau protein found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, may be an early diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease in healthy adults.

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A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology recommends that the drug quinine, although effective, should be avoided for treatment of routine muscle cramps due to uncommon but serious side effects. The guideline is published in the February 23, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Highly fit multiple sclerosis patients perform significantly better on tests of cognitive function than similar less-fit patients, a new study shows.

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The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is awarding its 2010 Potamkin Prize to two researchers for their work in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), a common type of dementia. Bruce L. Miller, MD, and Lennart Mucke, MD, both of the University of California San Francisco will receive the Award during the AAN’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, April 10 – 17, 2010. The AAN Annual Meeting is the world’s largest gathering of neurologists with more than 2,000 presentations made on the latest advances in neurologic research.

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MIT researchers have discovered new molecular changes in the brains of individuals with Huntington’s disease, a genetic disorder that leads to neuronal loss accompanied by unwanted movements, psychiatric symptoms, and eventual death.

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New research shows people who regularly take ibuprofen may reduce their risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

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Ardiem Medical Inc. has obtained a non-exclusive license to make and sell neuromodulation devices based on intellectual property developed at Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center in Cleveland.

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The video entries for the 2010 Neuro Film Festival are in and the public can now begin voting on its “Fan Favorite” video through March 17, 2010. Neuro Film Festival is a new contest by the American Academy of Neurology Foundation to help raise awareness through video about brain disorders and the need to support research into preventions, treatments and cures. To view and vote for your favorite video in the Neuro Film Festival contest, visit http://www.neurofilmfestival.com.

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Migraine is seen more frequently in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) than those without, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.