Feature Channels: Neuro

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Trigeminal neuralgia (TN, also known as tic douloureaux) is the most common facial pain syndrome, characterized by episodic, intense, shock-like pain in one or more divisions of the trigeminal nerve. Although TN surgery is successful in about 60 to 90 percent of cases, some patients are especially challenging and continue to have persistent or recurrent TN despite multiple operations. Research evaulates the efficacy of surgery in TN patients who have experienced prior failed operations.

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An estimated 3 percent of the world population, or about 197 million people suffer from some form of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). Teenagers suffering from hyperhydrosis often experience social, emotional, and physical problems, exacerbating what is often an already vulnerable period of growth and maturity. Unfortunately, nonsurgical approaches are usually ineffective for severe forms of palmar and axillary hyperhidrosis. Research evaluates efficacy of a minimally invasive surgical procedure in teenagers with hyperhidrosis.

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Every year, 200,000 patients in the United States develop shingles, for which there is no cure. The pain from shingles can be excruciating, and the cause might not be immediately evident. While some patients have mild cases and recover fully, other patients suffer from post-herpetic neuralgia, a painful syndrome that often cannot be adequately treated with pain-relieving medications. Research investigates the efficacy of a surgical pump to deliver medication to patients with post-herpetic neuralgia.

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Dystonia is a very complex, highly variable neurological movement disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions. Dystonia results from abnormal functioning of the basal ganglia, a deep part of the brain which helps control coordination of movement. Patients with generalized primary dystonia suffer from repetitive twisting movements or abnormal postures due to involuntary muscle contractions.

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Alzheimer's disease patients who develop delirium, a sudden state of severe confusion and disorientation, are significantly more likely to experience rapid cognitive decline than Alzheimer's patients who didn't experience delirium, according to research published in the May 5, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Delirium often develops in elderly patients during hospitalization or serious illness, and this acute state of confusion and agitation has long been suspected of having ties to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Now a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Hebrew Senior Life, confirms that an episode of delirium rapidly accelerates cognitive decline and memory loss in Alzheimer's patients.

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Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.

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Close to 1.5 million cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) occur in the United States every year. Approximately 5.3 million people live with a TBI-related disability and an additional 60,000 people die annually from TBI. Research analyzes the role of the amino acid glutamate in TBI patient outcome and its potential for future treatment.

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Hydrocephalus is a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) builds up within the ventricles (fluid-containing cavities) of the brain and may increase pressure within the head. Venticuloperitoneal shunts remain the standard of care for the treatment of hydrocephalus, but can present complications for some older children. Research evaluates outcome in 105 children with ventriculopleural shunts placed at Children's Hospital Los Angeles over a 30-year period.

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Vestibular schwannomas (frequently called acoustic neuromas) are common skull-base brain tumors that account for 57 percent of all nerve sheath tumors and 5 percent of all primary brain tumors. Typically, patients notice unilateral (one-sided) or asymmetrical hearing loss, but sometimes these tumors are found incidentally in patients with normal hearing. Research analyzes facial nerve function and hearing preservation in thousands of patients who underwent Gamma Knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannomas.

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Malignant gliomas are generally fatal tumors that are highly resistant to treatment. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most invasive type of glial tumor. These tumors tend to grow rapidly, spread to other tissue, and have a poor prognosis. Chemotherapy is not very effective because drugs are not able to penetrate the blood brain barrier, which prevents most drugs in the bloodstream from entering the brain. Research analyzes novel delivery of chemotherapy designed to maximize the amount of drug that infiltrates the tumor and minimize the side effects that occur in other parts of the body.

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In 2007, an estimated 20,500 new cases of primary malignant brain and central nervous system tumors were diagnosed and approximately 12,740 deaths were attributed to these tumors. High grade glioma is the most common malignancy, as well as the most devastating. Research investigates potential of targeted delivery of controlled-release nanoparticles.

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Degenerative changes in the neck are part of the normal process of aging and affect nearly everyone age 40 and older to some degree. But a serious condition called cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), typically affecting those age 50 and older, can lead to partial paralysis. Research shows that surgical intervention in patients with CSM leads to improved patient outcome.

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Even very early in Alzheimer's disease, people become less efficient at separating important from less important information, a new study has found.

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Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers are the first to discover a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell.

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In a study that reveals the clearest picture to date of neuron death in Parkinson's disease, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have found that a trio of culprits acting in concert is responsible for killing the brain cells.

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For 2.7 million Americans with epilepsy, seizures are not the only concern. People with epilepsy frequently face mood and behavior challenges and side effects from their medications, such as sleep and cognition problems. And, in many instances, these issues are not getting the attention warranted during visits with neurologists, according to a study supported by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics®, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.

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Employees with epilepsy cost healthcare insurers and employers significantly more than those without the condition, according to findings from two studies presented here today at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting.

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Researchers from the Department of Neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine will present several studies at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. The meeting will take place April 25-May 2 in Seattle, WA.

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Some experts believe that vision isn't possible without feedback from higher levels of the brain, but a study in the journal Neuron now demonstrates that the brain can rapidly recognize objects under a variety of conditions at a very early processing stage. The study, from Children's Hospital Boston, involved patients with epilepsy who were undergoing high-resolution brain mapping prior to neurosurgery.

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In the first neuroimaging study to examine motor execution in children with autism, researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute found that children with autism relied more heavily on the brain region responsible for conscious, effortful movement, while their typically developing peers used a region of the brain important for automating motor tasks.

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New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society show it's relatively safe for women with epilepsy to become pregnant, but caution must be taken, including avoiding one particular epilepsy drug that can cause birth defects. The guidelines are published in the April 27, 2009, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, and will be presented April 27, 2009, at the Academy's Annual Meeting in Seattle.

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The Sixth Annual National Neurosurgery Awareness Week (NNAW) kicks off this year on May 3 during the 77th Annual Meeting of the AANS in San Diego. Neurosurgeons treat children and adults for sports-related traumatic brain and spine injuries all too often. By using your head and wearing an approved, properly-fitting helmet for all wheeled sports and powered recreational vehicles "“ 100 percent of the time "“ you can help prevent potentially tragic or fatal injuries.

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Scientists have studied high-frequency brain waves, known as gamma oscillations, for more than 50 years, believing them crucial to consciousness, attention, learning and memory. Now, for the first time, MIT researchers and colleagues have found a way to induce these waves by shining laser light directly onto the brains of mice.

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Researchers have uncovered a mechanism involved in ensuring that only certain genes are expressed in a specific cell type. This discovery advances the understanding of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

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Children who are firstborn or breech or whose mothers are 35 or older when giving birth are at significantly greater risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have reported in a new study with Utah children.

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Three recent papers highlight new promise, and expose nagging pitfalls, of one of the Alzheimer field's most widely used surrogate measures of disease progression. Developing validated biomarkers is critical for developing better diagnostics and treatments.

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The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has redesigned its public website, TheBrainMatters.org, to provide a comprehensive resource for neurology patients and their families. The site is available for Academy members to refer patients, caregivers, health care organizations, and the public for the latest information and resources on specific neurologic disorders.

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Every brain has a soundtrack -- probably many. Can we make them work for us?

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Sometimes less is more: Lower doses of an Alzheimer's drug delivered via skin patches improve cognition with fewer serious side effects than higher doses, according to an updated review.

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A discovery made by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine while studying mice may help explain how some people without a genetic predisposition to epilepsy can develop the disorder.

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Taking a new approach to the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, a research team led by investigators at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida has shown that druglike compounds can speed up destruction of the amyloid beta (A-beta) proteins that form plaque in the brains of patients with the disorder.

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UCLA researchers found that years of exposure to a combination of pesticides increased the risk of Parkinson's by 75 percent. Further, for people diagnosed with early on-set Parkinson's, earlier exposure had increased their risk for the disease by as much as four- to six-fold.

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A group of 12 proteins associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered for the first time by a team of neurology and pathology researchers at Stony Brook University Medical Center. Led by Lauren Krupp, M.D., Director of the National Pediatric MS Center at SBUMC, the finding could lead to a new panel of diagnostic and prognostic markers in pediatric MS.

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New research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies casts the role of a neuronal growth factor receptor"”long suspected to facilitate the toxic effects of beta amyloid in Alzheimer's disease"” in a new light, suggesting the molecule actually protects the neuron in the periphery from beta amyloid-induced damage.

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USC researchers have taken an important first step toward protecting against Huntington disease using gene therapy. Huntington Disease is an incurable neurological disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional instability and loss of intellectual faculties. It affects about 30,000 people in the United States, and children of parents with the disease have a 50 percent chance of inheriting it themselves.

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One of the highlights of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology is "Neurobowl," a competition modeled after TV quiz shows. Like a quiz show, Neurobowl awards points for answering questions quickly and accurately, and subtracts points for wrong answers. The tougher the question, the higher the point value.

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New studies in pregnant mice using antibodies against fetal brains made by the mothers of autistic children show that immune cells can cross the placenta and trigger neurobehavioral changes similar to autism in the mouse pups.

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For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity. Now, working on the idea that the signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger RNAs, which contain the chemical blueprint for how to make a protein, researchers have found another way to change one cell type into another.

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New research shows the sleep disruption associated with jet lag and shift work occurs in two separate but linked groups of neurons below the hypothalamus at the base of the brain.

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For a decade, Alzheimer's disease researchers have been entrenched in debate about one of the mechanisms believed to be responsible for brain cell death and memory loss in the illness.

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A first of its kind study examining the effects of methamphetamine use during pregnancy has found the drug appears to cause abnormal brain development in children. The research is published in the April 15, 2009, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Individuals who take aspirin or other medications that prevent blood clotting by inhibiting the accumulation of platelets appear more likely to have tiny, asymptomatic areas of bleeding in the brain, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Abnormalities in the fibers connecting different brain areas may contribute to muscle disorders such as writer's cramp, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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A test developed by physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may help assess whether certain Alzheimer's drugs are hitting their target.

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A new study conducted at Mayo Clinic reports that one in six patients receiving therapeutic doses of certain drugs for Parkinson's disease develops new-onset, potentially destructive behaviors, notably compulsive gambling or hypersexuality.

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Research about autism is growing, but not fast enough to keep up with the need. According to Michelle Rowe, Ph.D., professor of health services at Saint Joseph's University, one in 150 children in the United States has been diagnosed with autism, and every day the list of potential causes grows.

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For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement. The regeneration was accomplished in a brain injury site in rats by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have compiled the first-ever review of the neurobiology of wisdom "“ once the sole province of religion and philosophy. The study by Dilip V. Jeste, MD, and Thomas W. Meeks, MD, of UC San Diego's Department of Psychiatry and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging.