Rutgers researchers have identified a siesta-suppressing gene in fruit flies, which sheds light on the biology that helps many creatures, including humans, balance the benefits of a good nap against those of getting important activities done during the day.
A team of biophysicists has discovered and studied the structure of the KR2 rhodopsin under physiological conditions. This pioneering work breaks ground for a future breakthrough in optogenetics, a highly relevant area of biomedicine with applications in neurological disease treatment and more. The fundamental discovery will lead to a new instrument for efficient therapy of depression, anxiety disorders, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease.
A study of a blood pressure drug does not show any benefit for people with Parkinson’s disease, according to findings released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019. The drug isradipine had shown promise in small, early studies and hopes were high that this could be the first drug to slow the progression of the disease.
A new Michigan State University study suggests that older adults with poor sense of smell may see an almost 50% increase in their risk of dying within 10 years – surprisingly in healthier individuals.
Texas Biomedical Research Institute and UT Health San Antonio have signed an animal care and joint research agreement to move dozens of important research animals from the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies to the Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC) on the Texas Biomed campus.
Adjusting the frequency and dosage of Parkinson’s patients’ medication is complex. In their “ON” state they respond positively to medication and in their “OFF” state symptoms return. Addressing these fluctuations requires a clinical exam, history-taking or a patient’s self-report, which are not always practical or reliable. A new technology that combines an algorithm with a senor-based system using wearable motion sensors, automatically, continuously and reliably detects a patient’s medication ON and OFF states without patient or physician engagement.
Learning how to tie a shoe or shoot a basketball isn’t easy, but the brain somehow integrates sensory signals that are critical to coordinating movements so you can get it right. Now, Rutgers scientists have discovered that sensory signals in the brain’s cerebral cortex, which plays a key role in controlling movement and other functions, have a different pattern of connections between nerve cells and different effects on behavior than motor signals. The motor area of the cortex sends signals to stimulate muscles.
After practicing with a virtual reality system for six weeks, people with Parkinson’s disease demonstrated improved obstacle negotiation and balance along with more confidence navigating around obstacles in their path.
A new study provides critical insight into a little-known, yet relatively common, inherited neurological condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The findings point to a pathway to possible treatments for this disease and better understanding of other neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, that affect millions.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a unique 3D-printed transparent skull implant for mice that provides an opportunity to watch activity of the entire brain surface in real time. The device allows fundamental brain research that could provide new insight for human brain conditions such as concussions, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
The Nash family, whose philanthropic generosity has supported many important initiatives within the Mount Sinai Health System over nearly three decades, has made a new contribution to establish the Nash Family Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at Mount Sinai.
Your cells are on the move. Immune cells rove your body hunting for pathogens; cells organize to assemble complex organs; skin cells pull together to heal wounds; and rogue cancer cells migrate and metastasize. Without this remarkable ability to coordinate movement, cells could not divide or reach their proper place in the body. This leads to diseases, such as cardiovascular disorders, Parkinson's disease and cancer.
A new study from an Iowa State University biomedical researcher describes the biological process that causes Parkinson’s-like symptoms to develop following exposure to the metal manganese. The new research, published in the journal Science Signaling, could lead to earlier detection of Parkinson’s disease and better outcomes for patients.
The diseases are very different – cancer and Parkinson’s – but Dr. Mary Alpaugh’s goal is the same: if not to eradicate them, then at least to find effective drugs to treat them.
The first arm of a phase II clinical trial by a research team at Georgetown University Medical Center testing the use of nilotinib in patients with Parkinson’s disease demonstrates precisely how the agent increases levels of dopamine in the brains of study participants.
How can we help in the fight against Parkinson’s disease? Harriet Nembhard and her colleagues developed a sensor system to detect the disease early on, opening the door to earlier treatment and improved quality of life. Nembhard is the head of the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering and Eric R. Smith Professor of Engineering at Oregon State University's College of Engineering.
A Michigan State University researcher will use a five-year, $5 million grant from the National Institutes for Health to investigate the role pesticides might play in olfactory impairment and their relevance to diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Researchers review evidence of the effect of exercise on non-motor symptoms of PD in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease
A Mid-Atlantic research team with roots at the University of Delaware has received a $440,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to test a device, called VibeForward, that uses vibration therapy to reduce symptoms of freezing of gait in patients with Parkinson's.
Cognitive impairment affects more than 50 million people worldwide. In the United States alone, one in three seniors dies with some type of dementia. This creates a critical clinical need for safe and effective therapies for the treatment and prevention of cognitive impairment.
Medical marijuana may bring relief to older people who have symptoms like pain, sleep disorders or anxiety due to chronic conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, spinal cord damage and multiple sclerosis, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019. The study not only found medical marijuana may be safe and effective, it also found that one-third of participants reduced their use of opioids. However, the study was retrospective and relied on participants reporting whether they experienced symptom relief, so it is possible that the placebo effect may have played a role. Additional randomized, placebo-controlled studies are needed.
Bacteria in the gut do far more than help digest food in the stomachs of their hosts, they can also tell the genes in their mammalian hosts what to do. A study published today in Cell describes a form of “interspecies communication” in which bacteria secrete a specific molecule—nitric oxide—that allows them to communicate with and control their hosts’ DNA, and suggests that the conversation between the two may broadly influence human health.
A new study has found that transplanting the bone marrow of young laboratory mice into old mice prevented cognitive decline in the old mice, preserving their memory and learning abilities. The findings support an emerging model that attributes cognitive decline, in part, to aging of blood cells, which are produced in bone marrow.
Cell replacement may play an increasing role in alleviating the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) in future. Writing in a special supplement to the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, experts describe how newly developed stem cell technologies could be used to treat the disease and discuss the great promise, as well as the significant challenges, of stem cell treatment.
Researchers at UC San Diego and Arizona State University have received $1.7 million in funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to launch a multi-year effort to identify blood-based biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease, which could improve care and accelerate new treatments.
Monash researchers have unlocked a key process in all human cells that contributes to diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative diseases as well as ageing. The discovery reveals how cells efficiently get rid of cellular junk, which when it accumulates, can trigger death and the health problems associated with getting older.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a gene therapy that blocks axonal degeneration, preventing axon destruction in mice and suggesting a therapeutic strategy that could help prevent the loss of peripheral nerves in multiple conditions.
Older adults who move more, either with daily exercise or even simple routine physical activity like housework, may preserve more of their memory and thinking skills, even if they have brain lesions or biomarkers linked to dementia, according to a study published in the January 16, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Older adults who move more than average, either in the form of daily exercise or just routine physical activity such as housework, may maintain more of their memory and thinking skills than people who are less active than average, even if they have brain lesions or biomarkers linked to dementia, according to a study by Rush University Medical Center published in the January 16, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A Michigan State University study is the first to show an association between unusually high pesticide exposure and poor sense of smell among aging farmers.
A Michigan State University researcher has received a $2.8 million federal grant to develop a gene therapy that could reduce and possibly eliminate a frustrating side effect of a drug commonly prescribed to Parkinson’s patients.
Van Andel Research Institute-affiliated scientists Peter W. Laird, Ph.D., Stephen B. Baylin, M.D., and H. Eric Xu, Ph.D., are included in this year’s Highly Cited Researchers list, which identifies scientists who have published multiple papers ranking in the top 1 percent of citations by field and year worldwide.
A new neurostimulator developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, can listen to and stimulate electric current in the brain at the same time, potentially delivering fine-tuned treatments to patients with diseases like epilepsy and Parkinson's.
The American Neurological Association (ANA), the professional organization representing the nation’s top academic neurologists and neuroscientists, today released a list of the most-accessed articles of 2018 in its Annals of Neurology and Annals of Clinical & Translational Neurology (ACTN).
A new study from biomedical engineer Qi Wang, who is developing innovative ways of selectively activating neural circuitry to enhance perception and cognition, demonstrates a major advance in understanding how the locus coeruleus (LC) modulates information processing in the thalamus. Wang found that activating the LC improves the transmission of information about different features of sensory stimuli from the thalamus to the cerebral cortex, and subsequently perceptual performance in perceptual tasks.
The new Sherman Institute will advance basic research on novel therapies for a range of disorders, including autoimmune, neurodegenerative, and infectious diseases, as well as cancer.
If you are wondering how long you personally are willing to stand in line to buy that hot new holiday gift, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine say the answer may be found in the biological rules governing how animals typically forage for food and other rewards.
Rutgers scientists have found a compound in coffee that may team up with caffeine to fight Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia – two progressive and currently incurable diseases associated with brain degeneration.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Funding Brings Together Interdisciplinary Experts to Accelerate Understanding
Combining low doses of a toxic herbicide with sugar-binding proteins called lectins may trigger Parkinsonism -- including symptoms like body tremors and slowing of body motions -- after the toxin travels from the stomach to the brain.
The PhRMA Foundation awarded more than $6 million over the last two years to more than 100 leaders in scientific research in the United States. The Foundation is proud to announce another successful year supporting innovative research efforts in areas of great importance: Alzheimer’s Disease, Melanoma, Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Leukemia, Ulcerative Colitis, Vascular Disease, and Colorectal Cancer. This year the Foundation also funded two Centers of Excellence in Value Assessment.
Parkinson's disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatic diseases, alcoholism and mental health disorders increase the risk of surgical complications after a hip fracture surgery, a new Finnish study analysing nationwide registers finds. 4.6% of all hip surgery patients and 10% of total hip replacement surgery patients experienced surgical complications within three months following their surgery.
Eating leafy greens, dark orange and red vegetables and berry fruits, and drinking orange juice may be associated with a lower risk of memory loss over time in men, according to a study published in the November 21, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A team of neurologists at Georgetown University Medical Center has found that inhibiting the USP13 molecule may be a therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease and other similar forms of neurodegeneration.
Rong Xu, PhD, recently received a total of $5 million for two projects that will use big data methods for a comprehensive look at a range of factors that may inform the mechanism of Alzheimer’s and related dementia.
Singing may provide benefits beyond improving respiratory and swallow control in people with Parkinson’s disease. New data revealed improvements in mood and motor symptoms, as well as reduced physiological indicators of stress.
A new study out of the Krembil Brain Institute, part of the Krembil Research Institute, suggests drinking coffee may protect you against developing both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Rutgers scientists have created a tiny, biodegradable scaffold to transplant stem cells and deliver drugs, which may help treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, aging brain degeneration, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Stem cell transplantation, which shows promise as a treatment for central nervous system diseases, has been hampered by low cell survival rates, incomplete differentiation of cells and limited growth of neural connections.
Description: Papers on inflammasomes and Parkinson’s disease; gas extraction and amphibian health; SeqAPASS; and androgen receptor HTS featured in latest issue of Toxicological Sciences.
In experiments performed in mice, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have identified the cascade of cell death events leading to the physical and intellectual degeneration associated with Parkinson's disease.
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