Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Third Annual Encephalitis Conference

International organizers are proud to announce the FACES to FACES Encephalitis Conference, to be held in Enfield Connecticut USA on August 6th to August 8th, 2004.

26 Apr 2004

Discovery shows how single genetic mutation can cause complex disorders

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS), characterized by obesity, learning disabilities and eye and kidney problems, is caused by genetic mutations in the BBS family of genes. Now, researchers who've long studied the condition have discovered that genetic mutations in one of those genes, called BBS4, lead to cell death by disrupting the cells' internal "highway" system.

25 Apr 2004

Overview of West Nile virus before season starts

West Nile virus is a newly emergent virus of the family Flaviviridae, found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is also the cause of a number of conditions in humans, horses, and some other mammals. It is transmitted by bites of infected mosquitoes.

24 Apr 2004

New use of Botox helps voice disorders

An injection that’s best known for smoothing wrinkles also helps restore the voices — and the confidence — of people with a voice disorder caused by spasms in their vocal cord muscles, a new University of Michigan study finds.

24 Apr 2004

Nitric oxide, a chemical messenger involved in bodily functions shuts down a protein involved in Parkinson's disease

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that nitric oxide, a chemical messenger involved in bodily functions from erection to nerves' communication, also shuts down a protein involved in Parkinson's disease.

23 Apr 2004

Potential new drug may slow the progression of the Parkinson's disease

An international team of Parkinson's disease researchers has shown that a potential new drug is effective at treating patients in the early stages of Parkinson's and may even slow the progression of the disease. The results from the Parkinson Study Group are in the April 19 issue of the Archives of Neurology.

22 Apr 2004

Alzheimer Society of Canada new Alzheimer fact sheet

Dementia is a syndrome consisting of a number of symptoms that include loss of memory, judgment and reasoning, and changes in mood, behaviour and communication abilities. Alzheimer Disease, the most common form of dementia, accounts for 64 per cent of all dementias in Canada.

22 Apr 2004

Expert calls for standard epinephrine doses when treating children in cardiac arrest

Medical personnel attempting to resuscitate a child in cardiac arrest should abide by epinephrine dosing levels outlined in the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) guidelines rather than giving larger amounts of the drug, says a nationally recognized pediatrician from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

22 Apr 2004

FDA recommends approval of stenting to prevent stroke

Cordis Endovascular today reported the Circulatory System Devices Panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of the company's new Cordis Carotid System. Cordis Endovascular is a division of Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company.

21 Apr 2004

Scientist discovers why skin turns leathery

“The reason our skin becomes more leathery and thick as we age might be due to a loss of elasticity in the cells,” says Igor Sokolov of Clarkson University, who presented his latest research findings during a session on bio-imaging techniques at the Annual American Physical Society (APS) March meeting in Montreal.

21 Apr 2004

Dolly the sheeps creators harbour no desire to clone humans

The Scottish institute that cloned Dolly the sheep wants to clone human embryos to study motor neurone disease.

21 Apr 2004

The Alzheimer's Society receives lottery money for stem cell research

The Alzheimer's Society is to receive a grant of more than £200,000 from the Community Fund for stem cell research into potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

21 Apr 2004

New drug is effective at treating patients in the early stages of Parkinson’s

An international team of Parkinson’s disease researchers has shown that a potential new drug is effective at treating patients in the early stages of Parkinson’s and may even slow the progression of the disease.

20 Apr 2004

Dieting greatly reduces risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes

People who severely restrict their caloric intake drastically reduce their risk of developing diabetes or clogged arteries, the precursor to a heart attack or stroke. In fact, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, some risk factors were so low they were comparable to those of people decades younger.

20 Apr 2004

Cognitive Neuroscientists Reveal Creative Brain Processes

Think Isaac Newton getting hit on the head with an apple or Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone. While these creative or “Aha!” moments often are associated with scientific discoveries and inventions, most people occasionally feel the thrill of insight when a solution that had eluded them suddenly becomes obvious.

20 Apr 2004

Functional genomics provide improved drug discovery

Functional genomics and proteomics have been quite successful in identifying functions of potential therapeutic targets such as encoded proteins.

20 Apr 2004

Myriad Genetics advances drug for chemotherapy-induced nausea

Myriad Genetics, Inc. today released new data on MPC-4505, its Neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist, a drug candidate for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (emesis). MPC-4505 is a potent, orally bioavailable, CNS-penetrating, highly selective NK1 antagonist.

20 Apr 2004

Strict dieting can dramatically reduce the risk of heart disease

19 Apr 2004

Jefferson scientists learn how HIV causes dementia

Ever since the AIDS epidemic began more than two decades ago, scientists have been trying to understand why as many as one-quarter of those infected with HIV develop dementia.

19 Apr 2004

Brain cells can improve their ability when working together

Team work is just as important in your brain as it is on the playing field: A new study published online on April 19 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that groups of brain cells can substantially improve their ability to discriminate between different orientations of simple visual patterns by synchronizing their electrical activity.

19 Apr 2004