Neurological Disease News and Research

RSS

Study suggests safer immunization approach to Alzheimer's

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have had preliminary success with a method of immunization intended to dissolve the plaques in brain tissue that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.

28 Oct 2004

New oral vaccine treatment is effective in reducing Alzheimer's disease pathology

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive loss of cognitive function due to amyloid-beta (Aß) deposits in the central nervous system. If these deposits could be stopped or slowed, Alzheimer's disease might become more manageable.

25 Oct 2004

Human primitive spinal cord cells may delay symptoms and paralysis associated with Lou Gehrig's disease

Human primitive spinal cord cells delayed symptoms and paralysis by a week when implanted in the spinal cord of rats destined to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, researchers from Johns Hopkins report.

24 Oct 2004

Possible link between elevated calcium levels in older neurons and aging-related disorders of the brain

Brain cells become increasingly unable to regulate calcium loads as they age, becoming more vulnerable to injury and premature death, according to new findings that Virginia Commonwealth University researchers will present at an international conference this month.

20 Oct 2004

Robotic microscope shows how mutant Huntington's disease protein affects neurons

Using a specially designed robotic microscope to study cultured cells, researchers have found evidence that abnormal protein clumps called inclusion bodies in neurons from people with Huntington's disease (HD) prevent cell death.

13 Oct 2004

A novel gene therapy strategy may help reduce seizures in adults suffering from epilepsy

Deborah Lin, from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, is investigating the effects of a therapeutic gene transfer in a particular form of epilepsy which affects the brain’s temporal lobe region.

12 Oct 2004

Understanding how microbes in the gut interact with the body could lead to new a understanding and novel treatments for diseases

Understanding how microbes in the gut interact with the body could lead scientists and doctors to new a understanding and novel treatments for diseases say scientists from Imperial College London and Astra Zeneca.

6 Oct 2004

Portion of the brain devoted to vision may play a prominent role in processing the spoken word in blind people

The findings yield important information about the brain's ability to compensate for lost function. The study appears in the October 3, 2004 online issue of Nature Neuroscience1 and in the journal's November issue.

4 Oct 2004

Findings have implications for understanding psychiatric and neurological disease that affect the hippocampus

Spatial memory is more vulnerable than object recognition memory when damage occurs in the brain’s memory processing center, the hippocampus, according to memory specialists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine

27 Sep 2004

Boldly colored tableware is a mealtime aid to those with severe Alzheimer's disease

According to new visual perception research from a team at Boston University, the use of boldly colored tableware is a mealtime aid to those with severe AD, helping individuals overcome a diminished sensitivity to visual contrast, a condition often found among people with advanced AD.

26 Sep 2004

Immunoglobulins might be promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Intravenous immunoglobulin might offer a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease, suggests preliminary research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

15 Sep 2004

Scientists discover breakthrough method to treat neuronal diseases

What do stroke, epilepsy, head or spinal cord trauma, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease patients have in common? They all suffer from neuronal cell death brought about by the absence or malfunction of specific genes.

30 Aug 2004

Researchers have identified a possible cause of an inherited form of Parkinson's disease

Columbia University Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers have identified a possible cause of an inherited form of Parkinson's disease, which may be related to more common forms of the disease.

26 Aug 2004

Study on RNAi technology targeting neurodegenerative diseases

Sirna Therapeutics has announced the publication of preclinical studies evaluating RNA interference-based therapies for a class of inherited neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) in the current issue of Nature Medicine.

16 Aug 2004

New biotech alliance to focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain

NeuroTargets Ltd, a discovery-led biotechnology company ‘spun-out’ from the University of Bristol, has formed an exciting new alliance with BioFocus plc, a world leader in collaborative drug discovery, to focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain.

11 Aug 2004

Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder similar to "mad cow" disease

Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder in mice that is similar to "mad cow" disease, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Aug 2004

First tool to study image brain function at the cellular level

Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Alison Barth has developed the first tool to identify and study individual neurons activated in a living animal.

29 Jul 2004

Surprising differences in the DNA of normal cells from different people

A new study by Michael Wigler’s group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has, in collaboration with researchers from Karolinska Institutet, revealed surprising differences in the DNA of normal cells from different people.

23 Jul 2004

Novel tool that can be used to visualize single neurons in living brain tissue