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.

Nerve stimulator may be new option for migraine sufferers

Wearing a nerve stimulator for 20 minutes a day may be a new option for migraine sufferers, according to new research published in the February 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

9 Feb 2013

New technique can detect mercury contamination in water

Chemists at the University of Burgos (Spain) have manufactured a sheet that changes colour in the presence of water contaminated with mercury. The results can be seen with the naked eye but when photographing the membrane with a mobile phone the concentration of this extremely toxic metal can be quantified.

9 Feb 2013

Familial psychosis risk linked to prefrontal dopamine dysfunction

People at familial risk for psychosis have attenuated dopamine stress modulation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, according to a recent in vivo imaging study.

8 Feb 2013

White matter injury common after aortic arch surgery in infants

Diagnostic category is the strongest predictor for postoperative white matter injury in infants undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease, say researchers.

8 Feb 2013

Researchers identify an exceptional mouse model of schizophrenia

Researchers at the Institute for Comprehensive Medical Science, Fujita Health University and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan, along with colleagues from 9 other institutions, have identified an exceptional mouse model of schizophrenia.

7 Feb 2013

Cedars-Sinai to include more patients in hypothermia plus clot-busting drug trial for stroke

An international multicenter clinical trial led by a Cedars-Sinai neurologist on the combination of brain cooling and "clot-busting" drug therapy after stroke has received Food and Drug Administration approval to expand from 50 patients to 400.

7 Feb 2013

UT Dallas research to determine link between hearing deficits and likelihood of falls

UT Dallas researchers are recruiting patients for a new study aimed at determining a connection between hearing deficits and the likelihood of falls.

7 Feb 2013

Basis of antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy found

Through a series of investigations in mice and humans, Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a protein that appears to be the target of both antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. Results of their experiments explain how these therapies likely work to relieve depression by stimulating stem cells in the brain to grow and mature.

7 Feb 2013

Migraine, epilepsy and genetics: an interview with Dr. Melodie Winawer

This work is the product of an extraordinary consortium called the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome project (EPGP). It is a consortium of 27 centres in the U.S. and internationally with several hundred physicians and staff who have worked together to enrol more than 4000 patients with epilepsy and their family members.

7 Feb 2013

Study: 10 to 15% of people with TIAs will experience strokes within three months

Each year, as many as 500,000 Americans experience mini strokes called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Symptoms quickly go away, usually within an hour, and many people don't seek treatment. But 10 to 15 percent of people who experience TIAs will experience full-blown strokes within three months, and 40 percent of these strokes will occur in the first 24 hours, according to an article by three Loyola University Medical Center neurologists in the journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics.

6 Feb 2013

Donor liver quality: an interview with Dr Eric Orman

Liver transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a liver (or part of a liver) is removed from a donor and placed into a recipient. Although some transplants use a portion of the liver of living donors, the vast majority of donors are deceased.

6 Feb 2013

IsoRay announces presentation video on metastatic brain cancers by Cornell Weill

IsoRay Inc., a medical technology company and innovator in seed brachytherapy and medical radioisotope applications, today announced the presentation video by Cornell Weill demonstrating their techniques in the successful treatment of metastatic brain cancers using IsoRay's patented Cesium-131 (Cs-131) sutured seeds.

6 Feb 2013

Elan agrees to restructure Tysabri collaboration with Biogen Idec

Elan Corporation, plc today announced that it has agreed to restructure the Tysabri® collaboration with Biogen Idec.

6 Feb 2013

Study findings suggest physical and pharmacological solutions for human stroke victims

Johns Hopkins researchers have found that mice can recover from physically debilitating strokes that damage the primary motor cortex, the region of the brain that controls most movement in the body, if the rodents are quickly subjected to physical conditioning that rapidly "rewires" a different part of the brain to take over lost function.

6 Feb 2013

Teva initiates enrollment in AZILECT Phase IV clinical study for PD-MCI

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today enrollment of the first patient in the MODERATO study - a Phase IV clinical study designed to evaluate the effect of AZILECT (rasagiline tablets) on cognitive function in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's disease (PD-MCI).

6 Feb 2013

Researchers pinpoint how vitamin D3 and omega-3 may boost immunity to help fight Alzheimer's

A team of academic researchers has pinpointed how vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids may enhance the immune system's ability to clear the brain of amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

5 Feb 2013

Location of altered brain metabolite levels found in bipolar I patients

Bipolar I disorder patients have increased phospholipid levels in the thalami and increased N-acetyl-aspartate levels in the left hippocampus compared with healthy individuals, a team of investigators has discovered.

5 Feb 2013

DCC receptor plays key role in regulating brain plasticity

Our ability to learn and form new memories is fully dependent on the brain's ability to be plastic - that is to change and adapt according to new experiences and environments. A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute - The Neuro, McGill University, reveals that DCC, the receptor for a crucial protein in the nervous system known as netrin, plays a key role in regulating the plasticity of nerve cell connections in the brain.

5 Feb 2013

Presenilin-1 gene plays central role in development of neuronal histamine system

Researchers at University of Helsinki, Finland, have shown in a study conducted on zebrafish, that the presenilin-1 (psen1) gene associated with Alzheimer's disease functions as a central regulator for the development of the histamine system. Histamine system is also altered in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

5 Feb 2013

NeuroSigma receives third NIH grant to develop subcutaneous trigeminal nerve stimulation for DRE

NeuroSigma, Inc., a California-based medical device company, today announced it received a Notice of Award, for a Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

5 Feb 2013

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Nerve stimulator may be new option for migraine sufferers

New technique can detect mercury contamination in water

Familial psychosis risk linked to prefrontal dopamine dysfunction

White matter injury common after aortic arch surgery in infants

Researchers identify an exceptional mouse model of schizophrenia

Cedars-Sinai to include more patients in hypothermia plus clot-busting drug trial for stroke

UT Dallas research to determine link between hearing deficits and likelihood of falls

Basis of antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy found

Migraine, epilepsy and genetics: an interview with Dr. Melodie Winawer

Study: 10 to 15% of people with TIAs will experience strokes within three months

Donor liver quality: an interview with Dr Eric Orman

IsoRay announces presentation video on metastatic brain cancers by Cornell Weill

Elan agrees to restructure Tysabri collaboration with Biogen Idec

Study findings suggest physical and pharmacological solutions for human stroke victims

Teva initiates enrollment in AZILECT Phase IV clinical study for PD-MCI

Researchers pinpoint how vitamin D3 and omega-3 may boost immunity to help fight Alzheimer's

Location of altered brain metabolite levels found in bipolar I patients

DCC receptor plays key role in regulating brain plasticity

Presenilin-1 gene plays central role in development of neuronal histamine system

NeuroSigma receives third NIH grant to develop subcutaneous trigeminal nerve stimulation for DRE

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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