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RBM, SMA Foundation collaborate to develop plasma protein biomarkers for spinal muscular atrophy

The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation and Rules-Based Medicine, announced today that they have reached the first milestone in a program to develop a panel of plasma protein biomarkers for SMA using RBM's Multi-Analyte Profiling technology platform.

21 Jan 2011

Study validates MultiStem as potential stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Athersys, Inc. announced a joint scientific study on spinal cord injury will be published today in the January issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

20 Jan 2011

Salk Institute uncovers presenilin's productive side

Mutant presenilin is infamous for its role in the most aggressive form of Alzheimer's disease-early-onset familial Alzheimer's-which can strike people as early as their 30s. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute uncovered presenilin's productive side: It helps embryonic motor neurons navigate the maze of chemical cues that pull, push and hem them in on their way to their proper targets.

19 Jan 2011

Three-stage approach to fMRI could improve detection of neural activity

Over the last few years, researchers have used a type of brain scanning, known as functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI, to help them map changes in blood flow in the brain and to correlate this with thoughts and behavior. A new way to analyze fMRI data, which could improve is reported in the International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design.

19 Jan 2011

Case Western Reserve, Athersys enter partnership for scientific study on spinal cord injury

19 Jan 2011

Time-lapse technique can show cellular-level changes within deep brain regions: Study

Changes within deep regions of the brain can now be visualized at the cellular level, based on research on mice, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Published Sunday in Nature Medicine, the study used a groundbreaking technique to explore cellular-level changes over a period of weeks within deep brain regions, providing a level of detail not possible with previously available methods.

19 Jan 2011

14 foods that deliver research-documented benefits to health

With the start of a new year, many of us resolve to better our habits by trying to incorporate more nutritious foods into our diets. An article in the January issue of Food Technology magazine lists 14 foods that deliver research-documented benefits to health.

14 Jan 2011

Why minor details of an episode are linked to long-term memories

Neuroscientists at MIT's Picower Institute of Learning and Memory have uncovered why relatively minor details of an episode are sometimes inexplicably linked to long-term memories. The work is slated to appear in the Jan. 13 issue of Neuron.

14 Jan 2011

Emotional stress can affect motor coordination and other cerebellum-dependent cognitive functions: Study

Research conducted by Iaroslav Savtchouk, a graduate student, and S. June Liu, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown that a single exposure to acute stress affected information processing in the cerebellum - the area of the brain responsible for motor control and movement coordination and also involved in learning and memory formation.

13 Jan 2011

Population of highly active neurons could provide insight into neocortex

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that within the brain's neocortex lies a subnetwork of highly active neurons that behave much like people in social networks.

11 Jan 2011

Researchers demystify death of brain cells in Parkinson's patients

Just 5 percent of Parkinson's disease cases can be explained by genetic mutation, while the rest have no known cause. But a new discovery by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio may begin to explain why the vast majority of Parkinson's patients develop the progressive neurodegenerative disease.

10 Jan 2011

Unexpected discovery holds promise for PTSD, other anxiety disorders

An unexpected discovery by UCLA life scientists holds promise for the future development of treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders, and potentially for Alzheimer's disease and other memory-impairment diseases.

7 Jan 2011

Mutated TDP-43 can cause neurons to die: Study

Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal lobar degeneration are characterized by protein clumps in brain and spinal-cord cells that include an RNA-binding protein called TDP-43. This protein is the major building block of the lesions formed by these clumps.

6 Jan 2011

Intellect obtains pharmacokinetic data from OX1 Phase 1b trial for Alzheimer's disease

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and multiple licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has obtained a draft pharmacokinetic report from its completed Phase 1b trial for its lead Alzheimer's candidate, OX1. The Company previously reported on the safety aspects of the trial, which demonstrated that OX1 is safe and well tolerated at all dose levels tested.

28 Dec 2010

Merck announces FDA approval for GARDASIL against HPV-related anal cancer

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the prevention of anal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 and for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2 and 3 (anal dysplasias and precancerous lesions) caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, in males and females 9 through 26 years of age.

23 Dec 2010

New research sheds light on how neurons make connections with one another

Newly published research led by Professor Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory sheds important new light on how neurons in the developing brain make connections with one another.

22 Dec 2010

New online tool helps scientists to find gene promoters

Researchers at The Wistar Institute announce the release of an online tool that will help scientists find "gene promoters"—regions along a DNA strand that tell a cell's transcription machinery where to start reading in order to create a particular protein.

22 Dec 2010

Spirulina dietary supplement may provide clinical benefits for ALS patients

Nutritional supplementation with Spirulina, a nutrient-rich, blue-green algae, appeared to provide neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, University of South Florida neuroscientists have found.

21 Dec 2010

FDA approves Neuralstem's IND to initiate NSI-189 Phase Ia safety trial in major depression

Neuralstem, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to initiate a Phase Ia safety trial to test NSI-189, its first small molecule compound, in major depression. NSI-189 is a proprietary new chemical entity discovered by Neuralstem that stimulates new neuron growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is believed to be involved in depression and other diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

17 Dec 2010

Perirhinal cortex critical for forming unconscious conceptual memories

A small area deep in the brain called the perirhinal cortex is critical for forming unconscious conceptual memories, researchers at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain have found.

16 Dec 2010