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Researchers successfully test new anti-cocaine vaccine in primates

Researchers successfully test new anti-cocaine vaccine in primates

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have successfully tested their novel anti-cocaine vaccine in primates, bringing them closer to launching human clinical trials. [More]
TRACK-HD study: A set of tests could help identify progression of Huntington's disease

TRACK-HD study: A set of tests could help identify progression of Huntington's disease

Scientists have identified a set of tests that could help identify whether and how Huntington's disease is progressing in groups of people who are not yet showing symptoms. [More]
Ceregene announces top-line data from CERE-12 Phase 2b clinical study for Parkinson's disease

Ceregene announces top-line data from CERE-12 Phase 2b clinical study for Parkinson's disease

Ceregene, Inc. today announced the top-line data from its double-blind, randomized, controlled Phase 2b clinical study of CERE-120 (AAV-neurturin), a gene therapy product designed to deliver the neurotrophic factor neurturin, for Parkinson's disease. [More]
Neurophysiologic mechanisms of deep-brain stimulation unveiled

Neurophysiologic mechanisms of deep-brain stimulation unveiled

The beneficial effects of subthalamic nucleus stimulation in patients with Parkinson’s disease are partly down to compensatory activation of nonmotor dopamine pathways during exercise, research suggests. [More]
Neural clues found for impaired emotional response in bipolar disorder

Neural clues found for impaired emotional response in bipolar disorder

Researchers have identified distinct trait- and state-related neural abnormalities during emotional response inhibition in patients with bipolar disorder. [More]

Visual clue to ICH outcomes

Persistent conjugate eye deviation predicts poor outcomes in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, say researchers. [More]

BD II patients show altered brain activity during emotion processing

Depressed patients with bipolar II disorder show reduced activation and altered connectivity in brain regions associated with working memory and emotional learning, US researchers report. [More]

Insight linked to gray matter volume in FEP patients

Results from an Irish study show that poor insight is associated with increased gray matter volume in subcortical and frontotemporal brain regions among patients with first-episode psychosis, but not in those with chronic schizophrenia. [More]
New study on motor chunking

New study on motor chunking

You pick up your cell phone and dial the new number of a friend. Ten numbers. One. Number. At. A. Time. Because you haven't actually typed the number before, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements. [More]
Ceregene announces new data from CERE-120 clinical trial on Parkinson's

Ceregene announces new data from CERE-120 clinical trial on Parkinson's

Ceregene Inc., a biotechnology company developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, will present new data demonstrating long-term, biologically-active expression of neurturin, a nervous system growth factor delivered to the degenerating dopamine nerves in patients with Parkinson's disease following treatment with CERE-120. [More]
Gene therapy restores movement in children bedridden with AADC

Gene therapy restores movement in children bedridden with AADC

Using gene transfer techniques pioneered by University of Florida faculty, Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease. [More]

UCB receives FDA approval for Neupro to treat idiopathic Parkinson's, RLS

UCB announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Neupro (Rotigotine Transdermal System) for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of advanced stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) and as a treatment for moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome. [More]

Ventral striatum drives motivation during cognitive and motor actions

A team coordinated by Mathias Pessiglione, Inserm researcher at the -Centre de recherche en neurosciences de la Piti- Salp-tri-re- (Inserm/UPMC-Universit- Pierre and Marie Curie/CNRS) have identified the part of the brain driving motivation during actions that combine physical and mental effort: the ventral striatum. [More]
Addiction could be a legacy from parents: Study

Addiction could be a legacy from parents: Study

Researchers have found that like other inherited traits – addiction could be a legacy from parents. A child of drug-addicted parents is eight times more likely to become an addict than a child growing up in a drug-free home. However in families whose very brains seem primed for addiction, some children still go on to lead productive lives free of drugs, according to new research. [More]

Enrollment complete in Ceregene's CERE-120 Phase 2b trial for Parkinson's

Ceregene, Inc. reported today that it has completed enrollment in its Phase 2b trial of CERE-120, a gene therapy product expressing the neurturin (NRTN) gene for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. [More]

Imaging study shows slower brain growth in children with autism

Researchers at UCLA have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers. For the first time, they've shown that the connections between brain regions that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism than in non-autistic children. [More]

Depression frequently seems to uncouple 'Hate Circuit' in the brain

A new study using MRI scans, led by Professor Jianfeng Feng, from the University of Warwick's Department of Computer Science, has found that depression frequently seems to uncouple the brain's "Hate Circuit". [More]

Self-perception of body traced to specialized multisensory neurons

By taking advantage of a "body swap" illusion, researchers have captured the brain regions involved in one of the most fundamental aspects of self-awareness: how we recognize our bodies as our own, distinct from others and from the outside world. That self-perception is traced to specialized multisensory neurons in various parts of the brain that integrate different sensory inputs across all body parts into a unified view of the body. [More]
New survey: Breastfeeding mothers show greater response to their infant's cry

New survey: Breastfeeding mothers show greater response to their infant's cry

A new study from The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry finds that mothers who feed their babies breast milk exclusively, as opposed to formula, are more likely to bond emotionally with their child during the first few months after delivery. [More]
Unique gene therapy to combat Parkinson's disease

Unique gene therapy to combat Parkinson's disease

Physicians at Rush University Medical Center are testing a unique gene therapy product called CERE-120 to evaluate if its use can improve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Rush is one of 11 sites in the U.S. and the only site in Illinois enrolling patients into the new, double-blinded trial. [More]