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Study proves Lorenzo's Oil prevents rare disease in boys

U.S. researchers have confirmed that a treatment called Lorenzo's Oil can prevent the onset of a rare but devastating neurological disease in young boys, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy or X-ALD.

12 Jul 2005

New insights into brain cell metabolism from PET and MRI scans

By discovering a crucial piece of submicroscopic information about how the brain converts fuel into energy for neurons, Cornell University biophysicists have gleaned new insights into brain cell metabolism that will allow neurologists to better interpret data from such diagnostic tests as positron emission tomography (PET) scans and a specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.

12 Jul 2005

New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.

11 Jul 2005

Researchers have discovered a key regulatory molecule for Huntington's disease

Researchers have discovered a key regulatory molecule whose overactivation by the abnormal protein produced in Huntington's disease (HD) causes the central pathologies of the disease.

6 Jul 2005

Tourette's and obsessive compulsive disorders linked to strep throat

A new study is suggesting that Strep throat infections can triple a child's risk of developing compulsive behaviors or tics, an indication that the same antibodies that attack the infection may also damage brain cells.

6 Jul 2005

Experimental treatment shown to reverse the loss of nerve fibres in Parkinson's Disease

Analysis of the brain of a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease has shown that the experimental treatment he received caused regrowth of the nerve fibres that are lost in this disease. The findings are reported in the July issue of Nature Medicine.

6 Jul 2005

University of Michigan receives $10m grant for Alzheimer's research

Alzheimer’s disease research at the University of Michigan is getting a $10 million boost: a major grant that will fund a broad array of efforts aimed at finding and fighting the causes of the disease and other memory conditions.

1 Jul 2005

Experimental treatment regrows nerve fibres in patient suffering Parkinson's disease

Analysis of the brain of a patient suffering from Parkinson’s Disease has shown that the experimental treatment he received caused regrowth of the nerve fibres that are lost in this disease. The findings are reported in the July issue of Nature Medicine.

30 Jun 2005

Pomegranate juice may help babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen

Expectant mothers at risk of premature birth may want to consider drinking pomegranate juice to help their babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen and reduced blood flow, a new mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests.

28 Jun 2005

Sleep helps memory

A good night's sleep triggers changes in the brain that help to improve memory, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

28 Jun 2005

Researchers successfully treat laboratory model of a lysosomal storage disease called GM1

Physicians might one day be able to treat a disease that destroys brain cells in children using genetically modified cells to transport a "drug" to the site of the dying neural cells (cells that transmit impulses).

27 Jun 2005

Researchers discover mechanism that causes a protein to clump together in brain cells of people with Parkinson's disease

The protein clumping is part of a "vicious cycle," the researchers said. As the proteins cluster, they inhibit an enzyme that normally breaks them down, leading to the formation of even more masses.

21 Jun 2005

First demonstration of a vaccine for Parkinson's

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine working with scientists at Elan Pharmaceuticals, have reported promising results in mice of a vaccine approach to treating Parkinson’s and similar diseases. These results appear in the June edition of the journal Neuron.

15 Jun 2005

Jumping genes help detemine uniqueness of individual brains

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found one explanation for the puzzling variety in brain organization and function: mobile elements, pieces of DNA that can jump from one place in the genome to another, randomly changing the genetic information in single brain cells.

15 Jun 2005

US scientists find "mother of all brain stem cells"

Scientists at the University of Florida have been able grow brain cells in the laboratory.

14 Jun 2005

Scientists create new brain cells - in a dish

Regenerative medicine scientists at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute have created a system in rodent models that for the first time duplicates neurogenesis - the process of generating new brain cells - in a dish.

13 Jun 2005

First clues as to why stem cells ignore stop signs in the cell cycle

Everyone knows that stem cells are controversial. Many people know that stem cells can grow into virtually any cell type found in the body, from a red blood cell to a muscle cell to a brain cell. But no one really knows why stem cells continue to divide and renew themselves long after the point where other cells stop dividing.

10 Jun 2005

Research opens up new directions for studying prion diseases in humans

The mysterious, highly infectious prions, which cause the severe destruction of the brain that characterizes "mad cow disease" and several human brain degenerative disorders, can be rendered harmless in the laboratory by a slight alternation of the three-dimensional conformation or shape of the prion protein's structure.

9 Jun 2005

A protein found naturally in the brain may protect against Parkinson's disease

The findings also may lead to an improved understanding of a disorder called early-onset torsion dystonia.

2 Jun 2005

New research shows that threatened drug treatments slow damage to the brain caused by dementia

New research suggests that currently available anti dementia drugs not only alleviate the symptoms, but also reduce the destructive processes that kill brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease.

2 Jun 2005