Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

Six research teams awarded grant to accelerate discovery of new drugs for brain, nervous system disorders

CQDM, Brain Canada and the Ontario Brain Institute award close to $8.5M to six (6) multi-disciplinary and multi-provincial research teams across Canada to address unmet needs in neuroscience within their Focus on Brain strategic initiative. To this amount, $1.5M is added from the various research entities involved as in-kind contributions.

27 May 2015

Carbon monoxide may actually protect the brain from damage after subarachnoid hemorrhage

Carbon monoxide is known by many as a poisonous gas that causes brain injury and other neurological symptoms, including memory loss and confusion. But a new study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests the opposite may be true: When administered in small, carefully controlled amounts, carbon monoxide may actually protect the brain from damage following subarachnoid hemorrhage, a devastating stroke that results from bleeding in the brain.

27 May 2015

Clinical utility data for Guardant360 platform to be presented at ASCO 2015

Guardant Health today announced that five abstracts submitted by the University of California, San Francisco; University of California, San Diego; and MD Anderson highlighting the performance and clinical utility of Guardant360 have been accepted for oral and poster presentations at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, May 29-June 2.

27 May 2015

New brain-computer interface system improves communication skills of children with cerebral palsy

The Biomechanics Institute of Valencia has coordinated the ABC project (Augmented BNCI Communication), a European initiative that has developed a new brain-computer interface system to enhance communication skills of people with cerebral palsy from childhood, improving the relationship with their environment and the expression of emotions.

27 May 2015

UC San Diego Health System designated as Center of Excellence for Huntington's disease

The Huntington's Disease Clinical Research Center at UC San Diego Health System has been designated a Center of Excellence by the Huntington's Disease Society of America. UC San Diego was one of only 29 centers nationwide to receive this prestigious designation, which recognizes centers for their elite multidisciplinary approach to Huntington's disease care and research.

27 May 2015

Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

An international team including scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases has identified the molecular "lock" that the deadly Ebola virus must pick to gain entry to cells.

27 May 2015

Tiny drug-delivery system can help identify brain tumor types through 'virtual biopsies'

Biomedical researchers at Cedars-Sinai have invented a tiny drug-delivery system that can identify cancer cell types in the brain through "virtual biopsies" and then attack the molecular structure of the disease.

27 May 2015

UF research opens door to better diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease

University of Florida researchers have identified a biomarker that shows the progression of Parkinson's disease in the brain, opening the door to better diagnosis and treatment of the degenerative disease.

27 May 2015

DNA changes during drug withdrawal may offer promising ways to develop effective addiction treatments

One of the major challenges of cocaine addiction is the high rate of relapse after periods of withdrawal and abstinence. But new research reveals that changes in our DNA during drug withdrawal may offer promising ways of developing more effective treatments for addiction.

27 May 2015

Canadian researchers shed light on molecular dynamics of chronic pain

Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is a major cause of disability, causing more disability than cancer and heart disease. Canadian researchers, including Michael Salter at SickKids are shedding light on the molecular dynamics of chronic pain. They have uncovered a critical role for a class of cells present in the brain and spinal cord, called microglia, in pain.

27 May 2015

Neuroscientists reveal inner workings of the brain in people with autism

Strapped into a motion-enabled simulator and wearing 3D glasses, 36 adolescent volunteers recently experienced what it was like to "travel" through a field of virtual stars. The experiments provided new and convention-busting data about how sensory stimuli are processed by the brains of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

27 May 2015

Researchers make important breakthrough in identifying major drivers of excessive coughing

Cough treatments could change dramatically after the herpes virus helped researchers discover that the respiratory tract links to two different parts of the nervous system.

27 May 2015

West Tennessee Healthcare, HealthSouth partner to jointly operate inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Jackson

West Tennessee Healthcare and HealthSouth Corporation have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to own and operate a 48-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Jackson, Tennessee.

27 May 2015

Breastfeeding duration and intelligence: an interview with Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta

Our research shows a benefit of breastfeeding on performance in IQ tests that was similar to the benefit reported in previous tests among children and adolescents, suggesting that the benefits of breastfeeding are still observed in adulthood...

26 May 2015

New in vitro system could become important tool in search for potential drugs against Alzheimer’s

A typical characteristic of the brain of an Alzheimer sufferer is the presence of insoluble Tau protein aggregates. Scientists at VIB, KU Leuven and Janssen Pharmaceutica have demonstrated that the distribution of these aggregates through the brain is facilitated by synaptic connections between brain cells.

26 May 2015

Researchers find way to prevent, reduce or delay cannabis use amongst at-risk youth

Responding to rapidly shifting legal and cultural environments, researchers at the University of Montreal and CHU Sainte-Justine Children's Hospital have found a way to prevent, reduce or delay cannabis use amongst some at-risk youth. Cannabis users are at risk of neurocognitive deficits, reduced educational and occupational attainment, motor vehicle accidents, exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, and precipitation of psychosis.

26 May 2015

Surgical skills laboratory and dissection curriculum for training neurosurgical residents

A surgical skills laboratory and corresponding dissection curricula were established in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic in the 2011-2012 academic year. The authors describe how this came about and what it has meant for neurosurgical resident training and assessment of residents' surgical skills in the following paper: "Establishing a surgical skills laboratory and dissection curriculum for neurosurgical residency training" by James K. C. Liu, MD, and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

26 May 2015

Previous motherhood alters cognition, neuroplasticity in response to hormone therapy

Hormone therapy (HT) is prescribed to alleviate some of the symptoms of menopause in women. Menopausal women are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but not other forms of dementia, and HT has been prescribed to treat cognitive decline in post-menopausal women with variable degrees of effectiveness.

26 May 2015

Oscillations could play role in resetting sensitivity of neurons after eye movements

Scientists measuring brain activity have found that in many regions, such as the sensory or motor cortex, activity sometimes oscillates at different frequencies, forming wave-like patterns. Despite the fact that such oscillations are frequently observed, and present in many brain regions, their functional role remains unclear.

26 May 2015

Essential fatty acids play crucial role in human brain growth and function

New research conducted in a rural community in Pakistan highlights the crucial role that essential fatty acids play in human brain growth and function.

26 May 2015

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Six research teams awarded grant to accelerate discovery of new drugs for brain, nervous system disorders

Carbon monoxide may actually protect the brain from damage after subarachnoid hemorrhage

Clinical utility data for Guardant360 platform to be presented at ASCO 2015

New brain-computer interface system improves communication skills of children with cerebral palsy

UC San Diego Health System designated as Center of Excellence for Huntington's disease

Scientists identify molecular 'lock' that enables Ebola virus to gain entry to cells

Tiny drug-delivery system can help identify brain tumor types through 'virtual biopsies'

UF research opens door to better diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease

DNA changes during drug withdrawal may offer promising ways to develop effective addiction treatments

Canadian researchers shed light on molecular dynamics of chronic pain

Neuroscientists reveal inner workings of the brain in people with autism

Researchers make important breakthrough in identifying major drivers of excessive coughing

West Tennessee Healthcare, HealthSouth partner to jointly operate inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Jackson

Breastfeeding duration and intelligence: an interview with Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta

New in vitro system could become important tool in search for potential drugs against Alzheimer’s

Researchers find way to prevent, reduce or delay cannabis use amongst at-risk youth

Surgical skills laboratory and dissection curriculum for training neurosurgical residents

Previous motherhood alters cognition, neuroplasticity in response to hormone therapy

Oscillations could play role in resetting sensitivity of neurons after eye movements

Essential fatty acids play crucial role in human brain growth and function

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Latest News