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.

Psychedelic drug prevents allergic asthma in mouse model

Research led by Charles Nichols, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has found that a psychedelic drug, (R)-DOI, prevents the development of allergic asthma in a mouse model.

10 Feb 2015

New research provides hope for treating stroke using HUCBCs

Researchers have known that transplanted human umbilical cord cells (HUCBCs) can have a restorative effect on the brain and brain function following a stroke. However, just how the cells exert their therapeutic effects has not been clear. Now, a research team from the University of South Florida using animal models of stroke has found that the HUCBCs are most beneficial in preventing neuron loss when the Akt signaling pathway is activated by secretions from the HUCBCs and that Akt activation subsequently impacts a specific gene involved in reducing inflammation.

10 Feb 2015

Japanese researchers explore use of bone marrow transplants to treat hypophosphatasia

Recent research carried out by a team of researchers in Japan has investigated the use of bone marrow transplants (BMTs) to treat hypophosphatasia (HPP). In this study, the researchers carried out BMT for two infants with HPP in combination with allogenic (other-donated) mesenchymal stem cell transplants (MSCTs). The allogenic MSC donors were a parent of the infant.

10 Feb 2015

Drug similar to Gleevec may help tame some brain cancers

The drug Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) is well known not only for its effectiveness against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but also for the story behinds its development. The drug was specifically designed to target an abnormal molecule--a fusion of two normal cell proteins--that fueled a tumor's growth.

10 Feb 2015

Drugs designed to target NHE9 protein could help fight glioblastoma

Applying lessons learned from autism to brain cancer, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered why elevated levels of the protein NHE9 add to the lethality of the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Their discovery suggests that drugs designed to target NHE9 could help to successfully fight the deadly disease.

10 Feb 2015

Mice genetically deficient in serotonin are more vulnerable to social stressors

Mice genetically deficient in serotonin -- a crucial brain chemical implicated in clinical depression -- are more vulnerable than their normal littermates to social stressors, according to a Duke study appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

10 Feb 2015

Researchers discover inherited genetic variations associated with treatment-related hearing loss

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have discovered inherited genetic variations that are associated with rapid hearing loss in young cancer patients treated with the drug cisplatin. The research appears in the current online issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

10 Feb 2015

Three groups of researchers receive BRAIN Initiative funding to improve artificial limb technology

Three groups of researchers who have received support from the National Institutes of Health will obtain funding from the President's BRAIN Initiative to improve artificial limb technology. The new awards will be funded and administered by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and will build on the fundamental discoveries that were made possible by NIH support.

10 Feb 2015

Five researchers selected to receive 2015 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research

With proposals ranging from innovative therapies to the development of unique organoid models of the brain, five scientists have been selected to receive the 2015 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. The five scientists will each receive $500,000 per year for five years to support their research.

10 Feb 2015

Researchers win $2.5 million DARPA contract to study prosthetic limb technology

A research team led by Paul Marasco, Ph.D., of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, has won a $2.5 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The contract was awarded through DARPA's new Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) program, which aims to deliver naturalistic sensations to amputees and enable better control over their prosthetic limbs through direct connections to users' nervous systems.

10 Feb 2015

CWRU researcher receives $3.9 million grant for HIV research

A researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has been awarded $3.9 million to determine if the combination of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drug abuse is a double kick in the gut, leading to organ damage throughout the body.

10 Feb 2015

Study: Simple blood test could predict risk of developing dementia

Scientists at Rigshopitalet, Herlev Hospital and the University of Copenhagen identify a new biomarker that can predict the risk of developing dementia by way of a simple blood test. In the long term, this could mean better prevention and thus at least postponement of the illness and at best evading the development all together.

10 Feb 2015

Utah researchers receive $1.4 million to develop implantable neural interface

University of Utah researchers have received $1.4 million to further develop an implantable neural interface that will allow an amputee to move an advanced prosthetic hand with just his or her thoughts. The neural interface will also convey feelings of touch and movement.

9 Feb 2015

Researchers document pathological progress of multiple sclerosis

The Centre for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna is regarded as a world leader in researching the mechanisms involved with multiple sclerosis (MS). Now, in a paper published in the highly respected journal Lancet Neurology, an international team of researchers from Edinburgh, Cleveland and Vienna, under the leadership of Hans Lassmann, Head of the Department of Neuroimmunology at the MedUni Vienna, has for the first time documented the pathological progress of the disease from its early to late stage and also shown that inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes have a role to play.

9 Feb 2015

Oncolytics Biotech submits Orphan Drug Designation for high grade gliomas in pediatric patients

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ: ONCY) today announced that it has submitted an application for Orphan Drug Designation to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for REOLYSIN® for the treatment of high grade gliomas (HGG) in pediatric patients.

9 Feb 2015

New findings could pave way to develop drug therapies for necrosis-related diseases

Strokes, heart attacks and traumatic brain injuries are separate diseases with certain shared pathologies that achieve a common end - cell death and human injury due to hypoxia, or lack of oxygen.

9 Feb 2015

Study: Modulation of alpha waves influences speech comprehension in everyday hearing situations

The elderly often complain about hearing difficulties, especially when several people are talking all at once.

9 Feb 2015

Scientists show pattern of connectivity in newly-generated hippocampal neurons

Research by a team of scientists from Cologne, Munich and Mainz has shown an unprecedented degree of connectivity reorganization in newly-generated hippocampal neurons in response to experience, suggesting their direct contribution to the processing of complex information in the adult brain.

9 Feb 2015

New report raises ethical questions surrounding the use of data

Public participation should be at the heart of big data projects in health care and biomedical research, according to the findings of a new report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

9 Feb 2015

Study provides further evidence of cerebellum's role in higher cognitive functions

Grasping an object involves a complex network of brain functions. First, visual cues are processed in specialized areas of the brain. Then, other areas of the brain use these signals to control the hands to reach for and manipulate the desired object.

9 Feb 2015

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Psychedelic drug prevents allergic asthma in mouse model

New research provides hope for treating stroke using HUCBCs

Japanese researchers explore use of bone marrow transplants to treat hypophosphatasia

Drug similar to Gleevec may help tame some brain cancers

Drugs designed to target NHE9 protein could help fight glioblastoma

Mice genetically deficient in serotonin are more vulnerable to social stressors

Researchers discover inherited genetic variations associated with treatment-related hearing loss

Three groups of researchers receive BRAIN Initiative funding to improve artificial limb technology

Five researchers selected to receive 2015 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research

Researchers win $2.5 million DARPA contract to study prosthetic limb technology

CWRU researcher receives $3.9 million grant for HIV research

Study: Simple blood test could predict risk of developing dementia

Utah researchers receive $1.4 million to develop implantable neural interface

Researchers document pathological progress of multiple sclerosis

Oncolytics Biotech submits Orphan Drug Designation for high grade gliomas in pediatric patients

New findings could pave way to develop drug therapies for necrosis-related diseases

Study: Modulation of alpha waves influences speech comprehension in everyday hearing situations

Scientists show pattern of connectivity in newly-generated hippocampal neurons

New report raises ethical questions surrounding the use of data

Study provides further evidence of cerebellum's role in higher cognitive functions

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

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