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.

Adjuvant cisplatin for NSCLC raises non-cancer mortality risk

Re-analysis of data from the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial indicates that cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy increases the long-term risk of non-cancer mortality in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

30 Oct 2014

University Medical Center's first atrial fibrillation unit opens in Germany

Nearly 1.8 million people in Germany suffer from atrial fibrillation. This is the most common and clinically significant form of heart rhythm disorder. Shortness of breath, a sudden sense of dizziness, a feeling of pressure in the chest, and palpitations or thumping of the heart so extreme it can be felt beating rapidly and irregularly - this is how many patients describe their first episode of atrial fibrillation.

30 Oct 2014

Neurocrine Biosciences' NBI-98854 drug gets breakthrough designation for tardive dyskinesia

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2 inhibitor, NBI-98854, in tardive dyskinesia.

30 Oct 2014

New blood test could predict early onset Alzheimer’s disease with high accuracy

The research team previously identified that changes in the brain occur two decades before patients show signs of dementia. These changes can be detected through expensive brain imaging procedures.

30 Oct 2014

International Aspirin Foundation introduces two biennial awards

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the formation of The International Aspirin Foundation, we are delighted to announce the introduction of two biennial awards; a Senior Science Award and a Young Investigator Award.

30 Oct 2014

Researchers describe new progress in treatment of brain cancer, other neurological diseases

A new technology that may assist in the treatment of brain cancer and other neurological diseases is the subject of an article in a recent issue of the journal Technology, published by World Scientific Publishing Company.

30 Oct 2014

Nanostructures around brain cells may have role in central nervous system function

An accumulation of a protein called amyloid-beta into large insoluble deposits called plaques is known to cause Alzheimer's disease. One aspect of this illness that has not received much attention is which role the structure of the brain environment plays.

30 Oct 2014

Ghrelin has potential to stimulate alcohol craving, study reveals

Ghrelin is a hormone released by the stomach and it stimulates appetite and food intake. Alcohol is commonly viewed as a psychoactive substance that primarily affects brain function, but it is also a highly caloric food.

30 Oct 2014

High-fat, low-carb diets may help control epilepsy

Diets high in fat and low in carbohydrates, such as the ketogenic or modified Atkins diet, may reduce seizures in adults with tough-to-treat epilepsy, according to a review of the research published in the October 29, 2014, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

30 Oct 2014

Biology influences political ideology, find Virginia Tech scientists

Maggot infestations, rotting carcasses, unidentifiable gunk in the kitchen sink – how much your brain responds to disgusting images could predict whether you are liberal or conservative.

30 Oct 2014

WRF, University of Washington partner to develop iPhone app to find severity of jaundice in newborns

Washington Research Foundation is helping University of Washington clinicians and researchers —one a MacArthur Fellow — to develop BiliCam, an iPhone app that can help determine the severity of jaundice in a newborn without having to draw blood.

29 Oct 2014

UCSD researchers validate EEG test to study, treat schizophrenia

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have validated an EEG test to study and treat schizophrenia. The findings, published in two separate studies, offer a clinical test that could be used to help diagnose persons at risk for developing mental illness later in life, as well as an approach for measuring the efficacies of different treatment options.

29 Oct 2014

Genetic differences contribute to risk for autism

Small differences in as many as a thousand genes contribute to risk for autism, according to a study led by Mount Sinai researchers and the Autism Sequencing Consortium, and published today in the journal Nature.

29 Oct 2014

Researchers use DNA sequencing to uncover genes that heighten autism risk

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers have used DNA sequencing to uncover dozens of genes that heighten the risk for autism. Joseph Buxbaum, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, Mark Daly, Ph.D., Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and their colleagues examined more than 14,000 DNA samples from affected children, parents and unrelated people.

29 Oct 2014

Researchers find potential target for therapies to treat cocaine addiction

A study led by investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified a potential target for therapies to treat cocaine addiction.

29 Oct 2014

TSRI scientists discover signaling pathway that contribute to Huntington's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a major contributor to Huntington's disease, a devastating progressive neurological condition that produces involuntary movements, emotional disturbance and cognitive impairment.

29 Oct 2014

Teen binge drinking effects may last a lifetime, suggests UMass Amherst study

Binge drinking can have lasting effects on brain pathways that are still developing during adolescence, say neuroscience researcher Heather N. Richardson and her colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Louisiana State University.

29 Oct 2014

Same cell type can give rise to different gliomas

Glioma is a common name for serious brain tumours. Different types of glioma are usually diagnosed as separate diseases and have been considered to arise from different cell types in the brain.

29 Oct 2014

Ugandans lack knowledge about stroke

A study published in the journal International Scholarly Research Notices Stroke found that overall knowledge about stroke in Uganda was poor, although knowing what to do for a stroke – go to the hospital – was good.

28 Oct 2014

CHOP, Temple University to jointly investigate new methods for eradicating HIV

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Temple University have received a joint $4.3 million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to investigate new methods to eradicate HIV that lurks in brain cells despite conventional antiviral treatments.

28 Oct 2014