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.

New reporting standards proposed for spinal cord injury experiments

The difficulty in replicating and directly comparing and confirming the scientific results reported by researchers worldwide who are studying new approaches to treating spinal cord injuries is slowing the translation of important new findings to patient care.

7 Aug 2014

Findings show how galectin-1 protein plays key role in high grade malignant gliomas

Brain tumors fly under the radar of the body's defense forces by coating their cells with extra amounts of a specific protein, new research shows.

7 Aug 2014

Induced immunorejection may eliminate tumors post-cell transplantation

Recent studies have shown that transplanting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iPS-NSCs) can promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents and non-human primates. However, a serious drawback to the transplantation of iPS-NSCs is the potential for tumor growth, or tumorogenesis, post-transplantation.

7 Aug 2014

Altering the circadian rhythm: an interview with Dr. Doug Kojetin, The Scripps Research Institute

The circadian rhythm is affected by many different stimuli—such as sleep and light, which are the most broadly appreciated ways—but also eating— all of which can modulate, or change, important processes in our bodies such as temperature, production of hormones or other signalling small molecules, cellular regeneration, and others.

6 Aug 2014

Penn physiologist receives Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from NIH

Erika Holzbaur, PhD, a professor of Physiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health.

6 Aug 2014

Research may aid efforts to help patients recover from spinal cord injuries

Researchers in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) have achieved the first conclusive non-invasive measurement of neural signaling in the spinal cords of healthy human volunteers.

6 Aug 2014

State highlights: New York hospital mergers surging; Calif. court says home health workers can't sue for damages, injuries associated with caring for Alzheimer's patients

A selection of health policy stories from New York, California, Ohio, Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Hospital takeovers are surging in the New York region, raising concerns that health costs could climb and care could change.

6 Aug 2014

Prosthetic arm controlled by imagining different movements

This design hopes to identify the memory of movement in the amputee's brain to translate to an order allowing manipulation of the device.

6 Aug 2014

7.0T NMR spectroscopy detects lesions in hippocampal neurons of Alzheimer's disease

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy can quantitatively analyze in vivo abnormalities of biochemical metabolism within brain tissue in a noninvasive and non-radioactive manner.

6 Aug 2014

Small molecule may be able to convince damaged nerves to effectively rewire circuits

Frogs, dogs, whales, snails can all do it, but humans and primates can't. Regrow nerves after an injury, that is—while many animals have this ability, humans don't.

6 Aug 2014

Kids are at risk of biological damage results from microwave radiation emitted by wireless devices

A scholarly article on wireless safety, published online in the Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure, reports that children and fetuses are the most at risk from neurological and biological damage that results from microwave radiation emitted by wireless devices, due to the higher rate of absorption of microwave radiation by children than by adults.

6 Aug 2014

New techniques offer insight into cell-by-cell makeup of organisms

In general, our knowledge of biology-and much of science in general-is limited by our ability to actually see things. Researchers who study developmental problems and disease, in particular, are often limited by their inability to look inside an organism to figure out exactly what went wrong and when.

6 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 5, 2014

Today's headlines include coverage of a partnership between two of California's largest insurers in which they will join forces to create a database of patient medical records.

5 Aug 2014

Persons with ASD have trouble in noticing their movement imitated by others

A Japanese research group led by Prof Norihiro Sadato, a professor of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), has found that people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have decreased activity in an area in the brain critical for understanding if his/her movement was imitated by others.

5 Aug 2014

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders show weaker brain activation

In the first study of its kind, Prapti Gautam, PhD, and colleagues from The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles found that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) showed weaker brain activation during specific cognitive tasks than their unaffected counterparts.

5 Aug 2014

Researchers receive $435K to study how environmental factors affect genes that cause autism

Over the last decade, autism research has been primarily focused on finding genes that may "cause" autism. However, little information exists on gene-environment interactions that may increase risk for autism.

5 Aug 2014

Acupuncture at Waiguan can activate several brain regions in patients with ischemic stroke

Both acupuncture at Waiguan (SJ5) and sham acupuncture can activate/deactivate several brain regions in patients with ischemic stroke, but there are some difference in Brodmann areas 4, 6, 8, Brodmann areas 7, 39, 40, Brodmann areas 18, 19, 22 and Brodmann areas 13, 24, 32, 28.

5 Aug 2014

Triple therapy for glioblastoma has prolonged survival of mice with brain cancers

A triple therapy for glioblastoma, including two types of immunotherapy and targeted radiation, has significantly prolonged the survival of mice with these brain cancers, according to a new report by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

5 Aug 2014

Researchers study effect of alcohol on neural activity using fruit flies

Seeking eventual solutions to problems ranging from alcoholism, cancer and Alzheimer's to finding better ways to clean contact lenses and use Lego models to build bridges, University of Houston (UH) students devoted the summer to some serious scholarship.

5 Aug 2014

New clinical trial tests use of gold nanoparticles for treating solid tumors in dogs and cats

When Michael and Sandra Friedlander first came to the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine three years ago with their dog, Grayton, they learned some bad news: Grayton had nasal adenocarcinoma, a form of cancer with a short life expectancy.

5 Aug 2014

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

New reporting standards proposed for spinal cord injury experiments

Findings show how galectin-1 protein plays key role in high grade malignant gliomas

Induced immunorejection may eliminate tumors post-cell transplantation

Altering the circadian rhythm: an interview with Dr. Doug Kojetin, The Scripps Research Institute

Penn physiologist receives Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from NIH

Research may aid efforts to help patients recover from spinal cord injuries

State highlights: New York hospital mergers surging; Calif. court says home health workers can't sue for damages, injuries associated with caring for Alzheimer's patients

Prosthetic arm controlled by imagining different movements

7.0T NMR spectroscopy detects lesions in hippocampal neurons of Alzheimer's disease

Small molecule may be able to convince damaged nerves to effectively rewire circuits

Kids are at risk of biological damage results from microwave radiation emitted by wireless devices

New techniques offer insight into cell-by-cell makeup of organisms

First Edition: August 5, 2014

Persons with ASD have trouble in noticing their movement imitated by others

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders show weaker brain activation

Researchers receive $435K to study how environmental factors affect genes that cause autism

Acupuncture at Waiguan can activate several brain regions in patients with ischemic stroke

Triple therapy for glioblastoma has prolonged survival of mice with brain cancers

Researchers study effect of alcohol on neural activity using fruit flies

New clinical trial tests use of gold nanoparticles for treating solid tumors in dogs and cats

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

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