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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.

Hispanic women urged to be informed about pregnancy and baby health

Hispanic women are significantly more likely to have a baby with a neural tube birth defect, and nearly a quarter of all preterm births in the United States are Hispanic, according to a new report from the March of Dimes.

4 Jun 2014

Study results suggest growing support for patient-centered care management

Primary care doctors practicing in a model of coordinated, team-based care that leverages health information technology are more likely to give patients recommended preventive screening and appropriate tests than physicians working in other settings, according to research published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

4 Jun 2014

Autifony Therapeutics awarded £2.2 million to progress first-in-class drug for tinnitus into Phase IIa study

Autifony Therapeutics Limited (“Autifony”), which is pioneering the development of novel pharmaceutical treatments for hearing disorders, today announced that it has been awarded funding of £2.2 million towards a Phase IIa clinical trial in tinnitus patients with its lead compound AUT00063, by the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board.

4 Jun 2014

Common antidepressant use during pregnancy may contribute to higher risk of ASD in children

A new study from researchers at Drexel University adds evidence that using common antidepressant medications during pregnancy may contribute to a higher risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children, although this risk is still very small.

4 Jun 2014

Exposure to elevated levels of steroid hormones in the womb linked to later development of autism

Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark have discovered that children who later develop autism are exposed to elevated levels of steroid hormones (for example testosterone, progesterone and cortisol) in the womb. The finding may help explain why autism is more common in males than females, but should not be used to screen for the condition.

3 Jun 2014

Duke researchers identify first piece of new brain-repair circuit

Duke researchers have found a new type of neuron in the adult brain that is capable of telling stem cells to make more new neurons. Though the experiments are in their early stages, the finding opens the tantalizing possibility that the brain may be able to repair itself from within.

3 Jun 2014

NYU Langone scientists identify promising treatment target for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified a compound, called 2-PMAP, in animal studies that reduced by more than half levels of amyloid proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease.

3 Jun 2014

MRI-guided SLAH procedure provides safe, effective alternative to surgery

For patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) that can't be controlled by medications, a minimally invasive laser procedure performed under MRI guidance provides a safe and effective alternative to surgery, suggests a study in the June issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

3 Jun 2014

Hypnosis has positive impact on the quality of sleep

Sleeping well is a crucial factor contributing to our physical and mental restoration. SWS in particular has a positive impact for instance on memory and the functioning of the immune system. During periods of SWS, growth hormones are secreted, cell repair is promoted and the defence system is stimulated. If you feel sick or have had a hard working day, you often simply want to get some good, deep sleep. A wish that you can't influence through your own will - so the widely held preconception.

3 Jun 2014

Study warns against use of resveratrol supplements by pregnant women

A widely available dietary supplement that had been considered safe - and that some claim provides anti-aging and other health benefits - caused significant developmental abnormalities in the pancreas of offspring of pregnant monkeys who were given the supplement, according to a study published today in the FASEB Journal, from the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology.

3 Jun 2014

Jazz Pharmaceuticals' JZP-110 improves symptoms of EDS in adults with narcolepsy

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc today presented data from the Phase 2b study evaluating JZP-110 (formerly known as ADX-N05) as a potential new treatment for the symptoms of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in adults with narcolepsy.

3 Jun 2014

P2Y12 and blood clotting: an interview with Dr. Jacobson, NIH

We already understand the many steps involved in blood clotting in great mechanistic detail. The process of blood vessels closing off in response to injury is necessary for preserving life, but blood platelets that are over-active, or activated inappropriately because of unstable plaque, can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

3 Jun 2014

Alkermes initiates second ALKS 3831 Phase 2 clinical study for treatment of schizophrenia

Alkermes plc today announced the initiation of the second phase 2 study of ALKS 3831, a novel, oral, broad-spectrum antipsychotic medicine in development for schizophrenia.

2 Jun 2014

Yale researchers find that hormone leptin may help treat metabolic disorders

Twenty years after the hormone leptin was found to regulate metabolism, appetite, and weight through brain cells called neurons, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that the hormone also acts on other types of cells to control appetite.

2 Jun 2014

ARIAD reports data from Iclusig Phase 2 trial in adult patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced, for the first time, data from its Phase 2 trial of Iclusig (ponatinib) in adult patients with refractory metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

2 Jun 2014

$Nektar reports etirinotecan pegol Phase 2 study results in patients with Avastin-refractory high-grade glioma$

Nektar reports etirinotecan pegol Phase 2 study results in patients with Avastin-refractory high-grade glioma

Nektar Therapeutics announced today new data from an investigator-sponsored Phase 2 study of NKTR-102 (etirinotecan pegol) in patients with Avastin-refractory high-grade glioma conducted at Stanford Cancer Institute under the direction of Lawrence Recht, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, with co-investigator Seema Nagpal, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine.

2 Jun 2014

Updated data from ImmunoCellular ICT-107 trial in patients with newly diagnosed GBM presented at ASCO 2014

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. announced that updated efficacy and safety data from the phase II trial of dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic vaccine ICT-107 in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) were presented at the 2014 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

2 Jun 2014

Scientists use a flash of light to erase and restore memory

Using a flash of light, scientists have inactivated and then reactivated a memory in genetically engineered rats. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is the first cause-and-effect evidence that strengthened connections between neurons are the stuff of memory.

2 Jun 2014

Individuals who speak more languages may slow down cognitive decline from aging

New research reveals that bilingualism has a positive effect on cognition later in life. Findings published in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, show that individuals who speak two or more languages, even those who acquired the second language in adulthood, may slow down cognitive decline from aging.

2 Jun 2014

Immune system-boosting therapy slows recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme

A multicenter team of investigators, led by researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery, the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, have found in a Phase II clinical trial that an immune system-boosting therapy slowed the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, the most common and deadly malignant brain tumor.

2 Jun 2014

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Hispanic women urged to be informed about pregnancy and baby health

Study results suggest growing support for patient-centered care management

Autifony Therapeutics awarded £2.2 million to progress first-in-class drug for tinnitus into Phase IIa study

Common antidepressant use during pregnancy may contribute to higher risk of ASD in children

Exposure to elevated levels of steroid hormones in the womb linked to later development of autism

Duke researchers identify first piece of new brain-repair circuit

NYU Langone scientists identify promising treatment target for Alzheimer's disease

MRI-guided SLAH procedure provides safe, effective alternative to surgery

Hypnosis has positive impact on the quality of sleep

Study warns against use of resveratrol supplements by pregnant women

Jazz Pharmaceuticals' JZP-110 improves symptoms of EDS in adults with narcolepsy

P2Y12 and blood clotting: an interview with Dr. Jacobson, NIH

Alkermes initiates second ALKS 3831 Phase 2 clinical study for treatment of schizophrenia

Yale researchers find that hormone leptin may help treat metabolic disorders

ARIAD reports data from Iclusig Phase 2 trial in adult patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Nektar reports etirinotecan pegol Phase 2 study results in patients with Avastin-refractory high-grade glioma

Updated data from ImmunoCellular ICT-107 trial in patients with newly diagnosed GBM presented at ASCO 2014

Scientists use a flash of light to erase and restore memory

Individuals who speak more languages may slow down cognitive decline from aging

Immune system-boosting therapy slows recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st 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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