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.

Pfizer and Merck join forces to explore therapeutic potential of anti-PD-1 therapy

Pfizer Inc. announced today that it has agreed with Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada ("Merck"), through two Merck subsidiaries, to explore the therapeutic potential of Merck's investigational anti-PD-1 therapy, MK-3475, in combination with two Pfizer oncology assets.

5 Feb 2014

Pleasant auditory representations can help blind "see" colors and shapes

Using auditory or tactile stimulation, Sensory Substitution Devices (SSDs) provide representations of visual information and can help the blind "see" colors and shapes. SSDs scan images and transform the information into audio or touch signals that users are trained to understand, enabling them to recognize the image without seeing it.

5 Feb 2014

UCSF-led study gathers data on safety, tolerability of purified cannabinoid for children with epilepsy

A new international multi-center study led by researchers from UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital is the first to evaluate whether purified cannabinoid is effective in treating severe forms of childhood epilepsy that do not respond to standard antiepileptic drugs.

5 Feb 2014

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receives another patent for Parkinson’s disease monitoring technology

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today they have received another allowance of claims from the U.S. Patent Office. The application covers a system and method of controlling Parkinson's therapy in response to motor symptoms.

5 Feb 2014

MORE intervention reduces pain and opioid misuse

With nearly one-third of Americans suffering from chronic pain, prescription opioid painkillers have become the leading form of treatment for this debilitating condition. Unfortunately, misuse of prescription opioids can lead to serious side effects-including death by overdose.

5 Feb 2014

New study correlates brain activity with how people make decisions when they engage in risky behavior

A new study correlating brain activity with how people make decisions suggests that when individuals engage in risky behavior, such as drunk driving or unsafe sex, it's probably not because their brains' desire systems are too active, but because their self-control systems are not active enough.

5 Feb 2014

NeuroRehabilitation showcases different approaches to restoring mental functioning

There is a growing need for Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT) due to the huge influx of soldiers returning from war zones with brain injuries, athletes with sports-related head injuries, and the growing population with age-related cognitive decline.

4 Feb 2014

Scientists use SWI to study changes in brains of college-level ice hockey players with concussion

Using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), researchers have identified microstructural changes in the brains of male and female college-level ice hockey players that could be due to concussive or subconcussive trauma.

4 Feb 2014

Study analyzing concussion data for NFL players may provide insight that could lead to safer play

A new study analyzing concussion data for NFL players during the16-game regular season schedules for 2012 and 2013 may provide insight that could lead to safer play, including a pathway for concussion-prevention strategies.

4 Feb 2014

Study focuses on development and spread of Alzheimer's disease throughout the brain

The development of Alzheimer's disease and the way it spreads throughout the brain will be the focus of a pioneering study conducted at Aston University (UK).

4 Feb 2014

Gene involved in inflammation, blood clotting associated with cerebral palsy, death in very preterm babies

In a study to be presented on Feb. 6 at 2:45 p.m. CST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting-, in New Orleans, researchers will report that a variant in SERPINE1, a gene involved in inflammation and blood clotting, is associated with cerebral palsy and death in very preterm babies.

4 Feb 2014

Chemical "signature" in blood may predict which AML patients would benefit from chemotherapy

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center have found a chemical "signature" in blood-forming stem cells that predicts whether patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) will respond to chemotherapy.

4 Feb 2014

Researchers discover new signaling pathway that could impact treatment of autoinflammatory diseases

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center have discovered a new signaling pathway in sterile inflammation that could impact the treatment of diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

4 Feb 2014

ACE protein overexpression elevates immune responses and prevents Alzheimer's-like cognitive decline

Many people with high blood pressure are familiar with ACE inhibitors, drugs that widen blood vessels by limiting activity of ACE - angiotensin-converting enzyme - a naturally occurring protein found in tissues throughout the body.

4 Feb 2014

Blood pressure lowering linked with reduced risk for cognitive decline in patients with T2DM

Intensive blood pressure and cholesterol lowering was not associated with reduced risk for diabetes-related cognitive decline in older patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to a study by Jeff D. Williamson, M.D., M.H.S., of the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues.

4 Feb 2014

Children who received radiation as part of treatment may have lower long-term survival rates, says study

The first comprehensive, large-scale cohort study of the long-term survival of children treated for low-grade gliomas, the most common pediatric brain tumor, finds that almost 90 percent are alive 20 years later and that few die from the tumor as adults.

4 Feb 2014

Study shows how pesticides may contribute to development of Parkinson's disease

New research shows how pesticides may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease and that people with certain gene variants may be more susceptible to the disease. The research is published in the February 4, 2014, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

4 Feb 2014

Surgeons report safer method to replace bone removed from skull after lifesaving brain surgery

Johns Hopkins surgeons report they have devised a better, safer method to replace bone removed from the skull after lifesaving brain surgery. The new technique, they say, appears to result in fewer complications than standard restoration, which has changed little since its development in the 1890s.

4 Feb 2014

Women ages 35+ are at decreased risk of having child with congenital malformation

In a study to be presented on Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. CST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting-, in New Orleans, researchers will report that women ages 35 and older are at a decreased risk of having a child with a major congenital malformation, after excluding chromosomal abnormalities.

4 Feb 2014

Researchers discover genetic function that helps "tumor suppressor" genes to prevent cancer

Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a genetic function that helps one of the most important "tumor suppressor" genes to do its job and prevent cancer.

4 Feb 2014

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Pfizer and Merck join forces to explore therapeutic potential of anti-PD-1 therapy

Pleasant auditory representations can help blind "see" colors and shapes

UCSF-led study gathers data on safety, tolerability of purified cannabinoid for children with epilepsy

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receives another patent for Parkinson’s disease monitoring technology

MORE intervention reduces pain and opioid misuse

New study correlates brain activity with how people make decisions when they engage in risky behavior

NeuroRehabilitation showcases different approaches to restoring mental functioning

Scientists use SWI to study changes in brains of college-level ice hockey players with concussion

Study analyzing concussion data for NFL players may provide insight that could lead to safer play

Study focuses on development and spread of Alzheimer's disease throughout the brain

Gene involved in inflammation, blood clotting associated with cerebral palsy, death in very preterm babies

Chemical "signature" in blood may predict which AML patients would benefit from chemotherapy

Researchers discover new signaling pathway that could impact treatment of autoinflammatory diseases

ACE protein overexpression elevates immune responses and prevents Alzheimer's-like cognitive decline

Blood pressure lowering linked with reduced risk for cognitive decline in patients with T2DM

Children who received radiation as part of treatment may have lower long-term survival rates, says study

Study shows how pesticides may contribute to development of Parkinson's disease

Surgeons report safer method to replace bone removed from skull after lifesaving brain surgery

Women ages 35+ are at decreased risk of having child with congenital malformation

Researchers discover genetic function that helps "tumor suppressor" genes to prevent cancer

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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