Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis News and Research

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Study finds evidence for increased activity of the brain’s immune system long before dementia onset

Long before the onset of dementia, there is evidence for increased activity of the brain's immune system. Researchers from DZNE and the University Hospital Bonn come to this conclusion based on a study of more than 1,000 older adults.

12 Jan 2022

Decoding imagined language to treat people suffering from aphasia

What if it were possible to decode the internal language of individuals deprived of the ability to express themselves? This is the objective of a team of neuroscientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University Hospitals of Geneva.

11 Jan 2022

A new paradigm is needed: Top experts question the value of advance care planning

For decades, Americans have been urged to fill out documents specifying their end-of-life wishes before becoming terminally ill — living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders, and other written materials expressing treatment preferences.

6 Jan 2022

Single-patient pilot study shows the ability of antisense oligonucleotide to suppress mutant ALS gene

Using a short, synthetic chain of chemically modified nucleotides engineered in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School, Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, Jonathan Watts, PhD, and colleagues have shown the ability to suppress mutant forms of an ALS gene known as C9ORF72 in a single-patient pilot study.

24 Dec 2021

Study analyzes the role of circular RNA in ALS pathology

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as ALS, is a neurodegenerative disorder which affects motor neurons. These are the neuronal cells responsible for muscle innervation, whose degenerations leads to progressive paralysis culminating with motor and respiratory failure.

21 Dec 2021

Ophthalmology professor receives $75,000 grant to support international collaborations on eye research

Steven DeVries, MD, PhD, the David Shoch, MD, PhD, professor of Ophthalmology, has received an International Research Collaborators Award from Research to Prevent Blindness.

14 Dec 2021

New prototype enables people with severely impaired motor skills to communicate with others

A research team from the University of Malaga has developed a prototype that combines scalp sensors and a graphical interface to enable people with severely impaired motor skills to communicate with others.

13 Dec 2021

Scientists determine structure of the molecule associated with ALS for the first time

Scientists have determined for the first time the structure of the molecule associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple other neurodegenerative diseases.

9 Dec 2021

Targeting the brain should be the focus of ALS therapy, not just spinal cord

The brain is indeed a target for treating ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered.

4 Dec 2021

Fast-tracked human stroke drug may also be a safe and powerful defense against dementia

A human stroke drug, fast-tracked by the Food and Drug Administration and soon entering Phase 3 clinical trials, shows intriguing signs that it might also be a safe and powerful defense against Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

1 Dec 2021

Repurposed ALS drug could slow gradual brain cell loss in Niemann-Pick disease type C1

Riluzole, a drug approved to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease affecting nerve cells controlling movement, could slow the gradual loss of a particular brain cell that occurs in Niemann-Pick disease type C1 (NPC1), a rare genetic disorder affecting children and adolescents, suggests a study in mice by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

20 Nov 2021

ALS also causes retinal alterations, study reveals

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), characterized by harm to brain neurons and to the spinal cord, also affects the tissue of the retina, according to a study headed up by Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

16 Nov 2021

Study offers new insight into the role of tau proteins in ALS pathogenesis

A team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital has shown that people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, who carry a mutation in the C9orf72 gene exhibit elevated levels of tau and phosphorylated tau protein in the motor cortex region of the brain.

15 Nov 2021

Inflammatory chemicals involved in fat metabolism play key role in ALS, study shows

A new study using genetically engineered mice and human cell and tissue samples has added to evidence that higher levels of inflammatory chemicals involved in fat metabolism occur in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neuromuscular disorder, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

15 Nov 2021

Identifying an important protein for motor coordination

News-Medical speaks to Professor Jorge Ruas about how he has identified an important protein involved in motor coordination.

10 Nov 2021

Study reveals the role of SPOP protein in an inherited form of ALS

The damaging effects of toxic proteins created in one inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are mediated by a protein called SPOP, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.

8 Nov 2021

Research may provide clues to how viral infections contribute to neurodegeneration

Some viral diseases could possibly contribute to neurodegeneration. DZNE researchers report this in the scientific journal "Nature Communications".

19 Oct 2021

Researchers discover molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia

Researchers at the DZNE and the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have identified molecules in the blood that can indicate impending dementia. Their findings, which are presented in the scientific journal "EMBO Molecular Medicine", are based on human studies and laboratory experiments. Various university hospitals across Germany were also involved in the investigations.

11 Oct 2021

Methylation of TDP-43 DNA linked to age-dependent motor cortex involvement in ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an intractable neurological disease. Aging is a risk factor for the accumulation of TDP-43 (transduction responsive region DNA-binding protein of 43kDa) in the motor cortex. TDP-43 is a protein that tends to accumulate in increasing amounts, and the amount is strictly controlled by the splicing of TDP-43. Through cell experiments and analysis of human brain tissue, researchers at Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, led by Akihiro Sugai, M.D., Ph.D., have found that methylation of TDP-43 DNA is involved in the background of motor cortex involvement with aging in ALS

29 Sep 2021

Small molecule drug can attenuate the triggers of neuroinflammation, preclinical study shows

Neuroinflammation can worsen outcomes in stroke, traumatic brain injury, or spinal cord injury, as well as accelerate neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's. This suggests that limiting neuroinflammation may represent a promising new approach to treat neurological diseases and neuropathic pain that are driven by neuroinflammation.

24 Sep 2021