Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

Karolinska researchers study four siblings affected by early-onset Alzheimer's disease

Four siblings in a family affected by early-onset Alzheimer's have been studied by a group of researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. This has been a unique opportunity to make comparative studies and to monitor the development of the disease over a prolonged period of time.

27 May 2011

NILVAD consortium awarded €6 million grant to develop new Alzheimer's disease treatment

An international research consortium led by Trinity College Dublin that aims to develop a new Alzheimer's disease treatment has just been selected for grant funding of €6 million by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

27 May 2011

Switching to a newer electronic health record system reduces prescription errors

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the government is investing billions of dollars to encourage health care providers to use electronic health record systems. Many providers will probably switch from older systems to new systems to qualify for the federal incentives, but whether the upgrade improves patient care and safety has remained an open question.

27 May 2011

ASH announces approval of official health care taxonomy code for Designated Specialists

Today the American Society of Hypertension, Inc. (ASH) and the ASH Specialist Program Inc. announced the approval of an official health care taxonomy code for Designated Specialists in Clinical Hypertension from the American Medical Association National Uniform Claims Committee.

27 May 2011

Lactate shuttle also exists in human tumors

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have shed new light on the longstanding conundrum about what makes a tumor grow-and how to make it stop. Interestingly, cancer cells accelerate the aging of nearby connective tissue cells to cause inflammation, which ultimately provides "fuel" for the tumor to grow and even metastasize.

27 May 2011

Size of bodies has a profound effect on perception of surrounding space

Imagine shrinking to the size of a doll in your sleep. When you wake up, will you perceive yourself as tiny or the world as being populated by giants? Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden may have found the answer.

27 May 2011

Researchers convert human skin cells directly into functional neurons within four to five weeks

Human skin cells can be converted directly into functional neurons in a period of four to five weeks with the addition of just four proteins, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

27 May 2011

Patients with body dysmorphic disorder have less brain activity in visual processing

People suffering from body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD - a severe mental illness characterized by debilitating misperceptions that one appears disfigured and ugly - process visual information abnormally, even when looking at inanimate objects, according to a new UCLA study.

27 May 2011

Difficulty to learn maths linked to neurocognitive disorder

Students who struggle to learn mathematics may have a neurocognitive disorder that inhibits the acquisition of basic numerical and arithmetic concepts, according to a new paper by University of Minnesota and British researchers. Called developmental dyscalculia, the disorder affects roughly the same number of people as dyslexia but has received much less attention (and research funding).

27 May 2011

NHLBI stops AIM-HIGH combination clinical trial in high blood cholesterol

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has stopped a clinical trial studying a blood lipid treatment 18 months earlier than planned. The trial found that adding high dose, extended-release niacin to statin treatment in people with heart and vascular disease, did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and stroke.

27 May 2011

Research provides new understanding of how heroin affects the brain

New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health suggests that our understanding of how heroin affects the brain should be changed. A new report shows that heroin is metabolised to 6-MAM which then crosses the blood-brain barrier to cause the intoxicating effects that arise shortly after heroin administration.

27 May 2011

Albert Einstein College of Medicine to help shed light on causes and treatments of type 2 diabetes

Fifty years ago, adult-onset diabetes was relatively rare, affecting less than one percent of the adult population in the United States. Today, more than 25 million Americans over the age of 20 battle the disease - an alarming 11 percent of the population.

27 May 2011

ARCA plans to expand development program for Gencaro in atrial fibrillation

ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically-targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases, today announced that it is planning to expand the development of Gencaro, its lead cardiovascular drug candidate, to atrial fibrillation, a disease that affects more than 2.4 million patients in the United States.

27 May 2011

Southern U.S. Stroke Belt population have greater incidence of cognitive decline

New research shows that residents of the Stroke Belt—a southern portion of the U.S. with significantly elevated stroke morality rate—also have a greater incidence of cognitive decline than other regions of the country.

27 May 2011

New genomics research on abnormal brain development

Local researchers are finally on the road to developing targeted treatments for serious, life-long disabilities such as autism and schizophrenia, thanks to new genomics research focusing on abnormal brain development.

27 May 2011

Long-term exposure to estrogen increases high blood pressure in women

For many years doctors believed the estrogen women consumed in the form of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy pills was good for their patients' hearts. Recent studies however have shown that long-term exposure to estrogen can be a danger to women as it has been associated with high blood pressure, a key link to heart- and brain-attacks.

27 May 2011

CAS, University of Pennsylvania collaborate to develop joint Center of Excellence in Brain Mapping

In a ceremony today, the University of Pennsylvania announced a collaboration agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to develop a joint Center of Excellence in Brain Mapping for the purpose of collaborative research and education in neuroimaging.

27 May 2011

Naturally occurring plant alkaloids could help prevent, delay memory loss linked with Alzheimer's

A family of naturally occurring plant compounds could help prevent or delay memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute.

27 May 2011

Neurologix presents NLX-P101 Phase 2 trial in Parkinson's disease at 10th INS World Congress

Neurologix, Inc. announced the presentation today of efficacy results through one year of follow-up in patients treated as part of the Company's successful Phase 2 clinical trial for its novel, investigational gene therapy NLX-P101 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

27 May 2011

Study: Stress may trigger Alzheimer's disease

Stress promotes neuropathological changes that are also seen in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that the increased release of stress hormones in rats leads to generation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in the brain and ultimately, memory loss.

27 May 2011

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Karolinska researchers study four siblings affected by early-onset Alzheimer's disease

NILVAD consortium awarded €6 million grant to develop new Alzheimer's disease treatment

Switching to a newer electronic health record system reduces prescription errors

ASH announces approval of official health care taxonomy code for Designated Specialists

Lactate shuttle also exists in human tumors

Size of bodies has a profound effect on perception of surrounding space

Researchers convert human skin cells directly into functional neurons within four to five weeks

Patients with body dysmorphic disorder have less brain activity in visual processing

Difficulty to learn maths linked to neurocognitive disorder

NHLBI stops AIM-HIGH combination clinical trial in high blood cholesterol

Research provides new understanding of how heroin affects the brain

Albert Einstein College of Medicine to help shed light on causes and treatments of type 2 diabetes

ARCA plans to expand development program for Gencaro in atrial fibrillation

Southern U.S. Stroke Belt population have greater incidence of cognitive decline

New genomics research on abnormal brain development

Long-term exposure to estrogen increases high blood pressure in women

CAS, University of Pennsylvania collaborate to develop joint Center of Excellence in Brain Mapping

Naturally occurring plant alkaloids could help prevent, delay memory loss linked with Alzheimer's

Neurologix presents NLX-P101 Phase 2 trial in Parkinson's disease at 10th INS World Congress

Study: Stress may trigger Alzheimer's disease

Discover how SciY empowers scientists

Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

Changing the landscape of R&D to build clinical success from the ground up

Latest News