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.

Chances of surviving cardiac arrests high in large public venues having AEDs

A study of more than 14,000 men and women whose hearts stopped suddenly suggests that the chances of survival are very high if such cardiac arrests are witnessed in large public venues, including airports, sports arenas or malls. The reasons, researchers say, are that almost four out of five such cases appear to be due to a survivable type of heart rhythm disruption and that big places with lots of people are more likely to have an automated external defibrillator, or AED device, handy, along with those who can apply it as well as CPR.

3 Feb 2011

New device to treat heart hiccups

"It took off to about 160 beats per minute and then dropped to 50. It seemed confused. Then it went back to normal," recalled Tsuji, 47, an avid cyclist, of that day in 2003. "I didn't notice any symptoms at that point, so I blew it off. I figured there was something wrong with it."

3 Feb 2011

Coordinated behavior occurs whether or not neurons are actually connected via synapses

The brain-awake and sleeping-is awash in electrical activity, and not just from the individual pings of single neurons communicating with each other. In fact, the brain is enveloped in countless overlapping electric fields, generated by the neural circuits of scores of communicating neurons.

3 Feb 2011

UT Southwestern leads national effort to find effective treatments for drug addiction

UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers are leading the Texas arm of a national network that conducts clinical trials aimed at finding effective treatments for drug addiction.

3 Feb 2011

Study reveals how MMSET gene enables disease-causing mutations to occur

For several decades, researchers have been linking genetic mutations to diseases ranging from cancer to developmental abnormalities. What hasn't been clear, however, is how the body's genome sustains such destructive glitches in the first place.

3 Feb 2011

Concert and WRAIR enter CRADA to evaluate novel compound for seizure protection associated with TBI

Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The CRADA will allow the WRAIR to conduct preclinical testing on a novel compound derived from Concert's DCE Platform™ (deuterated chemical entity platform) for seizure protection associated with traumatic brain injury, a major public health concern.

3 Feb 2011

Merck announces publication of GARDASIL pivotal Phase III study data in NEJM

Merck announced today that data from the pivotal Phase III study with GARDASIL in males were published in the February 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Feb 2011

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics initiates enrollment in ICT-107 Phase II trial for GBM

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a biotechnology company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of various forms of cancer, announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in its Phase II trial of ICT-107 at the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center. ICT-107 is the company's dendritic cell based cancer vaccine candidate for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

3 Feb 2011

Ritalin may help improve brain function in children with iron deficiency

Ritalin may help improve brain function in adolescent rats that were iron deficient during infancy, according to a team of Penn State neuroscientists. This may have implications for iron-deficient human infants as well.

3 Feb 2011

International scientist team identifies gene mutation strongly linked to schizophrenia

In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists, led by Jonathan Sebat, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to the brain disorder - and a signaling pathway that may be treatable with existing compounds.

3 Feb 2011

Cedars-Sinai receives California Institute grant to develop new technique for specific diseases

A team of scientists from the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to fund development of a new technique to aid pharmaceutical discoveries for specific diseases.

3 Feb 2011

Mothers who lose body fat before pregnancy improve health of children

Obesity among women of childbearing age is increasing worldwide. Because babies of obese mothers are themselves predisposed to obesity, society can reasonably expect the epidemic of obese and overweight people to continue through future generations.

3 Feb 2011

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia is caused by a breakdown of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal region of the brain, which leads to, among other symptoms, a change in personality and behavior. The cause of some forms of frontotemporal dementia is a genetically determined reduction of a hormone-like growth factor, progranulin.

3 Feb 2011

Older people with metabolic syndrome may face high risk of developing memory loss

Older people with larger waistlines, high blood pressure and other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome may be at a higher risk for memory loss, according to a study published in the February 2, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

3 Feb 2011

Study: Simple sideline test can accurately detect concussions in athletes

A simple test performed at the sideline of sporting events can accurately detect concussions in athletes, according to study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Current sideline tests can leave a wide amount a brain function untested following concussion.

2 Feb 2011

Study suggests human amniotic cells 'cross talk' with melatonin receptor MT1

Human amniotic epithelial cells, stem cells derived from human placenta left over from live births and generally discarded, proliferated and differentiated when they interacted with one kind of melatonin receptor, MT1. This potentially therapeutic response occurred when the stem cells were transplanted into laboratory test tube and animal models of stroke. The same cells did not perform similarly when interacting with melatonin receptor MT2.

2 Feb 2011

Study identifies effects of multiple previous concussions on high school students

A previous study of ex-NFL players showed that the damage caused by concussions occurs in the same region of the brain as damage caused by Alzheimer's disease, resulting in increased concern over post-concussion related injuries and trauma of athletes. Philip Schatz Ph.D., professor of psychology, and his associates recently published a study in Neurosurgery that identifies potentially enduring effects of multiple previous concussions on high school students.

2 Feb 2011

Targeted delivery combination crosses brain protecting barrier and homes in on tumors

A targeted delivery combination selectively crosses the tight barrier that protects the brain from the bloodstream to home in on and bind to brain tumors, a research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

2 Feb 2011

Research identifies potential reversibility of chronic neurologic disability in stroke survivors

A breakthrough in stroke research identifying the potential reversibility of chronic neurologic disability in stroke survivors has published today. In the February 1, 2011 issue of the journal CNS Drugs the first human results of a new method of targeting chronic brain inflammation years after stroke are reported.

2 Feb 2011

Masimo PVI predicts fluid responsiveness with high sensitivity, specificity in ICU patients

Masimo announced today that a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Critical Care Medicine demonstrates that noninvasive, continuous monitoring of Masimo Pleth Variability Index predicts fluid responsiveness with high sensitivity and specificity in mechanically-ventilated patients in the Intensive Care Unit.

2 Feb 2011

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Chances of surviving cardiac arrests high in large public venues having AEDs

New device to treat heart hiccups

Coordinated behavior occurs whether or not neurons are actually connected via synapses

UT Southwestern leads national effort to find effective treatments for drug addiction

Study reveals how MMSET gene enables disease-causing mutations to occur

Concert and WRAIR enter CRADA to evaluate novel compound for seizure protection associated with TBI

Merck announces publication of GARDASIL pivotal Phase III study data in NEJM

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics initiates enrollment in ICT-107 Phase II trial for GBM

Ritalin may help improve brain function in children with iron deficiency

International scientist team identifies gene mutation strongly linked to schizophrenia

Cedars-Sinai receives California Institute grant to develop new technique for specific diseases

Mothers who lose body fat before pregnancy improve health of children

Malarial drugs may help treat specific form of frontotemporal dementia

Older people with metabolic syndrome may face high risk of developing memory loss

Study: Simple sideline test can accurately detect concussions in athletes

Study suggests human amniotic cells 'cross talk' with melatonin receptor MT1

Study identifies effects of multiple previous concussions on high school students

Targeted delivery combination crosses brain protecting barrier and homes in on tumors

Research identifies potential reversibility of chronic neurologic disability in stroke survivors

Masimo PVI predicts fluid responsiveness with high sensitivity, specificity in ICU patients

Revolutionizing Life Science: An Interview with SCIEX on ASMS, the SCIEX 7500+ System, and AI-Driven Quantitation

From Discovery Biology to ELRIG Chair

Breathing New Life into Diagnostics: Plasmion's SICRIT Technology

Latest News