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.

New computer program shows how brain's complex fiber tracks mature as we grow up

The brain's inner network becomes increasingly more efficient as humans mature. Now, for the first time without invasive measures, a joint study from the Ecole Polytechnique F-d-rale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, has verified these gains with a powerful new computer program. Reported in the PNAS early online edition last week, the soon-to-be-released software allows for individualized maps of vital brain connectivity that could aide in epilepsy and schizophrenia research.

28 Oct 2010

IsoRay completes Cs-131 brachytherapy seeds feasibility study for breast cancer treatment

IsoRay, Inc. announced, today, it has completed an initial feasibility study, which demonstrates the ability to use its patented Cesium-131 (Cs-131) brachytherapy seeds (internal radiation therapy) in accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for breast cancer treatment.

28 Oct 2010

Researchers investigate relation between cortical thickness and nicotine dependence

Is there a relation between the structure of specific regions of the brain and nicotine dependence? This is the question researchers of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the German National Metrology Institute, have been investigating lately. The results of these investigations extend and specify those of preceding studies: A specific region of the cerebral cortex of smokers is thinner than that of people who have never smoked in their lives.

28 Oct 2010

Monitoring glucose levels in brain can help predict second-wave of damage in head injury patients

Why do some of the one million people who sustain head injuries annually in United States experience a mysterious second wave of brain damage days after the initial injury - just when they appear to be recovering? Limited clinical trials using an innovative new device to monitor brain chemistry on a second-by-second basis are underway to answer that life-and-death question, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine. Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide.

28 Oct 2010

PFF’s national scientific conference improves clinical understanding of IPF

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) today announced that it is establishing a national scientific conference for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) physicians and patients beginning in 2011. IPF Summit 2011 From Bench to Bedside, will be held at the Marriott Magnificent Mile in Chicago, IL on December 1-3, 2011.

28 Oct 2010

Individuals can consciously control neurons inside the head, study finds

Five years ago, neuroscientist Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried of UCLA, and their colleagues discovered that a single neuron in the human brain can function much like a sophisticated computer and recognize people, landmarks, and objects, suggesting that a consistent and explicit code may help transform complex visual representations into long-term and more abstract memories.

28 Oct 2010

Researchers develop software tool to study wiring of brains

A team of researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology has developed a software tool that physicians can use to easily study the wiring of the brains of their patients. The tool converts MRI scans using special techniques to three-dimensional images. This now makes it possible to view a total picture of the winding roads and their contacts without having to operate.

28 Oct 2010

Curemark adds two sites in California for CM-AT Phase III clinical trial program

Curemark, LLC, a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that it has added two sites in California to its Phase III clinical trial program for CM-AT, the company's autism treatment.

28 Oct 2010

World's largest free-standing proton therapy center opens

Hampton University, along with the Honorable Gov. Bob McDonnell and hundreds of guests, celebrated the grand opening of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute (HUPTI), the world's largest free-standing proton center, on Thursday.

28 Oct 2010

Scientists suggest E-cadherin can function as oncogene in some cancers

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found that a molecule long believed to be a beneficial tumor suppressor and thus a potential cancer drug target appears to act as an oncogene in some lethal brain tumors.

28 Oct 2010

NSF awards Rutgers $1.82M grant to acquire Siemens Trio 3T MRI scanner

The last couple decades have seen a virtual renaissance of neuroscience discovery, largely aided by the advanced technology of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

28 Oct 2010

Study reveals clear difference between brain communication circuitry of PTSD sufferers and the healthy

US scientists have found a correlation between increased circuit activity in the right side of the brain and the suffering of involuntary flashbacks by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers.

28 Oct 2010

University of Manchester receives Wellcome Trust grant for five-year study

A team investigating how genes respond to hormonal changes and inflammation has been awarded a Wellcome Trust grant of 1.24 million for a five-year study

From The University of Manchester 28 Oct 2010

New computational techniques to overcome obstacles in hard-to-study genes

Scientists have invented methods to scout the human genome's repetitive landscapes, where DNA sequences are highly identical and heavily duplicated. These advances, as reported today in Science, can identify subtle but important differences among people in the number and content of repeated DNA segments.

28 Oct 2010

Diabetes threatens the eyesight of many unsuspecting Americans

Diabetes causes more new cases of legal blindness among working-age Americans than any other disease. If diabetics are monitored regularly by their ophthalmologist, this vision loss is almost always avoidable. Yet, tragically, more than half of all people living with diabetes do not get the recommended annual dilated eye exam. As the number of people with Type 2 diabetes rises in the U.S., the CDC projects that the number of adults with diabetic retinopathy will double by the year 2050. Yet 90 percent of diabetic eye disease can be prevented simply by proper regular examinations and treatment and by controlling blood sugar.

27 Oct 2010

Intellect obtains initial draft report of OXIGON Phase 1b clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has obtained an initial draft report of the Company's Phase 1b clinical trial for its lead Alzheimer's candidate, OXIGON (OX1).

27 Oct 2010

Survive & Thrive event assists OIF/OEF service members with traumatic brain injury

As part of its innovative rehabilitation efforts to assist Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) military personnel (active duty and non-active) with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation is hosting the second session of Survive & Thrive at The Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang, CA. The event takes place from April 4 through April 8, 2011.

27 Oct 2010