Brain Disease News and Research

RSS

Miniature, fiber-optic microscope allows deep brain exploration

A team of neuroscientists and bioengineers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a miniature, fiber-optic microscope designed to peer deeply inside a living brain.

14 May 2015

New understanding of how Huntington's disease gene works

Huntington's disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntington's disease gene, but it has long been a mystery why some people with the exact same mutation get the disease more severely and earlier than others. A closer look at the DNA around the Huntington's disease (HD) gene offers researchers a new understanding of how the gene is controlled and how this affects the disease.

5 May 2015

Study: Therapeutic hypothermia offers little neurological benefit to children with cardiac arrest

A new, randomized clinical study co-authored by Cohen Children's Medical Center's chair of pediatrics says there is little neurological benefit to using therapeutic hypothermia to lower a child's core temperature after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

27 Apr 2015

Elekta introduces new Leksell Gamma Knife Icon to treat patients with brain disease

With the introduction of Elekta's new Leksell Gamma Knife Icon, the benefits of precision cranial radiosurgery are now available for more patients with a wider variety of tumor types and sizes.

From Elekta 25 Apr 2015

New study shows initial promise for treatment that may reduce dementia after TBI

It was once thought that effects of a mild head injury -- dizziness, headaches, memory problems -- were only temporary, and the brain would heal over time. However, while the long-term consequences of head trauma are not fully known, growing evidence suggests that even a mild head injury can increase the risk for later-in-life development of dementias such as Alzheimer's disease.

23 Apr 2015

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation may influence weight gain in offspring

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation may prime offspring for weight gain and obesity later in life, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers, who looked at rats whose mothers consumed a high-fat diet and found that the offspring's feeding controls and feelings of fullness did not function normally.

30 Mar 2015

New report highlights the need for disclosing Alzheimer's diagnosis to patients

The Alzheimer's Association's 2015 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, released today, found that only 45 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease or their caregivers say they were told the diagnosis by their doctor.

24 Mar 2015

PVNF gifts $1,250,000 to support Alzheimer's research at UT Southwestern

Presbyterian Village North Foundation has made two gifts totaling $1,250,000 to support Alzheimer's research at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

18 Mar 2015

Two researchers to receive Potamkin Prize for research on Alzheimer's disease

The American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain Foundation are awarding the 2015 Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's and Related Diseases to Peter Davies, PhD, of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY, and Reisa A. Sperling, MD, of the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

11 Mar 2015

University of Cambridge's Alastair Compston wins 2015 John Dystel Prize for MS Research

The American Academy of Neurology and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are awarding the 2015 John Dystel Prize for MS Research to Alastair Compston, MBBS, PhD, Professor of Neurology at the University of Cambridge.

11 Mar 2015

Three leading research funders join forces to support brain disease research

Three leading research funders from the UK and North America have joined forces to launch a new global initiative called MEND or, MEchanisms of cellular death in NeuroDegeneration, with a fund of $1.25 million USD (£820,000/$1.56CDN) for targeted research into brain diseases that cause dementia, such as Alzheimer's.

11 Feb 2015

New study shows that the body's immune system may be able to clear Alzheimer's-associated plaques

New research from scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California shows that the body's immune system may be able to clear the brain of toxic plaque build-up that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, reversing memory loss and brain cell damage.

6 Feb 2015

Alzheimer's brains commonly have many neurons with more DNA and genomic copies of APP gene

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found diverse genomic changes in single neurons from the brains of Alzheimer's patients, pointing to an unexpected factor that may underpin the most common form of the disease.

5 Feb 2015

USC neuroscientists find potential prevention for Alzheimer's disease

University of Southern California neuroscientists may have unlocked another puzzle to preventing risks that can lead to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Keck Medicine of USC used high-resolution imaging of the living human brain to show for the first time that the brain's protective blood barrier becomes leaky with age, starting at the hippocampus, a critical learning and memory center that is damaged by Alzheimer's disease.

22 Jan 2015

Study finds increasing shortage of stroke specialists in the U.S.

Although stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States, there's an increasing shortage of neurologists who specialize in stroke care.

18 Dec 2014

UB researchers explore link between behavioral symptoms and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Aggression, violence, depression, suicide. Media reports routinely link these behavioral symptoms with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative brain disease, in former football players.

5 Dec 2014

Leaders in research hope to uncover promising drugs in pharma libraries, conduct clinical trials

Drugs for brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and motor neurone disease that have stalled in development could be revived thanks to the efforts of a global coalition of non-profit organizations and funders announced today.

19 Nov 2014

Anxiety can accelerate conversion to Alzheimer's disease for people with mild cognitive impairment

People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at increased risk of converting to Alzheimer's disease within a few years, but a new study warns the risk increases significantly if they suffer from anxiety.

11 Nov 2014

Researchers demonstrate how Parkinson's disease spreads in the human brain

An international, interdisciplinary group of researchers led by Gabor G. Kovacs from the Clinical Institute of Neurology at the MedUni Vienna has demonstrated, through the use of a new antibody, how Parkinson's disease spreads from cell to cell in the human brain.

23 Sep 2014

Research could help eventual treatment of degenerative muscle, brain diseases

Our genetic information is stored in DNA, tiny strands of nucleic acid that contain instructions for the functioning of our bodies. To express this genetic data, our DNA is copied into RNA molecules, which then translate the instructions into proteins that perform tasks in our cells.

19 Sep 2014