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.

Statins may reduce hospital stay for patients with stroke

A new study suggests that using cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins after having a stroke may increase the likelihood of returning home and lessen the chance of dying in the hospital.

22 May 2012

Researchers to create new type of bioactive coating for brain aneurysm stents

Researchers at Purdue University are working with the U.S. Army and neurosurgeons at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to create a new type of "bioactive" coating for stents used to treat brain aneurysms including those caused by head trauma from bomb blasts.

22 May 2012

Viewpoints: A gamble on Alzheimer's research; Hidden costs of insurance rebates

The Obama administration has announced a bold research program to test whether a drug can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease well before any symptoms appear. It is a long shot, but the payoff could be huge.

22 May 2012

New research reveals effective treatments for gastrointestinal conditions

New research being presented at Digestive Disease Week- (DDW) reveals effective treatments for a number of gastrointestinal conditions, which are often chronic and costly.

22 May 2012

KF scientists present recent cognitive research studies in MS at CMSC, ACTRIMS

Scientists at Kessler Foundation are presenting findings of recent cognitive research studies in multiple sclerosis at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, CA, May 30-June2, 2012. Drs. John DeLuca, Nancy Chiaravalloti and Yael Goverover are addressing the Fourth Cooperative Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) and the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research.

22 May 2012

New knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria

Researchers from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the University of Copenhagen and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered new knowledge related to host-parasite interaction in severe malaria, concerning how malaria parasites are able to bind to cells in the brain and cause cerebral malaria - the most lethal form of the disease.

22 May 2012

VEN occurs also in the insula of macaque monkeys

The anterior insular cortex is a small brain region that plays a crucial role in human self-awareness and in related neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type - the von Economo neuron (VEN) - is located there. For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants.

22 May 2012

Study finds large amounts of melanopsin in the human brain

A new study by Oulu University found large amounts of a light-sensitive OPN4-protein, melanopsin, in the human brain.

22 May 2012

CHDI, Lundbeck enter collaboration to investigate targeted therapy for Huntington's disease

CHDI Foundation, Inc. and Lundbeck today announced a research collaboration to investigate a targeted therapy for Huntington's disease (HD). Currently, no treatment exists to slow or halt the progression of HD, a challenging hereditary neurodegenerative disease characterized by a triad of behavioral, cognitive, and motor symptoms.

21 May 2012

New therapeutic options for management of melanoma brain metastases

In a recent article published in MELANOMA RESEARCH and a subsequent commentary in British medical journal THE LANCET, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center discussed new therapeutic options for the management of melanoma brain metastases. Patients with advanced melanoma are at high risk for developing brain metastases. Once brain metastases are present, these patients tend to have poor outcomes.

21 May 2012

$Children with pelvic and thigh fractures rarely develop dangerous blood clots$

Children with pelvic and thigh fractures rarely develop dangerous blood clots

Children with pelvic and thigh fractures develop dangerous blood clots so rarely that anti-clotting therapy should be given only to those with underlying conditions that increase clotting risk, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

21 May 2012

Large neurological problems could be addressed through changing Botch activity

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a protein that appears to play an important regulatory role in deciding whether stem cells differentiate into the cells that make up the brain, as well as countless other tissues.

21 May 2012

Neurogenesis may encourage excessive weight gain and fat storage

New nerve cells formed in a select part of the brain could hold considerable sway over how much you eat and consequently weigh, new animal research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests in a study published in the May issue of Nature Neuroscience.

21 May 2012

TTFields therapy vs. chemotherapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma

Results of the first randomized controlled trial to compare a novel cancer treatment modality delivering Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) therapy versus chemotherapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) were published in the European Journal of Cancer.

21 May 2012

Regenerative medicine researchers explore innovative ways to treat childhood conditions

About 3 percent of the babies born in the United States have a birth defect. Children without a birth defect are also susceptible to injury or disease. At The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), regenerative medicine researchers are exploring innovative ways to treat these conditions.

21 May 2012

$Anti-clotting drugs rarely needed in children with big-bone fractures$

Anti-clotting drugs rarely needed in children with big-bone fractures

21 May 2012

Vaccination studies from Mercer University to be unveiled at AAPS’ NBC

Vaccination studies from Mercer University (Ga.) headline the groundbreaking research being unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference.

21 May 2012

Folic acid fortification may reduce incidence of Wilms' tumor, PNET in children

Folic acid fortification of foods may reduce the incidence of the most common type of kidney cancer and a type of brain tumors in children, finds a new study by Kimberly J. Johnson, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and Amy Linabery, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota.

21 May 2012

Experimental bariatric surgery can lower blood sugar levels in rats with type 1 diabetes

For the first time, scientists at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute have shown that an experimental bariatric surgery can lower blood sugar levels in rats with type 1 diabetes.

21 May 2012

Treatment of OSA in children can reverse neuronal brain injury

Treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children normalizes disturbances in the neuronal network responsible for attention and executive function, according to a new study.

21 May 2012