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.

Critical phases of brain development may be mistimed in autistic patients, says study

Research into Fragile X Syndrome - a genetic condition that is the leading known cause of autism - has discovered that critical phases in the brain's development may be mistimed in people with the condition.

11 Feb 2010

PARI Pharma commences enrollment in L-CsA Phase 2b efficacy study

PARI Pharma has enrolled the first patient in its Phase 2b clinical trial studying inhaled liposomal cyclosporine A (L-CsA) delivered via a customized Investigational eFlow Nebulizer System. The multinational study is investigating the safety and efficacy of PARI's L-CsA formulation. In previous clinical trials, reactions from physicians and lung transplant recipients to PARI's drug-device combination were encouraging.

11 Feb 2010

Eating chocolates may lower stroke risk, but more research is needed

Eating chocolate may lower your risk of having a stroke, according to an analysis of available research that will be released today and presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010. Another study found that eating chocolate may lower the risk of death after suffering a stroke.

11 Feb 2010

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

Under the most recent cost-saving budget proposals, 327 adult day healthcare centers throughout California would be eliminated. Cuts could save the state $135 million in fiscal 2011, state projections show.

11 Feb 2010

YM Biosciences to present JAK1/2 inhibiting small molecule and vascular disrupting agent data at Cancer Conference

YM BioSciences Inc., is presenting posters on its JAK1/2 inhibiting small molecule (CYT387) and on its novel vascular disrupting agent (CYT997) at the Lorne Cancer Conference in Lorne, Victoria, Australia. CYT387 is an oral JAK1/2 inhibitor, originating from the seminal discovery of JAK1 and JAK2 kinases by Dr. Andrew Wilks, the founder of Cytopia Limited, now YM Australia. CYT997 is an orally-available agent with dual mechanisms of vascular disruption and cytotoxicity and has the potential to be broadly active against a range of tumor types.

11 Feb 2010

NMT Medical announces preliminary unaudited figures for fiscal 2009

NMT Medical, Inc. today announced that it expects to report full year 2009 revenues of approximately $13.2 million – within the Company’s previously-announced guidance range of $13 million to $14 million.

11 Feb 2010

Silver nanoparticles in higher-power, longer-life batteries for ICDs

Diamonds and gold may make some hearts flutter on Valentine's Day, but in a University at Buffalo laboratory, silver nanoparticles are being designed to do just the opposite.

11 Feb 2010

Intellect Neurosciences: Several significant stakeholders commit funds

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease ("AD"), announced today that several of its significant shareholders (the "Interested Shareholders") have agreed in principle to provide interim funding to the Company and assist the Company in its efforts to restructure its balance sheet.

11 Feb 2010

Headache is a common and persistent symptom in people exposed to dust at World Trade Center

Workers and residents exposed to dust and fumes caused by the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 frequently reported headache years later, according to research released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

11 Feb 2010

Researchers investigate risk factors for childhood obesity

Both genetics and parents who comfort their infants with food are the focus of a study funded for $1 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Disease investigating risk factors for childhood obesity.

11 Feb 2010

People with GAD have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions

People with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions. That's the conclusion of a new Stanford University School of Medicine study, and the study authors say the findings could open up new avenues for treatments and change our understanding of how emotion is regulated in everyday life.

11 Feb 2010

Medicare payment cuts may impact patients’ access to quality neurosurgical care

As lawmakers continue to wrestle with how best to reform the Medicare physician payment system, the results of a new survey by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), and the Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) paint a troubling picture for patients if drastic Medicare physician payment cuts continue.

11 Feb 2010

Findings could lead to new targeted therapies for speech and learning disabilities

A team of University of Oregon researchers have isolated an independent processing channel of synapses inside the brain's auditory cortex that deals specifically with shutting off sound processing at appropriate times.

11 Feb 2010

Neurology researchers explore link between MS and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency

More than 55 percent of multiple sclerosis patients participating in the initial phase of the first randomized clinical study to determine if persons with MS exhibit narrowing of the extracranial veins, causing restriction of normal outflow of blood from the brain, were found to have the abnormality.

11 Feb 2010

fMRI study shows neural network may be brain's back burner for social decision making

When we put an idea on the back burner, it goes into a processing area of the brain called the default-mode network. This network enables us to hold the low-priority idea in abeyance until a time when we aren't busy with something else.

11 Feb 2010

Existing sleep deprivation theory challenged

What goes on in your brain when you're sleep deprived and how does it affect your ability to process information and make decisions?

11 Feb 2010

Migraine sufferers face increase risk of heart attack, says study

People with migraine may be at an increased risk of heart attack and other risk factors for heart disease, according to a study published in the February 10, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Feb 2010

Mental health 'bible' starts revamp with new terminology, diagnoses

The Wall Street Journal: "Mental-health experts wrestling with how to fit temper tantrums, hoarding and even Internet addiction into the current understanding of mental illness are proposing changes to the field's primary reference for diagnoses for the first time in 16 years. The draft revisions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—the bible for mental health clinicians and researchers—unveiled Wednesday could have effects that ripple through mental health care."

11 Feb 2010

Neuroimaging study shows brain activity patterns that correlate to decision making process

Faces play a very important role in our social life. We make complex social decisions based on facial appearance. Extensive research has been made to identify a set of facial features which make a face attractive.

10 Feb 2010

Raptor Pharmaceutical to present DR Cysteamine trial data at Lysosomal Disease Network Symposium

Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp., today announced the presentation of cystinosis data at the Annual Lysosomal Disease Network WORLD Symposium 2010, being held February 10-12 in Miami, Florida. Biomarker data from a Phase IIb pilot study of Raptor's proprietary delayed-release cysteamine bitartrate ("DR Cysteamine") will be the subject of a poster titled, "Correlation of Plasma Cysteamine and WBC Cystine Levels at Steady State in Patients Treated with Cysteamine Bitartrate." The results will also be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Molecular Genetics and Metabolism.

10 Feb 2010

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Critical phases of brain development may be mistimed in autistic patients, says study

PARI Pharma commences enrollment in L-CsA Phase 2b efficacy study

Eating chocolates may lower stroke risk, but more research is needed

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

YM Biosciences to present JAK1/2 inhibiting small molecule and vascular disrupting agent data at Cancer Conference

NMT Medical announces preliminary unaudited figures for fiscal 2009

Silver nanoparticles in higher-power, longer-life batteries for ICDs

Intellect Neurosciences: Several significant stakeholders commit funds

Headache is a common and persistent symptom in people exposed to dust at World Trade Center

Researchers investigate risk factors for childhood obesity

People with GAD have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions

Medicare payment cuts may impact patients’ access to quality neurosurgical care

Findings could lead to new targeted therapies for speech and learning disabilities

Neurology researchers explore link between MS and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency

fMRI study shows neural network may be brain's back burner for social decision making

Existing sleep deprivation theory challenged

Migraine sufferers face increase risk of heart attack, says study

Mental health 'bible' starts revamp with new terminology, diagnoses

Neuroimaging study shows brain activity patterns that correlate to decision making process

Raptor Pharmaceutical to present DR Cysteamine trial data at Lysosomal Disease Network Symposium

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