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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.

Monoamine oxidases responsible for personality and behaviour

Antisocial and aggressive behaviours represent a widespread and expensive social problem. Recent research has convincingly shown that there is a strong interaction between genetic inheritance and environment for development of personality and behaviour.

14 Sep 2009

Health industry leaders optimistic on reform, though qualms remain

Industry analysts say insurers may not "have much to fear" from reform proposals, though the industry has been portrayed as "the system's main villains," the New York Times reports. Though Obama deployed several horror stories about insurers in his speech, he also said, "I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business," and minimized the importance of the Democrat-supported, insurer-feared public health insurance plan.

11 Sep 2009

Ohio health care lobbyist pays $30,000 a year for health insurance

KHN reports on a Columbus, Ohio, health care lobbyist who writes a monthly check of $2,556 for his family's health insurance. "His insurance rates soared over the past decade after his daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and his wife, Trish, developed breast cancer.

11 Sep 2009

Immigration and education policies to impact United states' leadership in science and discovery

Immigration and education policy experts gathered on Capitol Hill today to address the impact of policies related to U.S. medical innovation. The briefing, titled Education & Immigration: The Building Blocks of Innovation, was sponsored by the Council for American Medical Innovation as the first in a three-part series, Recovery Through Discovery, which examines medical innovation as a driver of U.S. economic recovery and enhanced global leadership in science.

11 Sep 2009

Mayo study raises hope for treating multiple sclerosis

A Mayo Clinic study has found that two genes in mice were associated with good central nervous system repair in multiple sclerosis (MS). These findings give researchers new hope for developing more effective therapies for patients with MS and for predicting MS patients' outcomes. This study will be presented at the Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2009.

11 Sep 2009

Results from the BRITE-MD trials published in Psychiatry Research: Aspect Medical Systems

Aspect Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASPM) today announced that two companion articles highlighting results from the BRITE-MD (Biomarkers for Rapid Identification of Treatment Effectiveness trial in Major Depression) were published in the September issue of the journal Psychiatry Research.

11 Sep 2009

Cymbalta maintains reduction in pain for patients with chronic low back pain

New data show patients with chronic low back pain on Cymbalta(R) (duloxetine HCl) maintained reductions in pain for 41 weeks. In patients who initially responded to duloxetine, this maintenance of pain reduction was accompanied by further reduction in pain that was statistically significant as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain rating.

11 Sep 2009

Newly established Edward Neurosciences Institute to provide advanced stroke care in Chicago

Edward Hospital announced today that it has established the Edward Neurosciences Institute in affiliation with the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation to bring the highest level of stroke care in the world to the west and southwest suburbs of Chicago.

11 Sep 2009

Merck update on the status of telcagepant clinical development programs

Merck & Co., Inc. today updated the status of the clinical development programs for telcagepant (MK-0974) and MK-3207, the Company's investigational oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists for the intermittent treatment of acute migraine.

11 Sep 2009

Study investigating the effect of FTO obesity gene in relation to food habits

The risk of becoming obese is 2.5 times higher for those who have double copies of the best known risk gene for overweight and obesity. However, this is only true if the fat consumption is high. A low fat diet neutralizes the harmful effects of the gene.

11 Sep 2009

Biomarkers for rapid identification of treatment effectiveness in major depression

Now, based on the final results of a nationwide study led by UCLA, clinicians may be able to accurately predict within a week whether a particular drug will be effective by using a non-invasive test that takes less than 15 minutes to administer. The test will allow physicians to quickly switch patients to a more effective treatment, if necessary.

11 Sep 2009

Universal American allies with Nifty after Fifty

Universal American Corp. is pleased to announce a strategic alliance with Nifty after Fifty(“NaF”), a company that operates health and wellness centers focused primarily on the senior community.

11 Sep 2009

ABTA launches new research program on brain tumor therapy

The American Brain Tumor Association has launched a new Special Projects Discovery Grant program to support fresh and creative research ideas for solving the challenges of brain tumor diagnosis and treatment.

11 Sep 2009

TrKA and CCM2 combination results in pediatric tumour regression

Why are some pediatric cancers able to spontaneously regress? Prof. Michael Fainzilber and his team of the Weizmann Institute's Biological Chemistry Department seem to have unexpectedly found part of the answer. Further research towards a better understanding of the mechanism of action might hopefully lead, in the future, to the development of drugs that will be able to induce regression of certain tumors.

10 Sep 2009

CytRx granted patent for molecular chaperone amplifier drug candidate

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, today announced that it has been granted a key patent by the European Patent Office that covers through 2024 the use of its orally available molecular chaperone amplifier drug candidate arimoclomol for the treatment or prevention of neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

10 Sep 2009

Scientist awarded grant to study the role of VENs in quick decision making

A scientist at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center has been awarded a $400,000 grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation to help study a rare cell type that is believed to play a role in quick decision making and intuition. Abnormalities in this cell type have been seen in people suffering from autism and dementia.

10 Sep 2009

Vitro Diagnostics' novel stem cell technology for cancer treatment

Vitro Diagnostics, Inc., dba Vitro Biopharma, announced advances in its adult stem cell products and technology with application to cell-based therapy of cancer. With the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy from brain cancer, we are reminded of such aggressive cancers without effective treatment.

10 Sep 2009

Human neural stem cells to treat Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease

StemCells, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEM) announced today that it will soon initiate with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Children’s Hospital a Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the therapeutic potential of StemCells’ proprietary HuCNS-SC® product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) to treat Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a myelination disorder that primarily affects infants and young children.

10 Sep 2009

Protox' Phase 2 study of PRX302 for treating BPH provides positive results

Protox Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: PRX), a leader in the development of receptor targeted fusion proteins, today announced positive 12 month data from its open-label Phase 2 study of PRX302 in males with moderate to severe benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The study results indicate that those patients who received an optimal dose of PRX302 continued to demonstrate significant symptomatic relief at 12 months following a single treatment.

10 Sep 2009

Stroke rehabilitation technology to improve patients' quality of life

Stroke rehabilitation technology which patients can operate in their own homes while playing computer games, is being developed by academics at the University of Southampton.

10 Sep 2009