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 control point for suppressing cancer cell growth

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have discovered new details of how cancer cells escape from tumor suppression mechanisms that normally prevent these damaged cells from multiplying. They also demonstrated a potential link between this cell proliferation control mechanism and the cognitive deficits caused by Down syndrome.

28 Apr 2011

Cotinine can reduce plaques linked with dementia and prevent memory loss

Cotinine, a compound derived from tobacco, reduced plaques associated with dementia and prevented memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a study led by researchers at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida found.

28 Apr 2011

Scientists weaken long-term memory

Could veterans of war, rape victims and other people who have seen horrific crimes someday have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains? In a new study, UCLA life scientists report a discovery that may make the reduction of such memories a reality.

28 Apr 2011

Scientists identify new risk gene variant for depression

Max Planck scientists uncover surprising genetic links. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich have compared the genomes of a total of 4,088 patients and 11,001 healthy control subjects from all over the world and identified a new risk gene variant for depression.

28 Apr 2011

New study sheds light on how sleep-deprived lifestyles might impair brain function

A new study in rats is shedding light on how sleep-deprived lifestyles might impair functioning without people realizing it.

28 Apr 2011

Novel strategy for physicians to detect Autism Syndrome Disorder in babies

A novel strategy developed by autism researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, called "The One-Year Well-Baby Check Up Approach," shows promise as a simple way for physicians to detect cases of Autism Syndrome Disorder, language or developmental delays in babies at an early age.

28 Apr 2011

Kava tea may cause kidney failure and muscle breakdown

When a 34-year-old bicyclist was found collapsed on a roadside and rushed to the University of Rochester Medical Center emergency room on the verge of kidney failure and muscle breakdown, doctors were surprised to discover that a trendy tea derived from the kava plant was the cause of his ills.

28 Apr 2011

NHL Alumni, Baycrest team up for brain health research

One of the world's top neuroscience institutes has teamed up with the NHL Alumni on a study that will track the brain health of retired NHL players over several years.

28 Apr 2011

New study reveals a novel gene linked with major depression

A new study reveals a novel gene associated with major depression. The research, published by Cell Press in the April 28 issue of the journal Neuron, suggests a previously unrecognized mechanism for major depression and may guide future therapeutic strategies for this debilitating mood disorder.

28 Apr 2011

Promising pain medication may decrease ability to fight off sepsis

Pain researchers from the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Medical Center have discovered that resiniferatoxin, a drug that has shown early promise as an option for chronic, severe pain sufferers, may decrease the body's ability to fight off bacterial infections, particularly sepsis.

27 Apr 2011

Tips for parents to identify concussions in young athletes

A recent study found that many parents feel they lack the knowledge to adequately detect symptoms of head injuries in their children. Yet keeping young athletes off the field until they've fully healed from a concussion is key to preventing serious and potentially fatal complications.

27 Apr 2011

Biologists determine molecular structure of GluN2D receptor subunit

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in collaboration with colleagues at Emory University have determined the molecular structure of a key portion, or subunit, of a receptor type commonly expressed in brain cells.

27 Apr 2011

Major breakthrough in understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Brandeis researchers have made a significant advance in the effort to understand amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by successfully reversing the toxicity of the mutated protein in the familial type of the disease.

27 Apr 2011

Brain-derived protein in colorectal cancer

Tumor progression is usually ensured by more than one proliferative mechanism. When one of these is shut down by a specifically targeted drug, other mechanisms may emerge. While these events may lead to treatment failure, they may also become an opportunity for researchers to identify novel targets to be further explored.

27 Apr 2011

Study finds gender difference in immune responses to PTSD

Men and women had starkly different immune system responses to chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, with men showing no response and women showing a strong response, in two studies by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

27 Apr 2011

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may help clot-busting drugs treat strokes

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may help clot-busting drugs treat strokes, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

27 Apr 2011

AAN honors BIDMC neurologist with Epilepsy Award

Bernard Chang, MD, a member of the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, received the Dreifuss-Penry Epilepsy Award at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held recently in Honolulu, HI.

27 Apr 2011

Lilly and Medtronic’s joint venture in Parkinson’s disease therapy

Lilly has already developed a protein called GDNF (glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor) known to preserve the function of neurons and Medtronic will provide a system that carries the medicine to a key area of the brain.

From Medtronic 26 Apr 2011

USPTO grants Cortex patent for CX1739 AMPAKINE molecule

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for a patent that protects its lead AMPAKINE® molecule, CX1739.

26 Apr 2011

Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce effectiveness of widely used antidepressant medications

Scientists at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at The Rockefeller University, led by Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Ph.D., have shown that anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen, reduce the effectiveness of the most widely used class of antidepressant medications, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, taken for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders.

26 Apr 2011