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.

General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

The use of general anesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world, but the precise biological mechanisms that underlie anesthetic drugs' effects on the brain and the body are only beginning to be understood. A review article in the December 30 New England Journal of Medicine brings together for the first time information from a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine, to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive investigations of processes underlying general anesthesia.

30 Dec 2010

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine are coordinating an international team of scientists working to identify genes or gene variants that may make a person more likely to have a particular type of stroke called an ischemic stroke.

30 Dec 2010

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

The brain under general anesthesia isn't "asleep" as surgery patients are often told -- it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, sleep and coma, in the Dec. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Dec 2010

Primal fitness offer tips that help you get in shape for 2011

For your New Year's fitness resolution, why not turn to something new, but at the same time, very old? A new trend, called Primal fitness, involves practicing activities that our early hunter-gatherer ancestors would have experienced in the wild - movements such as walking, running, balancing, climbing, lifting, carrying, throwing and catching.

29 Dec 2010

Natus Medical ships ALGO hearing screeners to New South Wales

Natus Medical Incorporated today announced that it was awarded, and has shipped, a $1.3 million order for its ALGO hearing screeners from New South Wales, Australia's most populous state.

29 Dec 2010

Kennedy Krieger inagurates new clinic for AHO treatment and research

Kennedy Krieger Institute announced the opening of a new clinic for the treatment and research of Albright hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO), a rare genetic disorder affecting the bones, skin and hormone-producing tissues.

29 Dec 2010

NEI awards Case Western Reserve $10M for study of retinal diseases

The Departments of Pharmacology and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have been awarded a $10.1 million grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to research and develop new treatments for diseases of the retina, a leading cause of blindness.

29 Dec 2010

Intellect obtains pharmacokinetic data from OX1 Phase 1b trial for Alzheimer's disease

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and multiple licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has obtained a draft pharmacokinetic report from its completed Phase 1b trial for its lead Alzheimer's candidate, OX1. The Company previously reported on the safety aspects of the trial, which demonstrated that OX1 is safe and well tolerated at all dose levels tested.

28 Dec 2010

Epilepsy not getting the public attention and research funding it deserves

Epilepsy, a common and serious neurologic disorder that affects millions of people, is not getting the public attention and funding for research it deserves, according to an editorial on a study published in the January 4, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Dec 2010

Transition, Elan to modify collaboration agreement for development, commercialization of ELND005

Transition Therapeutics Inc. today announced that the Company and Elan Corporation, plc have mutually agreed to modify their collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of ELND005.

27 Dec 2010

Amygdala may contribute to rich, varied social life among humans: Scientists

Scientists have discovered that the amygdala, a small almond shaped structure deep within the temporal lobe, is important to a rich and varied social life among humans. The finding was published this week in a new study in Nature Neuroscience and is similar to previous findings in other primate species, which compared the size and complexity of social groups across those species.

27 Dec 2010

New derivation of stem cells from fat cells hold promise for therapeutic, cosmetic benefits

Two studies appearing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation 19(10) discuss stem cells derived from adipose (fat) cells and their potential use in plastic surgery and tissue reconstruction. The studies are now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/ .

24 Dec 2010

Growth hormone may be hazardous for middle aged and older people

A compound which acts in the opposite way as growth hormone can reverse some of the signs of aging, a research team that includes a Saint Louis University physician has shown. The finding may be counter-intuitive to some older adults who take growth hormone, thinking it will help revitalize them.

24 Dec 2010

China emerging as world leader in stem-cell R&D

Recent breakthroughs show that China is emerging as a world leader in stem-cell research and development, says Emerging Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Cindy Morrissey.

24 Dec 2010

RegeneRx common stock to be quoted on OTC Bulletin Board following NYSE Amex suspension

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that beginning with the opening of trading on December 23, 2010, the Company's common stock is expected to be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol RGRX following its suspension from the NYSE Amex as of that date.

24 Dec 2010

Silencing of specific genes of germinal cell lines reduces brain tumors

Scientists at IRB Barcelona have discovered that some brain tumours in larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster use the genetic programme of germline cells to grow. The removal of some of these genes leads to healthy brains. This finding demonstrates that these genes are crucial for tumour development. The study, headed by ICREA researcher Cayetano Gonz-lez, is published today in the prestigious journal Science.

24 Dec 2010

Great River Foundation awarded 2-year Wellmark Foundation grant to fight childhood obesity

The Great River Foundation, which is affiliated with Great River Health Systems, has been awarded a two-year grant from the Wellmark Foundation to help fight childhood obesity. The funding will be used to begin a new school-based exercise program at two Burlington elementary schools.

23 Dec 2010

Oxytocin makes individuals feel calmer and dampens effect on fear receptor in the brain

"My husband of thirty-five years passed away seven years ago, and I lost my daughter in a car accident last year, I honestly could no longer find the energy to smile or laugh," recounts sixty-year-old widow Opal Perry. "My son suggested I try a new hormone being touted to help with symptoms of depression, called oxytocin. After the second day I was driving and caught myself smiling in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. I had to do a double take. I hadn't really smiled in seven years! I thought I would never smile again until now."

23 Dec 2010

Scientists pinpoint brain site where leptin hormone may trigger onset of puberty

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a tiny site in the brain where the hormone leptin may help trigger the onset of puberty.

23 Dec 2010

Preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation could be a risk marker for adverse cardiac surgery outcome

A study published in the January 2011 issue of Anesthesiology is one of the first to show that low preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation (ScO2) could be an important physiological risk marker for adverse outcome in cardiac surgery patients.

23 Dec 2010

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

Researchers to identify gene variants that cause ischemic stroke

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

Primal fitness offer tips that help you get in shape for 2011

Natus Medical ships ALGO hearing screeners to New South Wales

Kennedy Krieger inagurates new clinic for AHO treatment and research

NEI awards Case Western Reserve $10M for study of retinal diseases

Intellect obtains pharmacokinetic data from OX1 Phase 1b trial for Alzheimer's disease

Epilepsy not getting the public attention and research funding it deserves

Transition, Elan to modify collaboration agreement for development, commercialization of ELND005

Amygdala may contribute to rich, varied social life among humans: Scientists

New derivation of stem cells from fat cells hold promise for therapeutic, cosmetic benefits

Growth hormone may be hazardous for middle aged and older people

China emerging as world leader in stem-cell R&D

RegeneRx common stock to be quoted on OTC Bulletin Board following NYSE Amex suspension

Silencing of specific genes of germinal cell lines reduces brain tumors

Great River Foundation awarded 2-year Wellmark Foundation grant to fight childhood obesity

Oxytocin makes individuals feel calmer and dampens effect on fear receptor in the brain

Scientists pinpoint brain site where leptin hormone may trigger onset of puberty

Preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation could be a risk marker for adverse cardiac surgery outcome

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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