Movement disorders News and Research

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L-DOPA drug may delay or prevent age-related macular degeneration

A drug already used safely to treat Parkinson's disease, restless leg syndrome and other movement disorders also could delay or prevent the most common cause of blindness affecting more than 9 million older Americans - age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

10 Nov 2015

Study reveals gene mutation that increases risk of SUDEP in patients with mild forms of disease

Researchers in the Adult Genetic Epilepsy Program of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre have discovered a gene mutation that increases the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in patients with mild forms of the disease.

16 Oct 2015

Brain areas linked to social behaviors underdeveloped in youths with high functioning ASD

A team of UCLA scientists has found that brain areas linked to social behaviors are both underdeveloped and insufficiently networked in youths with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to study participants without ASD.

14 Oct 2015

Gene therapy prevents neuronal death, disease effects in experimental model of PD

An estimated seven to ten million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease (PD), which is an incurable and progressive disease of the nervous system affecting movement and cognitive function. More than half of PD patients develop progressive disease showing signs of dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease.

9 Oct 2015

Minor hallucinations may predate Parkinson motor symptoms

About four in 10 patients with untreated Parkinson’s disease experience minor hallucinations, research shows.

8 Oct 2015

Neurocrine Biosciences announces positive data from NBI-98854 Phase III trial in tardive dyskinesia

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. announced today that NBI-98854, a highly selective small molecule VMAT2 inhibitor, showed a statistically significant reduction in tardive dyskinesia during the six weeks of placebo-controlled treatment in the Kinect 3 clinical trial. This Phase III trial included moderate to severe tardive dyskinesia patients with underlying schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar or major depressive disorder.

8 Oct 2015

Researchers reveal molecular mechanism that controls remyelination

Researchers in Japan have revealed the molecular mechanism involved in the process of repair to damage of the myelin sheath. In vertebrates, axons extending from nerve cells are covered by insulating sheets called the myelin sheath, made with the cell membranes of oligodendrocytes, enabling fast electrical signaling through saltatory conduction.

4 Sep 2015

Cognitive impairment may be part of prodromal PD

Research shows that people with a theoretical high risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD) have significant cognitive deficits, particularly affecting executive function.

3 Sep 2015

University of Maryland Medicine offers MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment to Parkinson's patients

University of Maryland Medicine (the University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine) and its Center for Metabolic Imaging and Image-Guided Therapeutics (CMIT) has begun to use MRI-guided focused ultrasound on a deep structure within the brain related to Parkinson's disease - the globus pallidus.

2 Sep 2015

Researchers perform first focused ultrasound treatments in the U.S. for dyskinesia

Researchers at the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia have performed the first focused ultrasound treatments in the United States for dyskinesia associated with Parkinson's disease.

2 Sep 2015

September tip sheet from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

A computer algorithm did a better job than doctors at documenting "red flag" symptoms among patients with gastrointestinal disorders, a Cedars-Sinai study has found, underscoring the potential of the technology to improve patient care.

29 Aug 2015

Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group physicians selected for Best Doctors in America List for 2015-2016

Sixty-one physicians affiliated with Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group, the faculty practice of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, were selected for the Best Doctors in America® List for 2015-2016. Only 5 percent of physicians in the United States earn this prestigious honor, determined by impartial peer review.

29 Aug 2015

Newly developed technique delivers wireless power for optogenetics

A miniature device that combines optogenetics - using light to control the activity of the brain - with a newly developed technique for wirelessly powering implanted devices is the first fully internal method of delivering optogenetics.

18 Aug 2015

Neurocrine completes enrollment in Phase III clinical trial of NBI-98854 in tardive dyskinesia patients

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. announced today that it has recently completed subject randomization of the Phase III clinical trial (Kinect 3 Study) of its proprietary Vesicular Mono-Amine Transporter 2 (VMAT2) compound NBI-98854 in tardive dyskinesia patients.

13 Aug 2015

Early cognitive changes linked to white matter damage in Parkinson’s

Subtle changes in white matter integrity are detectable in patients with Parkinson’s disease and are associated with early impairments in cognition, say researchers.

6 Aug 2015

Study sheds light on certain antagonist drugs that block physiological responses

Members of the Consolidated Research Group of Molecular Neurobiology of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Barcelona (UB), affiliated with the Centre for Networked Biomedical Research on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), have published a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) about the formation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) which allows understanding the unexpected behaviour of some antagonists that block physiological responses.

30 Jul 2015

NYU Langone receives $25 million to establish Fresco Institute for PD and movement disorders

NYU Langone Medical Center today announced that the Paolo and Marlene Fresco Foundation (Fresco Foundation) has generously given $25 million to establish the international Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson's & Movement Disorders.

16 Jun 2015

Clinical studies confirm safety, efficacy of opicapone in Parkinson’s disease patients

BIAL is presenting 11 research posters at the 19th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders (June 14–15, San Diego, CA). These evaluate the safety and efficacy of opicapone (BIA 9-1067), a novel once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor for use as adjunctive therapy in levodopa-treated Parkinson’s disease patients with end of dose motor fluctuations.

15 Jun 2015

NTCELL Phase I/IIa clinical study meets primary endpoint in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Living Cell Technologies Limited today announced results from a Phase I/IIa clinical study of NTCELL, an experimental regenerative cell therapy being studied as a disease-modifying agent in Parkinson’s disease. The study, conducted in four patients in New Zealand, met its primary endpoint of safety, showing NTCELL implantation was well tolerated, with no adverse events considered to be related to NTCELL.