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.

Sleep may improve complex motor-learning task

Your performance of a complex motor-learning task such as "Guitar Hero" may improve after sleep, suggests a research abstract that will be presented Wednesday, June 9, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

11 Jun 2010

Today's fathers play an active role in children's lives

Many of today's dads are more involved in the day-to-day lives of their children, says Heidi Sallee, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University.

11 Jun 2010

Research may lead to better treatments for depression and substance abuse

In what has been hailed as a breakthrough, scientists from Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College have outlined the molecular mechanism of membrane transport. The research shows how a protein transforms its shape to transport substances across the cell membrane in order to regulate transmission of the brain's messages across the synaptic gap from one neuron to another.

11 Jun 2010

Study offers new insights into how brain chooses between behaviors that are critical for survival

A team of biologists has isolated genes that regulate the sleep-feeding conflict. The study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, offers new insights into how the brain chooses between behaviors that are critical for survival.

11 Jun 2010

mPFC dysfunction contributes to compulsive seeking of sexual behavior

Sex "addiction" is a concept that has had particularly high visibility recently with the publicity associated with Tiger Woods. Persons with addictive or compulsive disorders frequently display an inability to inhibit behaviors once they become maladaptive, despite adverse consequences of their behavior. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a brain region involved in decision-making and behavioral flexibility, and it has been identified as a potential mediator of behavioral inhibition.

11 Jun 2010

Ginkgo extract EGb 761 promotes formation of new nerve cells, cell connections in brain's memory center

US scientists have shown that the Ginkgo extract EGb 761® promotes the formation of new nerve cells and new cell connections in the hippocampus, the brain's memory center. According to Professor Yuan Luo from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the Ginkgo constituents responsible for these effects are quercetin and bilobalide.

11 Jun 2010

Hypertension linked to severity of bipolar disorders

Nearly half of patients hospitalized with bipolar disorder may suffer from hypertension, and the younger a person is diagnosed with the psychiatric condition the more likely they are to develop high blood pressure, according to a recent Michigan State University study.

11 Jun 2010

Botox reduces short-term pain in thoracic outlet syndrome patients

Made popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, Botox - a toxin known to weaken or paralyze certain nerves and muscles - may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic.

11 Jun 2010

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology forms joint venture with SiriCell Technologies

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd., China's leading stem cell research and regenerative medicine company, announced the formation of Beike Holdings Limited a joint venture with Bangkok-based SiriCell Technologies, Inc. Beike Holdings, which is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, will focus primarily on the establishment of new international subsidiaries and the development of collaborative hospital partnerships with Southeast Asia's leading healthcare providers.

11 Jun 2010

FDA advisory committee recommends approval of Novartis' FTY720 for relapsing MS

Today, an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of FTY720 (fingolimod) for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. The FDA has the option of seeking the advice of one of its advisory committees as it reviews and decides whether to approve a new treatment. The committee voted unanimously that FTY720 demonstrated substantial efficacy in treating relapsing remitting MS and that safety of the proposed 0.5 mg dose justified approval.

11 Jun 2010

Dim and demented under the influence of cannabis

New research shows what many Cannabis users have suspected or known for a while, continuous use can lead to dimmer brains. Australia ranks among the world's highest cannabis users and this puts the population at a high risk of developing dementia say researchers.

10 Jun 2010

Researchers develop new computer program for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers of the University of Granada have developed a new computer program that allows early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease through processed images. This new system has enhanced successful early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease up to 90%, which is an important progress within this area of study.

10 Jun 2010

Quark Pharmaceuticals closes $10M private financing round

Quark Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in the discovery and development of RNAi-based therapeutics, today announced the closing of a private financing by the existing investors of Quark totaling an aggregate of $10 million. The investors are funds of the prestigious SBI Holdings Group in Japan. In connection with the financing, Mr. Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings, Inc. and Mr. Robert Takeuchi, Director of SBI Investment Co., Ltd. will become members of the Quark board of directors.

10 Jun 2010

Nativis awarded patents in Japan, China, India for drug signal technology

Nativis, Inc., a La Jolla, Calif.-based life science company, has been issued patents in Japan, China and India for its innovative technology that captures the unique signals of approved drugs at the atomic level and then delivers the signal in a solution to treat serious illnesses. The technology, which also has U.S., Canadian and Australian patents, promises to transform the treatment of diseases, including those for which there are no known cures, such as brain cancer.

10 Jun 2010

Neutralizing inhibitory molecules does not improve regeneration in damaged spinal axons

Neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that removing three key inhibitory molecules from myelin - the insulating material that surrounds nerve cell fibers - does not significantly boost the ability of injured spinal axons to regenerate and restore themselves to full function.

10 Jun 2010

Researchers validate effectiveness of genome sequencing process for hereditary genetic diseases

A research team led by Dr. Nada Jabado at the MUHC Research Institute and Dr. Jacek Majewski at McGill University has proven for the first time that it is possible to identify any genetic disease in record time thanks to a powerful and reliable exome sequencing method. The exome, a small part of the genome ((less than) 2%), is of crucial interest with regard to research on genetic diseases as it accounts for 85% of mutations.

10 Jun 2010

Brain stimulation with ultrasound may enhance cognitive function

The ability to diagnose and treat brain dysfunction without surgery, may rely on a new method of noninvasive brain stimulation using pulsed ultrasound developed by a team of scientists led by William "Jamie" Tyler, a neuroscientist at Arizona State University. The approach, published in the journal Neuron on June 9, shows that pulsed ultrasound not only stimulates action potentials in intact motor cortex in mice but it also "elicits motor responses comparable to those only previously achieved with implanted electrodes and related techniques," says Yusuf Tufail, the lead author from ASU's School of Life Sciences.

10 Jun 2010

Non-melanoma skin cancer is potential marker for survivors at risk for future malignant tumors

Childhood cancer survivors diagnosed later with non-melanoma skin cancer may be at increased risk for having a malignant tumor within 15 years, according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators.

10 Jun 2010

UC emergency medicine assistant professor compares efficacy of two seizure medications to prevent SE

When seizures strike, the most immediate goal for caregivers is to get appropriate medication to the patient as quickly as possible to stop the seizing activity. In a paper published in the June Academic Emergency Medicine, UC emergency medicine assistant professor Jason McMullan, MD, found that the best means of stopping status epilepticus may be with the least direct medication.

10 Jun 2010

Voices Against Brain Cancer's fifth annual gala to fight brain cancer

Voices Against Brain Cancer's fifth annual gala, Sounding Off For A Cure, to fight brain cancer. Proceeds from the event will benefit innovative brain cancer research programs at, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, University of Michigan, University of Pittsburg and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

10 Jun 2010