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Baffling chronic pain linked to rewiring of brain

Scientists peered at the brains of people with a baffling chronic pain condition and discovered something surprising.

26 Nov 2008

Discovery may lead to new therapeutic approaches for pain reduction

By manipulating the appearance of a chronically achy hand, researchers have found they could increase or decrease the pain and swelling in patients moving their symptomatic limbs.

25 Nov 2008

Researchers find clue to safer obesity drugs

Once hailed as a miracle weight-loss drug, Fen-phen was removed from the market more than a decade ago for inducing life-threatening side effects, including heart valve lesions. Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are trying to understand how Fen-phen behaves in the brain in order to develop safer anti-obesity drugs with fewer side effects.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists discover that blocking a neuropeptide receptor decreases nicotine addiction

The study was published in an online Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the week of November 24.

24 Nov 2008

Researchers shed new light on genetics of Parkinson's

A new study by Narendra et al. suggests that Parkin, the product of the Parkinson's disease-related gene Park2, prompts neuronal survival by clearing the cell of its damaged mitochondria.

24 Nov 2008

Neurons in adult brain can remodel their connections

In work reported in the Nov. 24 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) , Elly Nedivi, associate professor of neurobiology at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and colleagues found that a type of neuron implicated in autism spectrum disorders remodels itself in a strip of brain tissue only as thick as four sheets of tissue paper at the upper border of cortical layer 2.

24 Nov 2008

Researchers discover mechanism vital to the development of the hippocampus

Astrophysicists peer into the far corners of deep space for dark matter, but for neuroscientists at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) exploring the unknown is much closer to home.

21 Nov 2008

Marijuana may be good for the aging brain

The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

19 Nov 2008

Researchers identify best time for stem cell collection for Parkinson's therapy

Researchers have identified a stage during dopamine neuron differentiation that may be an ideal time to collect human embryonic stem cells for transplantation to treat Parkinson's disease, according to data presented at Neuroscience 2008, the 38th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

19 Nov 2008

Researchers use embryonic stem cells from mice to grow motor neurons

Dalhousie Medical School researchers have discovered that embryonic stem cells may play a critical role in helping people with nerve damage and motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), regain muscular strength.

19 Nov 2008

KAI Pharmaceuticals reports positive results for KAI-1678 in pain reduction

KAI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery and development company, today announced preclinical results demonstrating the effectiveness of KAI-1678 in reversing pain (hyperalgesia and allodynia) in multiple preclinical models.

19 Nov 2008

Researchers define ideal time for stem cell collection for Parkinson's disease therapy

19 Nov 2008

Computational model provides insight into function of brain's visual cortex

Computational neuroscientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a computational model that provides insight into the function of the brain's visual cortex and the information processing that enables people to perceive contours and surfaces, and understand what they see in the world around them.

19 Nov 2008

High levels of social support may protect brain during stroke

New research in mice suggests that high levels of social support may provide some protection against strokes by reducing the amount of damaging inflammation in the brain.

18 Nov 2008

Neuralstem enters stem cell collaboration for Huntington's disease in Germany

Neuralstem, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with Professor Guido Nikkah Ph.D, of Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany, to advance development of Neuralstem's human neural stem cell therapies.

18 Nov 2008

Maas Biolab scientists validate cyclosporin human neuroprotection

Maas Biolab researchers CSO Eskil Elmer, M.D., Ph.D. and neuroscientist Magnus Hansson, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues have for the first time ever demonstrated the mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) or "megapore" occurs in viable adult human neuron mitochondria and the ability of cyclosporin-A to block its formation.

18 Nov 2008