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.

NIST and PTB join to test newly developed optical magnetic field sensor

The "magnetically best shielded room on earth" has the size of an apartment block and is located on the site of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Institute Berlin. Magnetic fields such as that of the earth are kept out here as effective as nowhere else.

14 Dec 2009

Texas researchers identify new detection method for circulating tumor cells

Circulating metastatic breast cancer cells can lose their epithelial receptors, a process that enables them to travel through the bloodstream undetected, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Dec 2009

Researchers explore regenerative techniques to treat common neurological disorders

For more than 400 years, scientists have studied the amazing regenerative power of salamanders, trying to understand how these creatures routinely repair injuries that would usually leave humans and other mammals paralyzed -- or worse.

14 Dec 2009

Study provides new insight on teens’ addiction to drug abuse

It is common knowledge that smoking is a health risk but why do teens become addicted to smoking more easily than adults? In an evaluation for Faculty of 1000 Biology, Neil Grunberg looks into why adolescents are more prone to substance abuse.

14 Dec 2009

Innovative approaches to develop more effective interventions to reduce obesity

The National Institutes of Health is launching a $37 million program that will use findings from basic research on human behavior to develop more effective interventions to reduce obesity.

13 Dec 2009

UPMC Health Plan signs agreement to offer brain fitness software from Posit Science

UPMC Health Plan announced today that it has signed an agreement to offer award-winning brain fitness software from Posit Science®, at no cost, to all UPMC for Life Medicare Advantage members.

12 Dec 2009

Disabilities account for a quarter of U.S. adult health care costs

"Just over one-quarter of U.S. adult health care spending was associated with disability in 2006, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention," Insurance Journal reports.

11 Dec 2009

Talk To Me Technologies to help customers get funding through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

AbleNet, Inc. announces a new program to offer Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance funding support through Talk To Me Technologies, LLC. This service is effective December 2009 for the AbleNet SuperTalker™ progressive communicator and FL4SH™ scanning communicator products.

11 Dec 2009

Uppsala University Hospital orders CELDA from Likvor for diagnosing NPH

LinkMed’s portfolio company Likvor has received an order for Likvor CELDA™ from Uppsala University Hospital (Akademiska Universitetssjukhuset).

11 Dec 2009

Arena Pharmaceuticals' lorcaserin demonstrates low abuse potential

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported that positive data from a clinical trial evaluating the abuse potential of lorcaserin were presented in a poster session at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Data from the trial demonstrate that the risk for abuse associated with lorcaserin is very low.

11 Dec 2009

French team develops robotic technology to operate on a beating heart

If you've been waiting for the day to arrive when computers actually start performing surgery, that moment might soon be upon us. A French team has developed a computerized 3D model that allows surgeons to use robotics to operate on a beating heart, according to a report in The International Journal of Robotics Research, published by SAGE.

11 Dec 2009

Scientists explore new potential therapies for Parkinson's disease

Following up on their previous work showing the rescue of dopamine neurons by chemicals that interact with the retinoid X receptor (RXR), researchers have now investigated the potential of these chemicals, known as RXR ligands, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

11 Dec 2009

Stroke drug kills cancer cells and leaves normal cells intact, report researchers

A never-approved drug developed to prevent the death of nerve cells after a stroke can efficiently kill cancer cells while keeping normal cells healthy and intact, an international team led by a Tel Aviv University researcher is reporting in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

11 Dec 2009

Researchers discover new explanation for differences in severity of mental illness in males

Researchers have discovered a new explanation for differences in the severity of mental illness in males. The more excess copies of a certain gene, the more serious the handicap. The genetic defect is situated on the X-chromosome; and it is suspected that it is the amount of copies of the GDI1 gene that is responsible.

11 Dec 2009

Asymmetrical arm swings while walking can be an early sign of Parkinson's disease

Irregular arm swings while walking could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease, according to neurologists who believe early detection may help physicians apply treatments to slow further brain cell damage until strategies to slow disease progression are available.

11 Dec 2009

Tasigna demonstrates greater efficacy over Gleevec in chronic Ph+ CML patients

In a large Phase III clinical trial, Tasigna (nilotinib capsules) demonstrated greater efficacy over Gleevec (imatinib) in the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase. The new clinical data were just presented as a late breaking abstract at the 51st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), in New Orleans, Louisiana.

11 Dec 2009

NIH launches a $37 million program to reduce obesity

The National Institutes of Health is launching a $37 million program that will use findings from basic research on human behavior to develop more effective interventions to reduce obesity.

11 Dec 2009

Mouse study shows delaying the ageing process may offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease

Aging is the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that simply slowing the aging process in mice prone to develop Alzheimer's disease prevented their brains from turning into a neuronal wasteland.

10 Dec 2009

New brain metastases treatment guidelines

New treatment guidelines for patients with brain metastases are now available from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS).

10 Dec 2009

Nexstim's Navigated Brain Stimulation System receives FDA clearance

Nexstim Oy, a medical device company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Navigated Brian Stimulation System for use in the assessment of the primary motor cortex for pre-procedural planning.

10 Dec 2009