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.

Scientists explore new strategies for treating neurodegenerative diseases

Studies with fruit flies have shown that the specialized nerve cells called neurons can rebuild themselves after injury.

7 Dec 2009

Albert Einstein College of Medicine receives SU2C grant for cancer research

Matthew Levy, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, has been awarded more than $700,000 by Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) for his high-risk/high-reward cancer research.

7 Dec 2009

Neuroscientists show how brain waves can be used to perform certain tasks

Neuroscientists at the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville, Fla., have demonstrated how brain waves can be used to type alphanumerical characters on a computer screen. By merely focusing on the "q" in a matrix of letters, for example, that "q" appears on the monitor.

7 Dec 2009

DBS therapy offers hope for epilepsy patients

Long-term data from an investigational study of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy for Epilepsy was released this week by Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) at the American Epilepsy Society Meeting (AES) in Boston.

7 Dec 2009

Stem cell treatment: A new hope for Multiple Sclerosis

RNL Bio Co., Ltd, (www.rnl.co.kr) a leading biopharmaceutical company specialized in adult stem cell therapeutics announced today that a 46-year-old female, Kang Sook Park's Multiple Sclerosis improved tremendously after receiving stem cell treatment. Park was suffering from MS (Multiple Sclerosis), an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).

6 Dec 2009

GRHF invites media to attend annual Christmas concert for pediatric programs

The Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation (GRHF) invites media to attend the Al Shamal Shriners' Oriental Band annual Christmas concert for children at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital (GRH).

5 Dec 2009

New Emergency Stroke System ensures patients’ access to effective treatment

Thanks to Los Angeles County's new Emergency Stroke System, individuals who experience a stroke may now be able to more quickly access some of the latest advances in stroke interventions.

5 Dec 2009

Oxygen Biotherapeutics commences enrollment in clinical trial of Oxycyte emulsion for TBI

Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the company's Phase II-b, dose escalation, clinical trial in Switzerland for use of Oxycyte(TM) emulsion in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Oxycyte is the Company's perfluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier.

5 Dec 2009

AES: Progress in epilepsy management not reached millions of people around the world

Substantial progress has been made over the last 15 years in the healthcare community's ability to diagnose and treat epilepsy and its complications. Yet this progress in epilepsy management has not reached most of the 50 million people around the world, including many of the nearly three million people in the United States who have the disorder.

5 Dec 2009

Call for every health insurance plan to cover Phenylketonuria

Credit Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Robert Casey (D-PA) with a significant contribution to the health care debate: a bill ends a glaring disparity in the way Americans living with Phenylketonuria (PKU) control their potentially devastating disease, and the way others living with serious chronic conditions are treated. "The Medical Foods Equity Act of 2009" aims to save affected families thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, cut long-term costs for the entire system, and offer 20,000 Americans a better shot at healthy, happy, and productive lives.

5 Dec 2009

Mobile phone does not increase risk of brain tumour

A new study has found no increase in the incidence of brain tumours during the years immediately following the introduction of mobile phones in Nordic countries.

5 Dec 2009

Health experts address treatment gap in epilepsy management at AES Annual Meeting

5 Dec 2009

'Brain advantages' for effective business leadership

Business leaders are in charge-of people, of budgets, of production lines. Most leaders also believe that they are in charge of their greatest resource-their own brain. But how true is that? The more we understand about how the brain works, the clearer it becomes that often our brain kicks in before we do.

5 Dec 2009

Jenex reports closing of modified private-placement equity financing

The Jenex Corporation, a medical device company focused on the development and application of products based on its patented thermal therapy technology, today announced that on December 1, 2009 it closed a brokered private-placement equity financing. The offering is subject to receiving final acceptance from The TSX Venture Exchange.

5 Dec 2009

DTI helps identify distorted nerve fiber bundles around brain tumors in thalamic JPA children

A new study published this week in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics finds that operative plans for removing Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma, or JPA, tumors in the thalamus of the brain can be augmented with Diffusion Tensor Imaging, or DTI. The sensitivity of DTI imaging allows for the visualization of nerve fiber bundles in the brain.

5 Dec 2009

Benign tumors in children can be augmented with Diffusion Tensor Imaging

5 Dec 2009

Paralyzed dancer sues Cargill over E. coli tainted burger

Stephanie Smith, the twenty-two year old Minnesota dance instructor left paralyzed by a burger tainted with E. coli filed suit today against Cargill, who produced the contaminated meat. Ms. Smith, whose “The Burger that Shattered Her Life” profile in the New York Times was emailed all over the country, covered by hundreds of media outlets and galvanized legislators to change food laws, attempted mediation with the company, but was unable to come to a fair agreement with them.

5 Dec 2009

ZIOPHARM Oncology prices public offering of 15,484,000 shares of its common stock

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. announced the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 15,484,000 shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase 7,742,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $3.10 per unit.

4 Dec 2009

Abnormal EEG waveforms in neurological disorder patients can now be better understood

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is widely used by physicians and scientists to study brain function and to diagnose neurological disorders. However, it has remained largely unknown whether the electrodes on the head give an exact view of what is happening inside the brain.

4 Dec 2009

Preclinical data of Curis' HSP 90 inhibitor published

Curis, Inc., a drug development company seeking to develop next generation targeted small molecule drug candidates for cancer treatment, today announced that preclinical data related to CUDC-305, the company’s Heat Shock Protein (HSP) 90 inhibitor, was published online this week in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

4 Dec 2009