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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.

Schering-Plough announces 2009 third quarter financial results

Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today reported financial results for the 2009 third quarter.

22 Oct 2009

FDA extends Acorda Therapeutics' Fampridine-SR PDUFA goal date

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the PDUFA goal date for its review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for Fampridine-SR to January 22, 2010. The original Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date for this priority review application was October 22, 2009.

22 Oct 2009

PacificGMP selected by ArmaGen Technologies to produce its proprietary protein for a Phase 1 clinical trial

PacificGMP, the leader in single-use bioprocessing for development and manufacturing for its client partners, announced that ArmaGen Technologies has selected it to produce its proprietary protein for a Phase 1 clinical trial.

22 Oct 2009

Pharmos announces results of its Phase 2b Dextofisopam trial

Pharmos Corporation (Pink Sheets: PARS); on September 14, 2009, Pharmos announced the results of its Phase 2b Dextofisopam trial for the treatment of diarrhea predominant and alternating diarrhea and constipation irritable bowel syndrome.

22 Oct 2009

Peripheral arterial disease linked to lifestyle changes

Modifying the risk of peripheral arterial disease (or PAD)-with healthy lifestyle changes-remains vital to one's health, note researchers in a recent issue of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology. And while PAD can progress and worsen over time, there is not enough evidence yet to advocate minimally invasive treatment in patients who have had a narrowing or blockage of a leg artery but showing no signs or symptoms of the disease, say Irish researchers in a retrospective study of more than 900 individuals.

22 Oct 2009

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices supports the permissive use of GARDASIL

Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) supports the permissive use of GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for boys and young men ages 9 to 26, which means that GARDASIL may be given to males ages 9 to 26 to reduce the likelihood of acquiring genital warts at the discretion of the patient's health care provider.

22 Oct 2009

New study on the factors that determine development of posttraumatic stress disorder

After exposure to extreme life stresses, what distinguishes the individuals who do and do not develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? A new study, published in the October 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, suggests that it has something to do with the way that we control the activity of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region thought to orchestrate our thoughts and actions.

22 Oct 2009

Scientists explore new molecular insights for treating anxiety disorders

There are increasingly precise molecular insights into ways that stress exposure leads to fear and through which fear extinction resolves these fear states. Extinction is generally regarded as new inhibitory learning, but where the inhibition originates from remains to be determined.

22 Oct 2009

HBO treatments may improve neurological outcome after traumatic brain injury

Hard to Treat Diseases, Inc. (HTDS:PK), http://www.htdsmedical.com announced that researchers in its Slavica BioChem division have reported new positive results of experiments in which the potential beneficial effects of Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) after traumatic brain injury have been explored.

22 Oct 2009

Women are better than men at distinguishing between emotions: Study

Women are better than men at distinguishing between emotions, especially fear and disgust, according to a new study published in the online version of the journal Neuropsychologia. As part of the investigation, Olivier Collignon and a team from the Universit- de Montr-al Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC) demonstrated that women are better than men at processing auditory, visual and audiovisual emotions.

22 Oct 2009

New research suggests physical therapy helps restore variety of functions after neurological injury

New research suggests a tailored approach to physical therapy after a neurological injury such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury could help restore a wider variety of functions.

22 Oct 2009

Research in specific cells and circuitry affected by addiction may help guard against relapse

New research using animal models is enabling a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of compulsive drug addiction in humans - knowledge that may lead to more effective treatment options to weaken the powerful cravings that cause people to relapse.

22 Oct 2009

Alzheimer's Association Comfort Zone launched

Launched today, the Alzheimer's Association Comfort Zone(TM), powered by Omnilink, is the first comprehensive location management system designed specifically for Alzheimer's, giving people with the disease more freedom and independence in their community while providing their family some peace of mind.

22 Oct 2009

New study suggests potential treatment for blindsight patients

Although we assume we can see everything in our field of vision, the brain actually picks and chooses the stimuli that come into our consciousness. A new study in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's Journal of Vision reveals that our brains can be trained to consciously see stimuli that would normally be invisible.

22 Oct 2009

Constant light at night can increase depressive symptoms

Researchers found that mice housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice that had a normal light-dark cycle.

22 Oct 2009

Electronic eye implant mimics human retina; restores partial vision

A 50-year-old New York woman who was diagnosed with a progressive blinding disease at age 13 was implanted with an experimental electronic eye implant that has partially restored her vision. A team led by Dr. Lucian V. Del Priore at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the June 26 surgery -- the first case of its kind in New York.

22 Oct 2009

Eyes may mirror Alzheimer's disease

The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but new research indicates they also may mirror a brain ravaged by Alzheimer's disease.

22 Oct 2009

NIH grants $2.1 million for schizophrenia research

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $2.1 million "Grand Opportunity" (GO) grant to a team of researchers - led by Prof. Todd Lencz at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New York, and Prof.Ariel Darvasi of the Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - to conduct a study on the genetic basis of schizophrenia..

22 Oct 2009

Certain molecules found to play an important role in regulating circadian rhythm: Study

Molecules that may hold the key to new ways to fight cancer and other diseases have been found to play an important role in regulating circadian rhythm, says Liheng Shi, a researcher in Texas A&M's Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences.

21 Oct 2009

Northwest Biotherapeutics announces long-term data from Phase I and Phase I/II clinical trials of DCVax-Brain

Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced further long-term follow-up data, for the period from January through September 2009, from its prior Phase I and Phase I/II clinical trials conducted at UCLA with DCVax®-Brain in patients with Glioblastoma multiforme ("GBM"). GBM is the most rapid and lethal type of brain cancer. During the update period, only one of the twenty patients treated with DCVax®-Brain (in addition to standard of care) died, and that patient had survived for nearly 7 years (80.5 months).

21 Oct 2009