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.

Discovery of molecular mechanism that alters strength of higher brain network connections

Yale School of Medicine and University of Crete School of Medicine researchers report in Cell April 20 the first evidence of a molecular mechanism that dynamically alters the strength of higher brain network connections.

21 Apr 2007

Protein called CREB key to memory storage in brain

Scientists know little about how the brain assigns cells to participate in encoding and storing memories.

20 Apr 2007

Schering-Plough plans phase III trials for novel selective antiplatelet therapy

Schering-Plough Corporation has announced plans to initiate two global Phase III large-scale clinical outcomes trials for its novel selective oral antiplatelet therapy, the thrombin receptor antagonist (TRA) SCH 530348.

20 Apr 2007

Steven Piantadosi named as first Director of Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute

Internationally renowned cancer researcher Steven Piantadosi, M.D., Ph.D, has been named director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

20 Apr 2007

Jefferson researchers study whether common heart defect may cause of some forms of migraine headaches

Researchers of the heart and headaches at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are combining efforts to determine if a common heart defect may be the cause of some forms of migraine headaches.

20 Apr 2007

Discovery may change thinking on how viruses invade the brain

A molecule thought crucial to ferrying the deadly rabies virus into the brain, where it eventually kills, apparently isn't.

20 Apr 2007

Online gambling adds new risks for gamblers with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease sufferers could be adversely affected by the growth of betting on the web because they are more likely to become gambling addicts, says a doctor writing in the British Medical Journal.

20 Apr 2007

Novel forms of synaptic plasticity uncovered

The Chicago Medical School (CMS) of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS) have announced that Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Athanasios Tzounopoulos, has uncovered novel forms of synaptic plasticity that occur at the very first step in the processing of sound in the central nervous system. His findings are released in Neuron.

20 Apr 2007

Bill broadening prescribing rights to psychologists unsafe

Setting the stage for another legislative battle that puts mental health patients in the middle, a bill seeking to give licensed psychologists prescribing privileges for dangerous medications is scheduled to be heard on April 23, 2007 in the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee.

20 Apr 2007

First large-scale study to assess treatment for prescription drug addiction

UCSF is launching a new study to evaluate treatments for addiction to prescription painkillers and has openings for patients to enroll.

19 Apr 2007

Stem cells decrease ischemic injury and restore brain function

This is the impressive result of a study carried out by a group of researchers coordinated by Dr. Maria Grazia De Simoni of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy in cooperation with the Istituto Neurologico Besta (Milan) and the University of Lausanne.

19 Apr 2007

New insights into how the brain controls movements

In the children's game "red light green light," winners are able to stop, and take off running again, more quickly than their comrades.

19 Apr 2007

Researchers finds meth receptor that could lead to therapy

A recently discovered signaling system in the brain has just been shown to be turned on by methamphetamine, an Oregon Health & Science University study found.

19 Apr 2007

Jefferson participates in global study to extend effectiveness of drug for Parkinson's

After Parkinson's disease patients use the drug levodopa or L-dopa for several years as a treatment for restoring the cellular communication that controls muscle movement by replacing lost dopamine, they begin to experience motor complications that include a shortened response to each dose of L-dopa.

19 Apr 2007

Neurobiologists pinpoint how brain copes with shifty eyeballs

Neurobiologists have pinpointed brain regions critical to one of the brain's more remarkable feats'piecing together a continuous view of the world by integrating snippets of visual input from constantly moving eyes.

19 Apr 2007

New understanding of genetics behind Noonan Syndrome

Researchers have discovered that the genetic malfunction that causes a form of mental retardation called Noonan Syndrome (NS) produces an imbalance in the genesis of two types of cells in the developing embryonic brain.

19 Apr 2007

Internal part of prefrontal cortex identified as key structure for memory formation

Does a specific memory exist for events involving humans, French researchers from the Vulnerability, Adaptation and Psychopathology Laboratory (CNRS/Universit' Paris VI) and Canadian researchers from Douglas Hospital, McGill University (Montreal) have identified the internal part of the prefrontal cortex as the key structure for the memory formation of social information.

19 Apr 2007