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New compound may lead to development of potential therapeutics for neuropathic pain

A new compound discovered by a team of UC Davis investigators has potent actions against production of a chemical that which is implicated in the development of chronic pain following a peripheral nerve injury in the spinal cord.

7 Feb 2015

Study: Lyme disease costs the U.S. health care system up to $1.3 billion a year

Lyme disease, transmitted by a bite from a tick infected by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, had long been considered easy to treat, usually requiring a single doctor's visit and a few weeks of antibiotics for most people.

6 Feb 2015

Retigabine drug could reduce debilitating impact of strokes

New research suggests that an already-approved drug could dramatically reduce the debilitating impact of strokes, which affect nearly a million Americans every year.

5 Feb 2015

Researchers report that neurons in the brain are connected like a social network

Neurons in the brain are wired like a social network, report researchers from Biozentrum, University of Basel. Each nerve cell has links with many others, but the strongest bonds form between the few cells most similar to each other.

5 Feb 2015

Northwestern Medicine researchers evaluate unique surgical method to treat chronic amputee pain

Northwestern Medicine® researchers are leading a new multi-center clinical trial to evaluate a unique surgical method, known as targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), to treat chronic pain that can result from limb amputation. Around a quarter of all amputees develop chronic pain in the remaining portion of their amputated limb, which can include phantom limb syndrome (pain that is perceived in the portion of the limb that is gone), and prevents many patients from using prostheses.

5 Feb 2015

Parents can pass silenced genes to offspring through a specific mechanism

For more than a century, scientists have understood the basics of inheritance: if good genes help parents survive and reproduce, the parents pass those genes along to their offspring. And yet, recent research has shown that reality is much more complex: genes can be switched off, or silenced, in response to the environment or other factors, and sometimes these changes can be passed from one generation to the next.

4 Feb 2015

Two genetic mutations can interact to reduce risk for heart attack

Researchers have determined that two mutations on a single gene can interact in a way that lowers the carrier's risk for a heart attack.

4 Feb 2015

Study may offer insight into pathology of autism, Alzheimer's disease

For parents of children struggling with autism, the dearth of information is heartbreaking. Medical professionals are hard put to answer the primary questions: Who is autistic? What causes autism? What treatments are available? The situation is similar for Alzheimer's patients and relatives, who are helpless before the aggressive disease devouring a sufferer's identity.

4 Feb 2015

Research opens door to development of new therapies to block HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

While antiretroviral therapies have significantly improved and extended the lives of many HIV patients, another insidious and little discussed threat looms for aging sufferers - HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The disorders, which strike more often in HIV patients over age 50, can result in cognitive impairment, mild to severe, making everyday tasks a challenge.

3 Feb 2015

ISP shows promise in stopping fatal arrhythmias after heart attack

Case Western Reserve's chemical compound aimed at restoring spinal cord function may have an additional purpose: stopping potentially fatal arrhythmias after heart attack.

3 Feb 2015

UCLA offers new hope to patients suffering from phrenic nerve damage

David Powell could not catch his breath. The 35-year-old from San Diego got winded walking up the stairs, exercising or even just bending over to tie his shoes.

2 Feb 2015

New research on dopamine-containing neurons could pave way for treating neurological disorders

Scientists studying hatchling fish have made a new advance in studying a chemical in the brain that impacts on movement.

2 Feb 2015

Scientists identify how 'mini-brain' in spinal cord helps keep our body balanced

Walking across an icy parking lot in winter--and remaining upright--takes intense concentration. But a new discovery suggests that much of the balancing act that our bodies perform when faced with such a task happens unconsciously, thanks to a cluster of neurons in our spinal cord that function as a "mini-brain" to integrate sensory information and make the necessary adjustments to our muscles so that we don't slip and fall.

2 Feb 2015

Altered dopamine signaling may contribute to autism

Newly discovered genetic variations linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) disrupt the function of the dopamine transporter, suggesting that altered dopamine signaling contributes to this common developmental condition, according to a Vanderbilt University-led research team.

31 Jan 2015

TSRI researchers awarded grant to develop novel method for detecting DNA damage in stem cells

A team at The Scripps Research Institute has won a $1,784,000 grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The funding will support the development of a new method for detecting DNA damage in stem cells to ensure that only the highest quality cells are used in transplantation or therapy.

31 Jan 2015

Rare respiratory virus could be linked to severe neurological illness in children

A cluster of children from Colorado in the USA have been treated for muscle weakness or paralysis that may be connected to a nationwide outbreak of a usually rare respiratory virus called enterovirus D68 (EV-D68), one of more than 100 non-polio enteroviruses.

31 Jan 2015

Adropin hormone offers a promising treatment option for type 2 diabetes

In a study published in Molecular Metabolism, a SLU researcher has found that adropin, a hormone that regulates whether the body burns fat or sugar during feeding and fasting cycles, can improve insulin action in obese, diabetic mice, suggesting that it may work as a therapy for type 2 diabetes.

30 Jan 2015

Sleep significantly affects memory organization in infant brain, shows study

There is no rest for a baby's brain - not even in sleep. While infants sleep they are reprocessing what they have learned.

29 Jan 2015

Study helps develop better understanding of how dopamine influences behaviour

Scientists studying hatchling fish have made a new advance in studying a chemical in the brain that impacts on movement.

29 Jan 2015

electroCore’s non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy safe, effective across a variety of conditions

Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) ‘improves the safety and tolerability of VNS making it more accessible and facilitating further investigations across a wide range of uses when compared with surgically implanted VNS’ according to a review in the European Journal of Neurology.

29 Jan 2015

Nerve News and Research

New compound may lead to development of potential therapeutics for neuropathic pain

Study: Lyme disease costs the U.S. health care system up to $1.3 billion a year

Retigabine drug could reduce debilitating impact of strokes

Researchers report that neurons in the brain are connected like a social network

Northwestern Medicine researchers evaluate unique surgical method to treat chronic amputee pain

Parents can pass silenced genes to offspring through a specific mechanism

Two genetic mutations can interact to reduce risk for heart attack

Study may offer insight into pathology of autism, Alzheimer's disease

Research opens door to development of new therapies to block HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

ISP shows promise in stopping fatal arrhythmias after heart attack

UCLA offers new hope to patients suffering from phrenic nerve damage

New research on dopamine-containing neurons could pave way for treating neurological disorders

Scientists identify how 'mini-brain' in spinal cord helps keep our body balanced

Altered dopamine signaling may contribute to autism

TSRI researchers awarded grant to develop novel method for detecting DNA damage in stem cells

Rare respiratory virus could be linked to severe neurological illness in children

Adropin hormone offers a promising treatment option for type 2 diabetes

Sleep significantly affects memory organization in infant brain, shows study

Study helps develop better understanding of how dopamine influences behaviour

electroCore’s non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy safe, effective across a variety of conditions

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

How microplastics and bacteria interact to drive antibiotic resistance

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