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Scientists reveal how psychostimulant drugs work to control hyperactivity

It has long been known that psychostimulant drugs have the paradoxical effect of reducing hyperactivity. [Psychostimulant drugs include methylphenidate - known by the trade names Ritalin, Concerta, and Methylin - and methamphetamine]. Since the mid-1950s, millions of children and adults have been prescribed stimulant medications to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

8 Feb 2012

Researchers discover how mutations in parkin gene cause PD

Parkinson's disease researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure.

8 Feb 2012

NYU Langone experts to present at American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting

Experts from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center will present their latest research and clinical findings on diseases of the muscle, tendon, bone and joint at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), February 7-11 in San Francisco, California.

7 Feb 2012

BPS Annual Meeting to be held Feb. 25 - 29 in San Diego

The latest news and discoveries in medicine, physics, environmental science, and interdisciplinary fields will be featured at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS), held Feb. 25 - Feb. 29, 2012, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. With more than 4,000 poster presentations, 200 exhibits, 20 symposia, and 6,000 research scientists in attendance each year, the BPS Annual Meeting is the largest meeting of biophysicists in the world.

7 Feb 2012

Low-dose MNC hUCB therapy effective in ALS-modeled mice

Repeated, low-dose injections of mononuclear cells derived from human umbilical cord blood have been found effective in protecting motor neuron cells, delaying disease progression and increasing lifespan for mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, report University of South Florida researchers and colleagues from Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., and the Ribeirao Preto School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

7 Feb 2012

Scientists capture finest nerve cell details in living mouse brain

To explore the most intricate structures of the brain in order to decipher how it functions - Stefan Hell's team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G-ttingen has made a significant step closer to this goal. Using the STED microscopy developed by Hell, the scientists have, for the first time, managed to record detailed live images inside the brain of a living mouse.

7 Feb 2012

Scientists search gene alterations in three-parent kids

Researchers from Australia want to find out if using the DNA of three parents will prevent children inheriting life-threatening diseases. They add that if the technique proves successful in preventing the transfer of mitochondrial DNA mutations from mothers to babies, then laws on the use of embryos will need to be changed to allow the procedure.

6 Feb 2012

Two different research groups make similar advances in AD study

Two different research groups have independently made the same important discoveries on how Alzheimer's disease spreads in the brain, according to a February 2 New York Times story. The groups' findings have the potential to give us a much more sophisticated understanding of what goes wrong in Alzheimer's disease and, more importantly, what can be done to prevent or repair damage in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

Study offers evidence that toxic forms of Alzheimer's protein spread in the brain

Tau tangles are one half of the twin hallmark pathologies of Alzheimer's disease—the half that is most closely tied to the death of neurons. A study in the February 1 PLoS One offers evidence that the toxic forms of tau that cause these tangles spread throughout the brain by moving from one neuron to the next in a pattern that tracks anatomical synaptic connections of the earliest-hit nerve cells in the brain.

4 Feb 2012

G-CSF's AX200 does not improve stroke-related disability

A new drug that showed promise in animal studies and an early clinical trial didn't improve disability among stroke patients, according to late-breaking research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2012.

4 Feb 2012

Strategies to minimize side effects of oxaliplatin in metastatic colon cancer

The drug oxaliplatin is a major reason the prognosis for metastatic colon cancer has gone from an expected survival of several months to a couple years. Unfortunately, the drug can also carry with it debilitating neurological side effects, which generally start as the sensation of pins and needles in fingers and toes and can leave patients unable to walk or dress independently.

3 Feb 2012

New procedure rapidly induces nerve regeneration

American scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. Their results are published today in the Journal of Neuroscience Research.

3 Feb 2012

Nuvo launches Synera in the U.S.

Nuvo Research Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to building a portfolio of products for the topical treatment of pain and the development of its immune modulating drug candidate WF10, today announced the U. S. launch of Synera.

3 Feb 2012

Scientists reveal novel mechanism underpinning age-dependent changes to cognitive abilities

New findings, led by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published this week in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older.

2 Feb 2012

The Methodist Hospital now offers advanced rehabilitation system for treatment of foot drop

The Methodist Hospital Outpatient Rehabilitation Center now offers an advanced rehabilitation system for the treatment of foot drop in people with mobility issues caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury.

2 Feb 2012

Over-exposure to noise can cause more lasting changes to auditory circuitry

We all know that it can take a little while for our hearing to bounce back after listening to our iPods too loud or attending a raucous concert. But new research at the University of Michigan Health System suggests over-exposure to noise can actually cause more lasting changes to our auditory circuitry - changes that may lead to tinnitus, commonly known as ringing in the ears.

2 Feb 2012

Rensselaer professor wins CAREER Award from NSF

Ryan Gilbert, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

1 Feb 2012

Link between maternal nurturing and size of hippocampus in healthy children

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children's brain anatomy are linked to a mother's nurturing.

31 Jan 2012

Leprosy pathogen exploits micro-RNAs to weaken immune response

A team of UCLA scientists has found that the pathogen that causes leprosy has a remarkable ability to avoid the human immune system by inhibiting the antimicrobial responses important to our defenses.

30 Jan 2012

Checkpoint Surgical completes $1.7M Series B investment round

Neurodevice firm Checkpoint Surgical completed a $1.7 million Series B investment round led by the NDI Healthcare Fund in December 2011, and secured non-dilutive funding of over $1.3 million, including a $1.065 million Innovation Ohio loan and a $245,000 federal grant.

30 Jan 2012