Brain Cell News and Research

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Research on synapse stabilization aids understanding of autism, schizophrenia, intellectual disability

When we're born, our brains aren't very organized. Every brain cell talks to lots of other nearby cells, sending and receiving signals across connections called synapses.

21 Sep 2013

EpimiRNA Consortium concentrates on developing novel mRNA-based therapeutics to prevent epilepsy

Over 50 million people across the world suffer from epilepsy, making it the most common serious neurological disorder for which there is no cure. The causes for epilepsy are insufficiently understood with currently available treatments being sub-optimal and with a significant proportion of patients not responding

19 Sep 2013

Antenatal taurine reduces cerebral cell apoptosis in fetal rats with intrauterine growth restriction

Increased brain cell apoptosis in intrauterine growth-restricted fetal rats is a key reason for unfavorable long-term prognosis of the nervous system. The harmful effects of intrauterine growth restriction on fetal brain development originate in the womb.

6 Sep 2013

Alzheimer’s drug trial: an interview with Geoffrey Kempler, Chairman & CEO Prana Biotechnology

Approval for the IMAGINE trial was granted by the Austin Health Research Ethics Committee in November 2011, with the first patients dosed in March the following year. However, well before the trial was approved, PBT2 had already shown promise in significantly changing Abeta levels in spinal fluid while improving cognition in a previous 12-week trial conducted in 2006.

28 Aug 2013

UCSF researchers identify possible mechanism for drug-seeking behavior in humans

Mice given cocaine showed rapid growth in new brain structures associated with learning and memory, according to a research team from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UC San Francisco. The findings suggest a way in which drug use may lead to drug-seeking behavior that fosters continued drug use, according to the scientists.

26 Aug 2013

Houston scientists receive $1.3M grant to study how immune system drives multiple sclerosis

A $1.3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke could help Houston Methodist scientists better understand how the body's own immune system drives multiple sclerosis.

26 Aug 2013

Innovative memory aid system for dementia patients

A NEW ‘home help’ website giving dementia patients timely reminders and reassuring them of key visits of family, relatives, social activities and carers is being trialled in a care home in Sheffield.

23 Aug 2013

Research may shed light on what causes people to suffer from life-threatening anxiety disorders

New research at Rutgers University may help shed light on how and why nervous system changes occur and what causes some people to suffer from life-threatening anxiety disorders while others are better able to cope.

20 Aug 2013

Genetically engineered proteins may be promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity

Scientists used fruit flies to show for the first time that a new class of genetically engineered proteins can be used to watch nerve cell electrical activity in live brains. The results, published in Cell, suggest these proteins may be a promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity in multiple animals and for studying how neurological disorders disrupt normal nerve cell signaling.

9 Aug 2013

Researchers create calcium-sensitive proteins that respond quickly to changes in neuron activity

Princeton University researchers have created "souped up" versions of the calcium-sensitive proteins that for the past decade or so have given scientists an unparalleled view and understanding of brain-cell communication.

26 Jul 2013

Researchers find how brain cells communicate with each other in different voice tones

Brain cells talk to each other in a variety of tones. Sometimes they speak loudly but other times struggle to be heard. For many years scientists have asked why and how brain cells change tones so frequently. Today National Institutes of Health researchers showed that brief bursts of chemical energy coming from rapidly moving power plants, called mitochondria, may tune brain cell communication.

26 Jul 2013

Auspex enrolls first patient in SD-809 Phase 3 trial for treatment of chorea associated with HD

Auspex Pharmaceuticals announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in a multi-center Phase 3 pivotal trial of its lead investigational drug, SD-809 for the treatment of involuntary movements (chorea) associated with Huntington's Disease.

12 Jul 2013

Study shows possible biological cause of narcolepsy

In 2000, researchers at the UCLA Center for Sleep Research published findings showing that people suffering from narcolepsy, a disorder characterized by uncontrollable periods of deep sleep, had 90 percent fewer neurons containing the neuropeptide hypocretin in their brains than healthy people.

4 Jul 2013

Autism Speaks funds high priority research for treatment of ASD

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today announced awards totaling $685,968 funding new research in areas of high priority that will advance understanding and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

27 Jun 2013

HSG conducts clinical trial with novel drug formulation for treating Huntington disease

The Huntington Study Group (HSG), under the leadership of Samuel Frank, MD, Principal Investigator, (Boston University School of Medicine) and Claudia Testa, MD, PhD, co-Principal Investigator (Virginia Commonwealth University), is conducting a clinical trial with a formulation of the novel drug SD-809 in the treatment of HD the United States and Canada.

24 Jun 2013

Targeted mental workouts can sharpen memory, improve cognitive function in schizophrenia

Much like physical exercise can re-chisel the body, researchers hope targeted mental workouts can sharpen the memory, focus and function of adults with schizophrenia.

20 Jun 2013

New research finding raises questions about common mutant forms of JC polyomavirus

The JC polyomavirus is clearly opportunistic. It infects half the population but lethally destroys brain tissue only in immunocompromised patients - and it may be outright sneaky, too. Even as a new research paper allays fears that common mutant forms of the virus are the ones directly responsible for the disease's main attack, that same finding raises new questions about what the mutants are doing instead.

14 Jun 2013

Hypometabolism in brain regions of cognitively normal patients associated with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease has been linked in many studies to amyloid plaque buildup in the brain, but new research is finding a common thread between amyloid burden and lower energy levels, or metabolism, of neurons in certain areas of the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease-even for people with no sign of cognitive decline.

12 Jun 2013

Brain circuits involved in compulsive behavior reveal a surprising connection with obesity

What started as an experiment to probe brain circuits involved in compulsive behavior has revealed a surprising connection with obesity.

11 Jun 2013

Researchers find way to differentiate iPSCs into mature human neurons in the brain

Difficult-to-study diseases such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and autism now can be probed more safely and effectively thanks to an innovative new method for obtaining mature brain cells called neurons from reprogrammed skin cells. According to Gong Chen, the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences and professor of biology at Penn State University and the leader of the research team, "the most exciting part of this research is that it offers the promise of direct disease modeling, allowing for the creation, in a Petri dish, of mature human neurons that behave a lot like neurons that grow naturally in the human brain."

10 Jun 2013