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International researchers identify 11 new genes linked to Alzheimer's disease

An international group of researchers has identified 11 new genes that offer important new insights into the disease pathways involved in Alzheimer's disease. The highly collaborative effort involved scanning the DNA of over 74,000 volunteers-the largest genetic analysis yet conducted in Alzheimer's research-to discover new genetic risk factors linked to late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of the disorder.

28 Oct 2013

LCSB researchers publish current knowledge about the genetic, molecular causes of PD

Parkinson's disease continues to puzzle physicians and biologists alike - even though it is well-established that symptoms like muscle tremors, rigidity, and, during the final stages, immobility can all be traced back to the death of a certain type of brain cell called a dopaminergic neuron. The underlying cause of this cellular death is a complex web of interrelated genetic molecular processes as well as external factors, most of the details of which are well-known. But how the various factors correlate and influence each other continues to elude the scientific community.

24 Oct 2013

Diverse Neurological Disorders Appear To Share Tangled Metabolic Roots

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10 Oct 2013

Gene mutation offers clues to development of diverse neurological disorders

A research team, headed by Theodore Friedmann, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, says a gene mutation that causes a rare but devastating neurological disorder known as Lesch-Nyhan syndrome appears to offer clues to the developmental and neuronal defects found in other, diverse neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

10 Oct 2013

Researchers study link between newborn infections and later behavior problems

Researchers exploring the link between newborn infections and later behavior and movement problems have found that inflammation in the brain keeps cells from accessing iron that they need to perform a critical role in brain development.

9 Oct 2013

Research findings show how flawed transport gene contributes to autism

Researchers say it's clear that some cases of autism are hereditary, but have struggled to draw direct links between the condition and particular genes. Now a team at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has devised a process for connecting a suspect gene to its function in autism.

1 Oct 2013

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