Neurodegenerative Disease News and Research

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Columbia scientist and collaborators receive $11.3 million to find new targets against brain disease

Anthony Fitzpatrick, PhD, a Principal Investigator at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, together with scientists from the Mayo Clinic and Boston Children's Hospital, has been awarded $11.3 million to map the three-dimensional structures of protein tangles that accumulate in the human brain.

11 Oct 2018

Using nanotechnology to fight dementia

In the human brain, nerve cells - so-called neurons - care for the transmission of electrical signals. They form the functional component responsible for sensations, stimuli and memories. In the presence of dementia, there is an adsorption of proteins outside the neurons, which then leads to the death of the neuronal cells. How to prevent the death of neurons is still the subject of scientific research today.

10 Oct 2018

T-CALM Phase 2 clinical study results offer hope for essential tremor patients

Cavion, Inc., a leading clinical stage biotechnology company committed to developing novel therapeutics for people with neurological diseases, today announced promising results of the T-CALM Phase 2 clinical trial of its first-in-class T-type calcium channel modulator CX-8998 in essential tremor.

7 Oct 2018

New PET imaging radiotracer could help understand the aging brain

A new PET imaging radiotracer could help researchers understand neurodegenerative disease and the aging brain. The study is featured in the October issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

4 Oct 2018

Newly discovered protein shown to cause amyloid-beta plaques in Alzheimer's

Scientists have discovered that a potassium channel called KCNB1 can trigger the formation of amyloid-beta plaques seen in Alzheimer's disease.

2 Oct 2018

Rutgers study uncovers new mechanism linked to Alzheimer's and traumatic brain injury

Rutgers researchers have discovered a new mechanism that may contribute to Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. They now hope to launch a clinical trial to test the treatment in humans.

27 Sep 2018

Air pollution increases risk of dementia

A new study has shown that air pollution raises the risk of dementia. The risk remains among people of all ages find researchers.

18 Sep 2018

Salk research in yeast leads to serendipitous finding about hypomyelinating leukodystrophy

Studying the fundamental aspects of biology can sometimes lead to unexpected findings that directly relate to human disease. In one of the latest examples of scientific serendipity, researchers from the Salk Institute found that an important quality control mechanism in baker's yeast is closely connected to hypomyelinating leukodystrophy, a debilitating disease found in children.

17 Sep 2018

ADHD patients have increased risk of developing Parkinson's and other similar diseases

While about 11 percent of children (4-17 years old) nationwide have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, the long-term health effects of having ADHD and of common ADHD medications remains understudied.

12 Sep 2018

New screening strategy identifies novel inhibitors that may help develop cure for Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease is the most common movement disorder in the world. PD patients suffer from shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and have difficulties walking.

10 Sep 2018

New project explores how technology can assist in earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

September is World Alzheimer's Awareness Month and a new project in collaboration with UP Health System Portage investigates how technology can assist doctors in earlier diagnosis of the neurodegenerative disease.

10 Sep 2018

Novel finding that links ALS/ataxia to cellular stress opens door to new treatment approaches

Few treatments exist for neurodegenerative diseases that progressively rob a person's ability to move and think, yet the results of a new study could potentially open additional approaches for exploration.

7 Sep 2018

Hsp90 protein appears to stimulate exosome release

Researchers from the Verstreken lab have identified a completely novel function for Hsp90, one of the most common and most studied proteins in our body.

7 Sep 2018

Discovering Prion-like Proteins in Eukaryotic Viruses

Dr. George Tetz discusses the discovery of prion-like domains in eukaryotic viruses, and the implications of this study on gene therapies and common neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease.

6 Sep 2018

Scientists discover ALS disease mechanism

A mechanism for how the disease ALS evolves has been discovered at Umeå University, Sweden. The discovery concerns how proteins with a defect structure spread the deformation to other proteins. This according to results in a new thesis.

4 Sep 2018

SMA treatment may be effective even if started in children seven months and older

A drug shown to be effective in the treatment of babies with the rare muscle-wasting disease spinal muscular atrophy may be effective for muscle control even when treatment is started in children seven months and older, according to a study published in the August 29, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous studies focused on children younger than seven months old.

30 Aug 2018

New improved method to judge effectiveness of experimental therapies for neurodegeneration

Researchers at UBC's Okanagan campus have developed a new and improved method to judge the effectiveness of experimental therapies for neurodegeneration--the progressive loss of neurons.

27 Aug 2018

New project receives $3.2 million grant to investigate secrets of programmed cell death in Alzheimer's

Most neurons in the human brain live out their lives, enduring the processes of aging before eventually dying. Some, however, choose a more violent route: suicide.

24 Aug 2018

Finding ways to improve cell replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects dopamine signaling neurons in patients' brains. Cell-replacement therapy shows some promise as a treatment for Parkinson's. A recent paper in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics reports a technical advance in selecting cells to use in this therapy.