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Research: Two-year-old children with autism have enlarged brains

In 2005, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that 2-year-old children with autism have brains up to 10 percent larger than children of the same age without autism.

3 May 2011

New insight into itch and pain

A new study of itch adds to growing evidence that the chemical signals that make us want to scratch are the same signals that make us wince in pain.

3 May 2011

Scientists identify biochemical abnormality behind Machado-Joseph disease

Scientists in Portugal have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease and using several models of the disease were able to reverse the problem in what can be a crucial step towards a cure for humans .

2 May 2011

Abnormal connections created by central nervous system linked to persistence of chronic pain

Chronic pain is an epidemic. One in four Americans suffers from chronic pain due to disease—including cancer and HIV—and the medications used to treat those diseases. One reason for the persistence of chronic pain may be that the patient's central nervous system creates abnormal connections or improves connections that shouldn't be strengthened, explains Susan G. Dorsey, PhD, RN, co-director of the School of Nursing's Center of Excellence in Disorders of Neuroregulatory Function.

30 Apr 2011

New control point for suppressing cancer cell growth

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have discovered new details of how cancer cells escape from tumor suppression mechanisms that normally prevent these damaged cells from multiplying. They also demonstrated a potential link between this cell proliferation control mechanism and the cognitive deficits caused by Down syndrome.

28 Apr 2011

Cotinine can reduce plaques linked with dementia and prevent memory loss

Cotinine, a compound derived from tobacco, reduced plaques associated with dementia and prevented memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a study led by researchers at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida found.

28 Apr 2011

Scientists weaken long-term memory

Could veterans of war, rape victims and other people who have seen horrific crimes someday have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains? In a new study, UCLA life scientists report a discovery that may make the reduction of such memories a reality.

28 Apr 2011

Scientists identify new risk gene variant for depression

Max Planck scientists uncover surprising genetic links. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich have compared the genomes of a total of 4,088 patients and 11,001 healthy control subjects from all over the world and identified a new risk gene variant for depression.

28 Apr 2011

New study sheds light on how sleep-deprived lifestyles might impair brain function

A new study in rats is shedding light on how sleep-deprived lifestyles might impair functioning without people realizing it.

28 Apr 2011

Biologists determine molecular structure of GluN2D receptor subunit

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in collaboration with colleagues at Emory University have determined the molecular structure of a key portion, or subunit, of a receptor type commonly expressed in brain cells.

27 Apr 2011

Major breakthrough in understanding of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Brandeis researchers have made a significant advance in the effort to understand amyotrophic lateral sclerosis by successfully reversing the toxicity of the mutated protein in the familial type of the disease.

27 Apr 2011

Lilly and Medtronic’s joint venture in Parkinson’s disease therapy

Lilly has already developed a protein called GDNF (glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor) known to preserve the function of neurons and Medtronic will provide a system that carries the medicine to a key area of the brain.

From Medtronic 26 Apr 2011

Researchers report game-changing advance in stem cell science

In a paper published in the April 25 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco and colleagues report a game-changing advance in stem cell science: the creation of long-term, self-renewing, primitive neural precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells that can be directed to become many types of neuron without increased risk of tumor formation.

26 Apr 2011

New findings can lead to better understanding of neurological development, cancer metastasis

By shedding new light on how cells migrate in the developing brain, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center also may have found a new mechanism by which other types of cells, including cancer cells, travel within the body.

25 Apr 2011

Research sheds light on molecular movements of neural transporters

A team of scientists from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College has shed light on the molecular workings of transporter proteins, molecular machines embedded in the cell membranes of neurons that modulate the transfer of signals between cells and recycle neurotransmitters.

25 Apr 2011

Human placenta plays an active role in serotonin synthesis

Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California's Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute shows for the first time that the human placenta plays an active role in synthesizing serotonin, paving the way to new treatment strategies that could mitigate health impacts such as cardiovascular disease and mental illness.

22 Apr 2011

Engineering researchers use carbon nanotubes to create synthetic brain

Engineering researchers the University of Southern California have made a significant breakthrough in the use of nanotechnologies for the construction of a synthetic brain. They have built a carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a neuron, the building block of the brain.

22 Apr 2011

Repligen anticipates 30% increase in total revenues for 2011

Repligen Corporation today announced preliminary financial results for fiscal year 2011 which ended March 31, 2011. Total revenue for the year is expected to be $27.3 million compared to $21.0 million in the prior fiscal year, an increase of 30%.

21 Apr 2011

Neuralstem signs MoU with BaYi Brain Hospital for ischemic stroke program in China

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BaYi Brain Hospital in Beijing, China.

21 Apr 2011

Blocking abnormal movement of mutated human FUS gene also blocks ALS process

In the first animal model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), developed by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Pandey's lab has found in fruit flies that blocking the abnormal movement of a protein made by a mutated gene called FUS also blocks the disease process.

20 Apr 2011