Neuroscience News and Research

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Biogen to publish data on two-step assay for anti-JC virus antibody detection

Biogen Idec and Elan Corporation, plc today announced data has been published in the Annals of Neurology on an investigational, two-step assay to detect anti-JC virus (JCV) antibodies in human serum and plasma

26 Aug 2010

Bioniche, University of Ottawa sign global technology license agreement for botanical therapeutics

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, together with the University of Ottawa, one of Canada's top ten research universities, today announced the signing of an exclusive global license agreement. The agreement provides commercial access for Bioniche to University of Ottawa's technology for botanical therapeutics (natural health) and pharmaceutical compounds for treating anxiety and related conditions in animal health, human health and aquaculture

25 Aug 2010

Continuous boosting of natural painkiller shuts down brain cell receptor response

ERepeatedly boosting brain levels of one natural painkiller soon shuts down the brain cell receptors that respond to it, so that the painkilling effect is lost, according to a surprising new study led by Scripps Research Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University scientists. The study has important implications for drug development.

25 Aug 2010

Scientists discover Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy can rapidly diagnose degenerative disorders

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy can distinguish between neurological diseases in patients without clear symptoms.A team of American scientists claim that a new method of testing for neurological diseases could provide doctors with a rapid and non-invasively method of diagnosing degenerative disorders.

25 Aug 2010

Eisai's Phase III trial of Perampanel for epilepsy shows positive results

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study (Study 306) showed that perampanel was well-tolerated and effective in reducing median seizure frequency and increasing responder rates, the primary outcome measures in the United States and European Union, respectively. The findings were highly statistically significant in 4 mg and 8 mg doses compared to placebo.

25 Aug 2010

New book provides vision on reforming Alzheimer's disease treatment

Although a new surge of scientific research has uncovered telltale signs of Alzheimer's disease that show up in brain scans and spinal taps, many questions remain unanswered about the clinical value of early testing and the overall direction of patient care, according to Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik, Harriman Professor of Neuroscience Research at the University of California and co-director of UCSB's Neuroscience Research Institute.

25 Aug 2010

UT Southwestern University Hospital - St. Paul earns distinction as Primary Stroke Center

The Joint Commission has certified UT Southwestern University Hospital - St. Paul as a Primary Stroke Center, a distinction for hospitals fostering specialized stroke care for patients.

25 Aug 2010

Bug with bifocals discovered

University of Cincinnati researchers are reporting on the discovery of a bug with bifocals - such an amazing finding that it initially had the researchers questioning whether they could believe their own eyes. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of truly bifocal lenses in the extant animal kingdom," the researchers state in the Aug. 24 cover feature of the premier life-science journal, Current Biology.

24 Aug 2010

NARSAD announces 2010 Independent Investigator grants for innovative researchers

NARSAD announced its 2010 Independent Investigator grants totaling in excess of $4.1 million, which will support 42 innovative researchers at the leading edge of discovery within neuroscience and psychiatry. Since 1987 NARSAD has awarded more than $261.6 million in 3,832 grants to 3,132 scientists around the world.

24 Aug 2010

Physiotherapy after surgery reduces pain by 50% within 3-6 months

Most patients who receive physiotherapy after surgery experience that pain is reduced by a half within a few months. Most of them are free of pain after one to two years. This is the conclusion of a thesis presented at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

24 Aug 2010

Specific drugs can prevent lethal effects of Parkinson's disease: Research

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that using specific drugs can protect nerve cells in mice from the lethal effects of Parkinson's disease. The researchers' findings are published in the August 22 issue of Nature Medicine.

24 Aug 2010

Physiotherapy reduces pain in patients with shoulder problems

23 Aug 2010

APC dysfunction prevents synapse function required for learning, memory: Study

A clue to the causes of autism and mental retardation lies in the synapse, the tiny intercellular junction that rapidly transfers information from one neuron to the next. According to neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine, with students from the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts, a protein called APC plays a key role in synapse maturation, and APC dysfunction prevents the synapse function required for typical learning and memory.

23 Aug 2010

Back seat drivers right to feel uneasy

A new study has found that adults travelling in the back seat of newer cars are less safe than their fellow front seat passengers.

22 Aug 2010

Oxytocin level associated with parent-specific styles of interaction: Research

The hormone oxytocin has come under intensive study in light of emerging evidence that its release contributes to the social bonding that occurs between lovers, friends, and colleagues. Oxytocin also plays an important role in birth and maternal behavior, but until now, research had never addressed the involvement of oxytocin in the transition to fatherhood.

21 Aug 2010

SRI and Taiho collaborate to advance clinical development of TAS-108 breast cancer program

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced today that it has assumed responsibility for further clinical development of the TAS-108 breast cancer program, in cooperation with Taiho Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company. Further clinical development will focus on the lead compound's registration for the treatment of tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitor-resistant breast cancers.

20 Aug 2010

Renin test can predict appropriate drugs for BP patients: Study

Commonly prescribed drugs used to lower blood pressure can actually have the opposite effect-raising blood pressure in a statistically significant percentage of patients. A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that doctors could avoid this problem-and select drugs most suitable for their patients-by measuring blood levels of the enzyme renin through a blood test that is becoming more widely available. The study appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Hypertension.

20 Aug 2010

Study on multisensory processing in autistic children

A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has provided concrete evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) process sensory information such as sound, touch and vision differently than typically developing children.

20 Aug 2010

New clues to molecular action of Alzheimer's drug memantine

Alzheimer's disease destroys brain cells and their connections (called synapses), causing memory loss and other cognitive problems that disrupt work, hobbies and daily life. Symptoms can be alleviated, in part, by the drug memantine (marketed in the United States as Namenda), which is currently FDA-approved to treat moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease and was, in part, developed by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Del E. Web Center for Neuroscience, Aging and Stem Cell Research at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham).

19 Aug 2010

Maternal stress contribute to an elevated risk for depression in offspring: Research

For more than a century, clinical investigators have focused on early life as a source of adult psychopathology. Although the hypothesized mechanisms have evolved, a central notion remains: early life is a period of unique sensitivity during which experience confers enduring effects.

19 Aug 2010