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Researchers identify how neural cells build up resistance to opioid pain drugs within hours

Researchers at the University of Montreal's Sainte-Justine Hospital have identified how neural cells are able to build up resistance to opioid pain drugs within hours. "A better understanding of these mechanisms will enable us to design drugs that avoid body resistance to these drugs and produce longer therapeutic responses, including prolonged opioid analgesia", lead author Dr. Graciela Pineyro said.

4 Apr 2012

Brains of people with anorexia and obesity are wired differently

The brains of people with anorexia and obesity are wired differently, according to new research. Neuroscientists for the first time have found that how our brains respond to food differs across a spectrum of eating behaviors - from extreme overeating to food deprivation.

4 Apr 2012

Stress-induced tolerance can prevent glaucoma

Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a treatment that prevents the optic nerve injury that occurs in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of blindness.

4 Apr 2012

Johns Hopkins devises new seizure detection software

Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, but in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn problem: too many false alarms, triggering unneeded treatment. To solve this, Johns Hopkins biomedical engineers have devised new seizure detection software that, in early testing, significantly cuts the number of unneeded pulses of current that an epilepsy patient would receive.

4 Apr 2012

NCAA-funded study to focus on sports-related concussions

Sports-related concussions have become a subject of deep concern in recent years, with Congress holding hearings on the issue, retired players suing sports leagues for alleged damage they've suffered, and new research pointing to degeneration in injured athletes' brains over time.

4 Apr 2012

Study examines how fluctuations in brain activity can impact dynamics of cognitive tasks

A team of University of Pittsburgh mathematicians is using computational models to better understand how the structure of neural variability relates to such functions as short-term memory and decision making. In a paper published online April 2 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the Pitt team examines how fluctuations in brain activity can impact the dynamics of cognitive tasks.

3 Apr 2012

New research: ADHD is more than one disorder

According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is more than one disorder. It's an entire family of disorders, much like the multiple subtypes of cancer.

3 Apr 2012

Stimulating specific neurons may reverse age-related memory defects

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown in animal models that the loss of memory that comes with aging is not necessarily a permanent thing.

3 Apr 2012

AFMR to honor Einstein clinical scientist with Outstanding Investigator Award

Meredith Hawkins, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Global Diabetes Initiative at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, will receive the American Federation for Medical Research's (AFMR) highest honor for medical research, the Outstanding Investigator Award.

3 Apr 2012

Blood test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease

Soon researchers may be able to detect signs of Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear by a simple blood test. Currently, biological tests to diagnose Alzheimer's use invasive and costly procedures including brain imaging and spinal punctures.

2 Apr 2012

Non-invasive brain stimulation cuts time to improve speech in stroke patients

One of the most frustrating challenges for some stroke patients can be the inability to find and speak words even if they know what they want to say. Speech therapy is laborious and can take months. New research is seeking to cut that time significantly, with the help of non-invasive brain stimulation.

2 Apr 2012

Sleep enhances emotionally positive memories

Sleep plays a powerful role in preserving our memories. But while recent research shows that wakefulness may cloud memories of negative or traumatic events, a new study has found that wakefulness also degrades positive memories. Sleep, it seems, protects positive memories just as it does negative ones, and that has important implications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

2 Apr 2012

Nektar commences dosing in NKTR-192 Phase 1 clinical study for treatment of acute pain

Nektar Therapeutics announced today that the first subjects were dosed last week in a Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety of NKTR-192, the company's novel short-acting mu-opioid analgesic candidate.

2 Apr 2012

Blocking PRC2 protein may help protect against AML

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have identified a candidate drug target for treating acute myeloid leukemia, a white blood cell cancer that proliferates out of control in the bone marrow.

2 Apr 2012

Scientists link two genes involved in serotonin production to PTSD

Why do some persons succumb to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while others who suffered the same ordeal do not? A new UCLA study may shed light on the answer.

2 Apr 2012

Study provides new information on why A-T disease attacks the brain

Rutgers scientists think they have found a way to prevent and possibly reverse the most debilitating symptoms of a rare, progressive childhood degenerative disease that leaves children with slurred speech, unable to walk, and in a wheelchair before they reach adolescence.

2 Apr 2012

Brain images show nerves ‘crisscrossing’ in neat but complex patterns: Study

New images of the brain reveal a deceptively simple pattern of organization in the wiring of this complex organ. Instead of nerve fibers travelling randomly through the brain like spaghetti, as some imaging has suggested, the new portraits reveal two-dimensional sheets of parallel fibers ‘crisscrossing’ other sheets at right angles in a grid-like structure that folds and contorts with the convolutions of the brain. This same pattern appeared in the brains of humans, rhesus monkeys, owl monkeys, marmosets and galagos, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.

1 Apr 2012

Three leading cancer researchers to chair symposia at ACCR meeting

Three leading cancer researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been selected to chair symposia at this year's annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, which will be held in Chicago from March 31 to April 4.

31 Mar 2012

New report highlights numerous gaps in knowledge and management of epilepsy

A new report from the Institute of Medicine highlights numerous gaps in the knowledge and management of epilepsy and recommends actions for improving the lives of those with epilepsy and their families and promoting better understanding of the disorder.

31 Mar 2012

UH clinical trial to evaluate stool DNA testing for colon cancer

In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine are studying a promising new non-invasive technology for colon cancer screening. The four-year study is recruiting patients to compare the effectiveness of stool DNA (SDNA) testing with colonoscopy for detecting large colon polyps.

31 Mar 2012