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Glycine could be key to REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

There is new promise on the horizon for those who suffer from REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder (RBD) according to researchers at the University of Toronto.

31 Mar 2008

Groundbreaking study validates Pittsburgh Compound-B in identifying Alzheimer's disease brain toxins

A groundbreaking study conducted by University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's disease researchers reported in the journal Brain (currently online) confirms that Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB) binds to the telltale beta-amyloid deposits found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

28 Mar 2008

New brain cells implicated in machinery of cannabinoid signaling

The researchers said their findings could aid in development of treatments for cannabinoid drug abuse. Also, because so-called "endocannabinoids" produced by brain cells are involved in the neural machinery of pain perception and learning and memory, the findings could help in understanding those processes, said the researchers.

28 Mar 2008

Insulin-like growth factor found to have new role in development of brain's smell center

A human hormone known to stimulate the growth of cells throughout the body has a new role - helping to set up the proper nerve connections in the odor center of the brain, according to University of California, Berkeley, scientists.

28 Mar 2008

Beta-blockers heal the heart via the brain when administered during heart failure

Up to now, it was thought that beta-blockers work directly on the heart, but the new study shows that the drugs may also act via the brain, suggesting that future therapies to treat cardiovascular disease could be targeting the central nervous system.

26 Mar 2008

New insight into how epilepsy may develop

An increased number of neuron "hubs" in the epileptic brain may be the root cause for the seizures that characterize the disorder, according to a UC Irvine study.

26 Mar 2008

New drug targets for Huntington's disease

Research funded by the Wellcome Trust has provided a number of promising new drug targets for Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative disease.

25 Mar 2008

Research finds genes and processes that may underlie what makes some people more susceptible to Parkinson's disease

Better understanding of Parkinson's disease onset during aging is important for improving diagnostics and developing strategies for therapeutic intervention.

24 Mar 2008

Brains are hardwired to act according to the Golden Rule

Wesley Autrey, a black construction worker, a Navy veteran and 55-year-old father of two, didn't know the young man standing beside him.

24 Mar 2008

Researchers may have found test for depression

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered that a change in the location of a protein in the brain could serve as a biomarker for depression, allowing a simple, rapid, laboratory test to identify patients with depression and to determine whether a particular antidepressant therapy will provide a successful response.

12 Mar 2008

Short-term stress impairs brain-cell communication

Short-term stress lasting as little as a few hours can impair brain-cell communication in areas associated with learning and memory, University of California, Irvine researchers have found.

12 Mar 2008

New discovery could change future diagnosis and therapy of depression

12 Mar 2008

Post brain injury: New nerve cells originate from neural stem cells

Most cells in the human brain are not nerve cells, but supporting cells (glial cells).

12 Mar 2008

Cell therapy for rejuvenating aged brain by injection of human umbilical cord blood

When human umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) were injected into aged laboratory animals, researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) found improvements in the microenvironment of the hippocampus region of the animals' brains and a subsequent rejuvenation of neural stem/progenitor cells.

11 Mar 2008

Paradoxical Alzheimer's finding may provide better understanding of memory loss

Do you remember the seventh song that played on your radio on the way to work yesterday?

10 Mar 2008

Neural progenitor cells as reservoirs for HIV in the brain

Impaired brain function is a prominent and still unsolved problem in AIDS.

6 Mar 2008

Large-scale study of traumatic brain injury

In a rare, large-scale study of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients who span the full range of severity from mild to moderate and severe, Canadian researchers have found that the more severe the injury, the greater the loss of brain tissue, particularly white matter.

4 Mar 2008