Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Findings indicate potential therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer’s and other diseases

A team of scientists from Japan recently achieved more efficient degradation of the human serum albumin protein - an important protein in the blood - via high-intensity infrared irradiation, by attaching a zinc metal complex to the protein.

1 Jun 2020

No specific COVID-19-linked lesions found despite extensive organ injury

A recent paper published online on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports autopsy results on COVID-19 patients. The paper concludes that there were no specific hallmark lesions of COVID-19 in any of the many organs found to be injured by the infection in patients who died of the disease.

1 Jun 2020

Anesthetic drug Ketamine uses serotonin receptors to relieve depression

Ketamine is a drug used to induce general anesthesia. It has also been found to act rapidly to relieve depression that has failed to respond to two other rounds of medication. A new study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry in May 2020 reports the mechanism of action of the drug, which was hitherto unknown. This could help find new ways to treat this debilitating and sometimes fatal condition.

31 May 2020

How COVID-19 affects the nervous system

A new paper published in the journal JAMA Neurology in May 2020 discusses the presentation and complications of COVID-19 with respect to the nervous system.

31 May 2020

Anosmia and changes in brain MRI in COVID-19

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping across the world, new symptoms and clinical presentations appeared, often confusing the picture. A case report from Italy, published in the journal JAMA Neurology in May 2020, shows that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be a neurotropic virus, and may cause infection to present primarily with anosmia.

31 May 2020

Researchers show how ketamine fights difficult-to-treat depression

The anaesthetic drug ketamine has been shown, in low doses, to have a rapid effect on difficult-to-treat depression.

31 May 2020

How susceptible are domestic animals to SARS-CoV-2?

A recent paper by Chinese researchers, published in the leading journal Science, shows that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) does not replicate well in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks; however, ferrets and cats are easily infected, and cats may transmit the virus via an airborne route.

31 May 2020

Columbia engineers develop novel technique to study how tissues flow in the embryo

As embryos develop, tissues flow and reorganize dramatically on timescales as brief as minutes. This reorganization includes epithelial tissues that cover outer surfaces and inner linings of organs and blood vessels.

30 May 2020

Identifying optimal vasopressor treatment for nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage

Results of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) study assessing the most commonly used medications for raising blood pressure in patients with nontraumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a rare type of stroke, have been published in Neurosurgical Focus by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

30 May 2020

Study solves the longstanding mystery of anesthesia

Surgery would be inconceivable without general anesthesia, so it may come as a surprise that despite its 175-year history of medical use, doctors and scientists have been unable to explain how anesthetics temporarily render patients unconscious.

30 May 2020

High-throughput analysis of blood plasma could help identify biomarkers for ALS

High-throughput analysis of blood plasma could aid in identification of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), according to research from North Carolina State University.

29 May 2020

Using functional MRI to demonstrate neural suppression in autism

According to the National Autism Association, people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience sensory hypersensitivity.

29 May 2020

Targeted therapy tepotinib shows durable response in NSCLC patients with METex14 skipping mutation

Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the MET exon 14 (METex14) skipping mutation had a 46.5% objective response rate to the targeted therapy drug tepotinib, as shown in a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting ASCO20 Virtual Meeting (Abstract 9556 - Poster 322) by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

29 May 2020

New technology developed to map cholesterol metabolism in the brain

A team of researchers led by Swansea University have developed new technology to monitor cholesterol in brain tissue which could uncover its relation to neurodegenerative disease and pave the way for the development of new treatments.

29 May 2020

Cancer drug nilotinib found to be safe and well-tolerated in Alzheimer's disease clinical trial

A Georgetown University Medical Center clinical trial investigating the cancer drug nilotinib in people with Alzheimer's disease finds that it is safe and well-tolerated, and researchers say the drug should be tested in a larger study to further determine its safety and efficacy as a potential disease-modifying strategy.

29 May 2020

Using gene therapy to help the body to make its own cancer drugs

Imagine that we could instruct our bodies to make the drugs they need themselves. The gene technology that makes this possible is called mRNA therapy, which may become a major tool in the treatment of multiple diseases.

29 May 2020

Changes in gut mucus are linked to brain disorders

Mucus is the first line of defense against bad bacteria in our gut. But could it also be part of our defense against diseases of the brain?

29 May 2020

Study shows how toxic protein leads to neuronal death and dementia

Toxic versions of the protein tau are believed to cause the death of neurons of the brain in Alzheimer's disease.

29 May 2020

Study reveals how flies make survival decisions

Many insects process visual information to make decisions about controlling their flying skills and movements- flies must decide whether to pursue prey, avoid a predator, maintain their flight trajectory or land based on their perceptions.

29 May 2020

Targeted therapy shows immense benefit for patients with early stage NSCLC

According to findings led by researchers at Yale Cancer Center, treatment with the targeted therapy osimertinib following surgery significantly improves disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with early-stage, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR gene mutations.

29 May 2020