Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

Scientists track electrical signals in the brain region linked to spatial awareness

Research at the University of Edinburgh tracked electrical signals in the part of the brain linked to spatial awareness.

11 Jan 2013

Blocking interaction of JNK enzyme may counteract neuron destruction

Oxidative stress is a primary villain in a host of diseases that range from cancer and heart failure to Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

11 Jan 2013

Lower liver quality from donation after cardiac death linked to drop in transplants

A new study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Health Resources and Services Administration, and published in the January 2013 issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), found that the non-use of donor livers climbed through 2010 due to a worsening of donor liver quality, primarily from donation following cardiac death. Diabetes, donor age, and body mass index (BMI) were also linked to a decrease in use of organs.

11 Jan 2013

DESI technique identifies cancer type, grade and tumor margins in brain surgery patients

A new tool that could allow for faster, more comprehensive testing of brain tissue during surgery successfully identified the cancer type, grade and tumor margins in five brain surgery patients, according to a Purdue University and Brigham and Women's Hospital study.

11 Jan 2013

Longer looks: A key Hagel mission is to cut military health costs; Medical lessons from a mother's death; How they price - and how we pay for -a $300,000 medicine

As David Brooks and Paul Wolfowitz and many others have shown, it's easy to frame our messy fiscal conundrum in these simple terms of guns vs. butter, or rather, guns vs grandma's buttery-yellow, super-pricey heart medication.

11 Jan 2013

Saliva gland test shows promise for Parkinson's

New research suggests that testing a portion of a person's saliva gland may be a way to diagnose Parkinson's disease.

11 Jan 2013

Research: Smaller radiation fields can effectively treat aggressive brain tumors

New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows that patients suffering from aggressive brain tumors can be effectively treated with smaller radiation fields to spare the rest of the brain and preserve cognition.

11 Jan 2013

Apparent stem cell transplant success in mice may hold promise for people with ALS

Apparent stem cell transplant success in mice may hold promise for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

11 Jan 2013

SLU researchers to test new screening method for MPS disorders among infants

Researchers at Saint Louis University have received a five-year, $2.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to test a new method of screening newborns for a group of rare, but serious genetic disorders that affect approximately 200 babies born in the U.S., each year.

11 Jan 2013

Parkinson’s assessment devices from Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receive TGA approval

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today that they received TGA approval to market Kinesia technology in Australia. The Kinesia™ product line includes patient-worn motion sensors and a tablet computer to quantitatively assess tremor, bradykinesia, and dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease and in response to treatments.

10 Jan 2013

LM11A-31 effective at improving limb movement after spinal cord injury in mice

An experimental oral drug given to mice after a spinal cord injury was effective at improving limb movement after the injury, a new study shows.

10 Jan 2013

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center receives $36M NCI grant

The National Cancer Institute has awarded the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center a $36 million grant to fund cutting edge research programs and clinical trials over five years.

10 Jan 2013

Pannexin1 channel protein critical for memory and orientation

The channel protein Pannexin1 keeps nerve cells flexible and thus the brain receptive for new knowledge. Together with colleagues from Canada and the U.S., researchers at the Ruhr-Universit-t Bochum led by the junior professor Dr. Nora Prochnow from the Department of Molecular Brain Research describe these results in PLoS ONE.

10 Jan 2013

Leptin hormone also regulates airway diameter

A new study led by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has found that leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in energy metabolism, fertility, and bone mass, also regulates airway diameter.

9 Jan 2013

Bilingual older people reap neural rewards

Older bilingual people are faster than their monolingual peers in switching from one task to another, show researchers.

9 Jan 2013

Abnormal fixation may contribute to deficits in face perception in AMD patients

Abnormalities of eye movement and fixation may contribute to difficulty in perceiving and recognizing faces among older adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggests a study "Abnormal Fixation in Individuals with AMD when Viewing an Image of a Face" appearing in the January issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.

9 Jan 2013

Overall cancer death rates continue to decline in the U.S.: Report

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate.

9 Jan 2013

Scientists wrestle to understand why Huntington's can produce variable symptoms

Scientists have wrestled to understand why Huntington's disease, which is caused by a single gene mutation, can produce such variable symptoms. An authoritative review by a group of leading experts summarizes the progress relating cell loss in the striatum and cerebral cortex to symptom profile in Huntington's disease, suggesting a possible direction for developing targeted therapies.

9 Jan 2013

Dopamine-related drug exposure, Parkinson's increase risk of impulse control problems

Parkinson's disease itself does not increase the risk of impulse control problems such as compulsive gambling and shopping that have been seen in people taking certain drugs for Parkinson's disease, according to new research published in the January 8, 2013, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

9 Jan 2013

Beta blockers can reduce risk of Alzheimer's, other types of dementia

People taking the blood pressure drugs called beta blockers may be less likely to have changes in the brain that can be signs of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013.

9 Jan 2013

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Scientists track electrical signals in the brain region linked to spatial awareness

Blocking interaction of JNK enzyme may counteract neuron destruction

Lower liver quality from donation after cardiac death linked to drop in transplants

DESI technique identifies cancer type, grade and tumor margins in brain surgery patients

Longer looks: A key Hagel mission is to cut military health costs; Medical lessons from a mother's death; How they price - and how we pay for -a $300,000 medicine

Saliva gland test shows promise for Parkinson's

Research: Smaller radiation fields can effectively treat aggressive brain tumors

Apparent stem cell transplant success in mice may hold promise for people with ALS

SLU researchers to test new screening method for MPS disorders among infants

Parkinson’s assessment devices from Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies receive TGA approval

LM11A-31 effective at improving limb movement after spinal cord injury in mice

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center receives $36M NCI grant

Pannexin1 channel protein critical for memory and orientation

Leptin hormone also regulates airway diameter

Bilingual older people reap neural rewards

Abnormal fixation may contribute to deficits in face perception in AMD patients

Overall cancer death rates continue to decline in the U.S.: Report

Scientists wrestle to understand why Huntington's can produce variable symptoms

Dopamine-related drug exposure, Parkinson's increase risk of impulse control problems

Beta blockers can reduce risk of Alzheimer's, other types of dementia

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

Latest News