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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.

MGH, HSG to conduct PBT2 clinical trial in Huntington's disease

The Huntington Study Group (HSG), under the leadership of Ray Dorsey, M.D. with Johns Hopkins Medical and Diana Rosas, M.D. with Massachusetts General Hospital, is conducting a clinical trial in Huntington's disease (HD) throughout the United States and Australia, "A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, study to assess the safety and tolerability, and efficacy of PBT2 in patients with early to mid-stage Huntington's disease" comparing a 100 mg dose or 250 mg dose versus placebo.

8 Jun 2012

BRF to fund research that focuses on sports-related concussive injuries among young children

The Brain Research Foundation (BRF) today announced it will fund research that aims to improve pediatricians' ability to evaluate and manage sports-related concussive injuries among young children, and guide future research regarding the diagnosis, treatment and long term effects of these events.

7 Jun 2012

CDI introduces MyCell Services

Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services.

7 Jun 2012

Clinical study shows positive effects of CAD106 vaccine against AD

A study led by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reports for the first time the positive effects of an active vaccine against Alzheimer's disease. The new vaccine, CAD106, can prove a breakthrough in the search for a cure for this seriously debilitating dementia disease. The study is published in the distinguished scientific journal Lancet Neurology.

7 Jun 2012

Neurotech’s ADNS-300 system obtains European CE Mark approval

Neurotech s.a., a Belgium based developer and manufacturer of neurostimulation devices, announces that it has obtained the European CE Mark for its ADNS-300 system dedicated to the treatment of refractory epilepsy.

7 Jun 2012

Paper spotlights unique developmental strategy undertaken by all mammals

Ask the average person the street how the brain develops, and they'll likely tell you that the brain's wiring is built as newborns first begin to experience the world. With more experience, those connections are strengthened, and new branches are built as they learn and grow. A new study conducted in a Harvard lab, however, suggests that just the opposite is true.

7 Jun 2012

Study describes how seizures in people with AS could be linked to brain cell activity imbalance

New research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have pinpointed an underlying cause of the seizures that affect 90 percent of people with Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder.

7 Jun 2012

Risk of leukaemia and brain cancer in children could be tripled by radiation exposure from CT scans

Radiation exposure received from 2 to 3 computed tomography (CT) scans of the head in childhood (aged under 15 years)—giving a cumulative dose of around 60 mGy— can triple the risk of later developing brain cancer, while around 5 to 10 such scans (cumulative dose around 50 mGy) could triple the risk of developing leukaemia (with the differing number of scans related to different absorption rates of the brain versus the bone marrow and age at time of scanning).

7 Jun 2012

UAB researchers aim to improve cardiac-arrest-survival rates

The survival rate for people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United States is dismal — around 5 percent — say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

7 Jun 2012

New research into cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease

New research into the cell-damaging effects of Huntington's disease suggests a potentially new approach for identifying possible therapeutic targets for treating the nerve-destroying disorder.

7 Jun 2012

Studies evaluate transplantation potential and success of islet cells derived from pancreatic tissues

Two studies appearing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation, evaluate the transplantation potential and success of islet cells derived from pancreatic tissues, in addition to a clinical study that reports the occurrence of adverse events.

7 Jun 2012

Plasma levels of tau appear to be a strong predictor for AD

A study by researchers at the Banner Sun Health Research Institute suggests that plasma levels of tau, a protein formed in the brain, appears to be a biomarker and a strong predictor for Alzheimer's disease.

7 Jun 2012

Debiopharm announces results from Debio 0932 Phase I study on cancer

Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs and companion diagnostics, presented results of a Phase I open-label dose-escalation study with Debio 0932, an oral Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor in clinical development as an anti-cancer agent.

7 Jun 2012

Ultra-sensitive imaging test can demonstrate link between TBI and PTSD

Even when brain injury is so subtle that it can only be detected by an ultra-sensitive imaging test, the injury might predispose soldiers in combat to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

7 Jun 2012

Patent claims for technology to assess Parkinson’s disease issued to Great Lakes Neurotechnologies

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today that the U.S. Patent Office has issued claims under patent number 8,187,209 covering their Movement Disorder Monitoring System and Method for quantitative assessment of motor symptoms associated with movement disorders.

6 Jun 2012

Follow-up study finds seizure freedom in 68% of patients with JME

A 25-year follow-up study reveals that 68% of patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) became seizure-free, with nearly 30% no longer needing antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment. Findings published today in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), report that the occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures preceded by bilateral myoclonic seizures, and AED polytherapy significantly predicted poor long-term seizure outcome.

6 Jun 2012

New tool helps researchers to better understand Type 2 human diabetes

With Type 2 human diabetes climbing at alarming rates in the United States, researchers are seeking treatments for the disease, which has been linked to obesity and poor diet. Now biologists at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, report they have developed a new tool that will help researchers better understand this deadly disease.

6 Jun 2012

Study determines transgenerational effects of cannabinoid exposure in adolescent female rats

Mothers who use marijuana as teens-long before having children-may put their future children at a higher risk of drug abuse, new research suggests.

6 Jun 2012

STELARA effectively reduces signs and symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis

Patients with active psoriatic arthritis receiving the interleukin (IL)-12/23 inhibitor STELARA (ustekinumab) experienced significant improvements in signs and symptoms of the disease, according to new findings presented today from a Janssen Research & Development, LLC, (Janssen)-sponsored investigational study.

6 Jun 2012

Inflammation instigated by the immune system in ALS can trigger macrophages

In an early study, UCLA researchers found that the immune cells of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, may play a role in damaging the neurons in the spinal cord.

6 Jun 2012