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.

HMS researcher receives $130,000 to conduct epilepsy study

A researcher from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School is receiving $130,000 to conduct further research on memory dysfunction in epilepsy patients through the Susan S. Spencer Clinical Research Training Fellowship.

27 Apr 2012

Researchers discover how adult brain can adapt to new situations

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, this is not always true. Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have now discovered how the adult brain can adapt to new situations. The Dutch researchers' findings are published on Wednesday in the prestigious journal Neuron. Their study may be significant in the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia.

27 Apr 2012

FDA approves Novartis’ Afinitor for treatment of renal angiomyolipomas and TSC

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Afinitor (everolimus) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with kidney tumors known as renal angiomyolipomas and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), who do not require immediate surgery.

27 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Ma. health law trips up even bosses offering insurance; Traumatic brain disease may be complicating veterans' recoveries

Ronn Garry is an owner of Tropical Foods, the independent Roxbury market that has anchored Dudley Square for 36 years. He has 70 employees, 45 of them full time. The 2006 health law says he has to offer those full-time employees health insurance, cover at least 33 percent of their premiums, and get a quarter of them to take up his offer. Otherwise, he must pay a fine, called a Fair Share Contribution: $295 for every worker.

27 Apr 2012

Researchers examines whether MRI can improve accuracy of Huntington’s diagnosis

Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a defect on chromosome four where, within the Huntingtin gene, a CAG repeat occurs too many times. Most individuals begin experiencing symptoms in their 40s or 50s, but studies have shown that significant brain atrophy occurs several years prior to an official HD diagnosis. As a result, the field has sought a preventive treatment that could be administered prior to the development of actual symptoms that might delay the onset of illness.

27 Apr 2012

New URMC trial to evaluate carvedilol for high blood pressure

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center are testing whether different doses of an established blood pressure medication can provide the same benefits as a standard dose in people with mild hypertension, possibly with fewer side effects and at a lower cost. The newly launched clinical trial, funded with a $1.9 million grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, is the first of its kind in the United States.

27 Apr 2012

UCSF researcher to study risk factors and consequences of stroke

A San Francisco researcher is receiving $130,000 for her research studying risk factors and consequences of stroke among different racial/ethnic groups through the AHA/ASA/ABF Lawrence M. Brass, MD, Stroke Research Postdoctoral Fellowship from the American Brain Foundation,(formerly the American Academy of Neurology Foundation), the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

27 Apr 2012

Healthy emmetropic women have a wider pupil diameter than men

From an anatomical point of view, a normal, non-pathological eye is known as an emmetropic eye, and has been studied very little until now in comparison with myopic and hypermetropic eyes. The results show that healthy emmetropic women have a wider pupil diameter than men.

27 Apr 2012

UIC researcher to explore causes of myasthenia gravis

A University of Illinois at Chicago researcher is the recipient of a $240,000 research grant to further explore the causes of myasthenia gravis, a neurologic disease affecting muscles.

27 Apr 2012

New article describes design and properties of magnetoelectric composite materials

Up to now, the brain's magnetic field is measurable only under technical laboratory conditions. This technique is therefore not feasible in terms of the broader medical use, although it would be significant for diagnosing numerous conditions such as epilepsy and dementia, or even for improving therapies such as deep brain stimulation for treating Parkinson's disease.

27 Apr 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Afinitor to treat renal angiomyolipomas caused by TSC

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Afinitor (everolimus), the first drug approved specifically to treat non-cancerous kidney tumors (renal angiomyolipomas) not requiring immediate surgery in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

27 Apr 2012

Playing action videogames cause differences in brain activity

A team led by psychology professor Ian Spence at the University of Toronto reveals that playing an action videogame, even for a relatively short time, causes differences in brain activity and improvements in visual attention.

27 Apr 2012

Simple wrist sensor could gauge severity of epileptic seizures

In this week's issue of the journal Neurology, researchers at MIT and two Boston hospitals provide early evidence that a simple, unobtrusive wrist sensor could gauge the severity of epileptic seizures as accurately as electroencephalograms (EEGs) do - but without the ungainly scalp electrodes and electrical leads.

27 Apr 2012

Doctor claims to have found the elusive G spot

In an article published Wednesday by the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the semi-retired Florida gynecologist declared that he had found it. For his study he conducted a postmortem examination of an 83-year-old woman in Warsaw Medical University's Department of Forensic Medicine. Unlike the United States, which strictly regulates the research use of cadavers, Poland allows the dissection of human remains soon after death, when fine distinctions in tissue remain easy to see.

26 Apr 2012

Experimental drug for autism works effectively in laboratory mice: Study

A new experimental drug has shown promise in autism symptoms in mice. Researchers from the National Institutes of Mental Health and Pfizer reported Wednesday that an experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice bred to display autism-like behaviors.

26 Apr 2012

Mad cow disease raises concern but safety nets are in place says USDA

Four sick cows ever discovered in the U.S., the one announced Tuesday being the first since 2006, and no human version of the illness linked to eating U.S. beef, is not enough to worry about. “From simply a public health issue, I put it very, very low,” Cornell University food safety expert Martin Wiedmann said of the level of concern about mad cow disease. Maintaining confidence in exports fuels the nation's monitoring of the beef supply as much as continuing safety concerns, he said.

26 Apr 2012

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies secures funding for development and testing of innovative neurotechnology

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies Secures Over $4.5 Million in Funding to Fuel New Product Development for Parkinson's Disease and Neuroscience Education April 24, 2012: Valley View, OH - Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies announced today they have secured over $4.5 million is funding for new product development. The funding includes three new projects sponsored by the National Institutes of Health's SBIR program. Each project is focused on developing and testing innovative neurotechnology. Two projects focus on the monitoring and treatment of Parkinson's disease while another will develop a wireless physiological monitor and web-based teaching system for high school neuroscience courses.

26 Apr 2012