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.

Insight into obsessive-compulsive disorder

New scientific evidence challenges a popular conception that behaviours such as repetitive hand-washing, characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder, are carried out in response to disturbing obsessive fears.

24 May 2011

New faceshields offer protection to football players with amblyopia

Game-worn football faceshields are more susceptible to breaking when subjected to high-velocity impact than are new faceshields, according to recent research.

24 May 2011

Exosome Diagnostics announces expansion of scientific advisory board

Exosome Diagnostics, a leading developer of biofluid based molecular diagnostic tests for use in personalised medicine, today announced the appointments of Bob Carter MD, Carlos Cordon-Cardo MD, PhD, Keith Flaherty MD, John Quackenbush, PhD; to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

24 May 2011

Nestle Health Science to acquire Prometheus Laboratories

Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostic company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Nestle Health Science S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nestle S.A., for an undisclosed amount.

24 May 2011

'Survival protein' protects brain against effects of stroke

Johns Hopkins scientists say that a newly discovered "survival protein" protects the brain against the effects of stroke in rodent brain tissue by interfering with a particular kind of cell death that's also implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack.

24 May 2011

African-Americans with multiple sclerosis have lower vitamin D levels

African-Americans who have multiple sclerosis have lower vitamin D levels than African-Americans who don't have the disease, according to a study published in the May 24, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 May 2011

Discovery of possible new strategy for treating neurologic disorders

23 May 2011

OptiNose wins 200,000 NOK award for novel bi-directional nasal drug delivery technology

OptiNose Inc. announced that the Company has recently won the Oslo regional finals of the DnB NOR Innovation Award for its novel, bi-directional nasal drug delivery technology.

23 May 2011

Lund University researcher discovers new sepsis biomarker in blood

Sepsis is the name of an infection that causes a series of reactions in the body, which in the worst case can prove fatal. The problem for both patients and doctors is that the early symptoms are difficult to distinguish from less dangerous infections such as a severe flu or winter vomiting disease.

23 May 2011

Novel compound could become an effective alternative to common narcotic analgesics

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have for the first time accomplished a laboratory synthesis of a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely employed in traditional medicine.

23 May 2011

New data from ProSavin Phase I/II trial in Parkinson's presented at ASGCT annual meeting

Oxford BioMedica, a leading gene therapy company, announces that new data from the on-going Phase I/II trial of ProSavin for the treatment of Parkinson's disease were presented at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy 14th Annual Meeting held in Seattle, USA by Professor Stephane Palfi, Principal Investigator at the Henri Mondor Hospital in Paris, on Saturday 21 May 2011.

23 May 2011

Scientists direct embryonic, induced human stem cells to become astrocytes in lab dish

Pity the lowly astrocyte, the most common cell in the human nervous system. Long considered to be little more than putty in the brain and spinal cord, the star-shaped astrocyte has found new respect among neuroscientists who have begun to recognize its many functions in the brain, not to mention its role in a range of disorders of the central nervous system.

23 May 2011

Travel, hunting, and venison consumption linked to prion diseases

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have examined the potential for human exposure to prion diseases, looking at hunting, venison consumption, and travel to areas in which prion diseases have been reported in animals.

23 May 2011

H. pylori infection could play a role in Parkinson's disease development

The stomach bacteria responsible for ulcers could also play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease according to research presented today at the 111th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

23 May 2011

New insights into bone diseases

A study by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and collaborators at other institutions has provided new insights into the means by which bone cells produce new bone in response to mechanical stresses, such as exercise.

23 May 2011

Paralyzed man walks again

Three years ago, baseball champion Rob Summers was hit by a speeding car in Portland, Oregon which smashed into his legs and left him with appalling injuries. He was told he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair at best. However the 25 year old has become the first person paralyzed from the chest down to stand and take a step unaided.

22 May 2011

Global scientists rebuke coming decision on carcinogenicity of radiofrequency and microwaves

In collaboration with the International EMF Alliance (IEMFA), scientists from Europe, North America, Australia and Israel have sent an Open Letter to Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), calling for a postponement of the forthcoming meeting May 24-31, 2011 in Lyon, France, “Non-Ionizing Radiation, Part II: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field [includes mobile telephones],” at which determination of the carcinogenicity of cell phones and wireless technologies will be made.

22 May 2011

Modified cells protect marrow and blood cells from harmful chemotherapy effects in brain tumor patients

Although chemotherapy is used to kill cancer cells, it can also have a strong toxic effect on normal cells such as bone marrow and blood cells, often limiting the ability to use and manage the chemotherapy treatment.

21 May 2011

Stimulating electrode array assists paralyzed man to regain voluntary movements of limbs

A team of researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the University of Louisville have used a stimulating electrode array to assist a paralyzed man to stand, step on a treadmill with assistance, and, over time, to regain voluntary movements of his limbs.

21 May 2011

Breakthrough reason for cautious hope among those with spinal cord injuries

A team of scientists at the University of Louisville, UCLA and the California Institute of Technology has achieved a significant breakthrough in its initial work with a paralyzed male volunteer at Louisville's Frazier Rehab Institute - the result of 30 years of research to find potential clinical therapies for paralysis.

21 May 2011