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.

New technique may find 'hidden' receptors in nerve cells

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and University of Pennsylvania have found a way to uncover potential drug targets that have so far remained hidden from researchers' view.

11 Mar 2011

Neurogenesis plays a beneficial role in exercise-induced response to stress, sexual behavior and reproduction

Two studies published by an interdisciplinary team of Hong Kong researchers in the current special issue of Cell Transplantation (20:1), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/ , link the regrowth of key adult brain cells (neurogenesis) in two critical areas of the brain to both the benefits of exercise as a stress reducer and also to sexual behavior and reproductive issues.

11 Mar 2011

New study reveals brain networks are involved in 'cross-modal' person recognition

Human social interactions are shaped by our ability to recognise people. Faces and voices are known to be some of the key features that enable us to identify individual people, and they are rich in information such as gender, age, and body size, that lead to a unique identity for a person.

11 Mar 2011

Study sheds light on how signals from CSF help drive neural development

Cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid found in and around the brain and spinal cord, may play a larger role in the developing brain than previously thought, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston.

11 Mar 2011

Texas Children's completes first phase of certification to implant SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart

Texas Children's Hospital and SynCardia Systems, Inc. announced today that Texas Children's has become the world's first pediatric hospital to complete the first phase of certification to implant the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. The hospital intends to use the Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to transplant for their patients who received a heart transplant as children and now require mechanical support as a bridge to their second transplant.

11 Mar 2011

Infant formulas with fluoridated water increase risk of discolored teeth: HHS

All infant formulas, either concentrated or ready-to-feed, already contain some fluoride and, when routinely mixed with fluoridated water, increase the risk of dental fluorosis, according to Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a video commentary published on Medscape.com, March 8, 2011.

11 Mar 2011

FDA approves ELANA Surgical Kit for standard bypass surgery in brain

U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a surgical kit that allows neurosurgeons to reroute blood flow around an aneurysm or a tumor in the brains of patients at greater risk of stroke during standard bypass surgery.

11 Mar 2011

SAP may serve as effective nanomaterial to prevent prostate cancer spread

When prostate cancer stem cells were enclosed in self-assembling nanomaterials made of peptides, the SAP stopped cancer stem cell colony formation and also stopped the division of cancer cells in laboratory cultures.

11 Mar 2011

Scientists discover four new genetic variants in humans linked with NAFLD

Five genetic variants in humans - four new - associate with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, according to a study published March 10 in PLoS Genetics.

10 Mar 2011

Coffee consumption may reduce risk of stroke in women

Drinking more than a cup of coffee a day was associated with a 22 percent to 25 percent lower risk of stroke, compared with those who drank less, in a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

10 Mar 2011

Novartis new MS treatment receives Notice of Compliance in Canada

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. announced today that its new MS treatment, Gilenya, has received Notice of Compliance in Canada.

10 Mar 2011

Preliminary phase I trial results show safety of bone marrow stem cells in children with TBI

Stem cells derived from a patient's own bone marrow were safely used in pediatric patients with traumatic brain injury, according to results of a Phase I clinical trial at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

10 Mar 2011

Scientists develop new model for neurodegenerative disease

A team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has developed a new model for how inherited genes contribute to a common but untreatable and incurable neurodegenerative disease.

10 Mar 2011

Positive results from exenatide phase 2 study in patients with type 2 diabetes

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. today announced positive results from a phase 2 study evaluating the effects of a once-monthly injectable suspension formulation of exenatide on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

10 Mar 2011

International panel revises, simplifies 'McDonald Criteria' for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

International Panel Revises "McDonald Criteria" for Diagnosing MS -- Use of new data should speed diagnosis -- Publication coincides with MS Awareness Week

10 Mar 2011

Certain patterns of brain activity allow 'seeing' two colours at the same time

The Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman once wrote in his autobiographical book (What do you care what other people think?): "When I see equations, I see letters in colors - I don't know why […] And I wonder what the hell it must look like to the students."

10 Mar 2011

Research: CREBBP mutation may help cancer resist steroid treatment, fuel ALL's return

Despite dramatically improved survival rates for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, relapse remains a leading cause of death from the disease. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators identified mutations in a gene named CREBBP that may help the cancer resist steroid treatment and fuel ALL's return.

10 Mar 2011

Professor utilizes $300,000 N.Y. grant to study adult neural stem cells

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Deanna Thompson is utilizing more than $300,000 in New York state funding as part of the state stem cell research program, NYSTEM, to study adult neural stem cells.

10 Mar 2011

Caspase inhibition can prevent brain inflammation in neurological diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are partly attributable to brain inflammation. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now demonstrate in a paper published in Nature that a well-known family of enzymes can prevent the inflammation and thus constitute a potential target for drugs.

10 Mar 2011

St. Joseph's Hospital launches new neuromodulation center in Barrow

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center's Barrow Neurological Institute has received a $10.1 million donation, the largest single gift in the organization's history and one of the biggest ever given to any Arizona hospital.

10 Mar 2011