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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.

Researchers create experimental vaccine for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have created an experimental vaccine against beta-amyloid, the small protein that forms plaques in the brain and is believed to contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

11 Oct 2010

Cell Cure to receive equity investment of $7.1 million to develop stem cell-based therapies

BioTime, Inc. Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd., and Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. jointly announced today that Cell Cure will receive an equity investment of $7.1 million from BioTime, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Hadasit Bio-Holdings (HBL).

11 Oct 2010

Cell Cure, Teva Pharmaceutical enter license option agreement for OpRegen product

BioTime, Inc., Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd., and Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd. jointly announced today that Cell Cure and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. have entered into an exclusive license option agreement to develop and commercialize Cell Cure's OpRegen product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

11 Oct 2010

AFA quarterly magazine features President Obama as guest columnist

President Obama is featured as a guest columnist in the latest issue of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America's (AFA) quarterly magazine for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, care ADvantage. In his column, he outlines important provisions in the Affordable Care Act that are relevant to the Alzheimer's community, such as health insurance, drug coverage and long-term care.

8 Oct 2010

Researchers discover rhythmic changes in synapse numbers regulate sleep cycles

With the help of tiny, see-through fish, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers are homing in on what happens in the brain while you sleep. In a new study, they show how the circadian clock and sleep affect the scope of neuron-to-neuron connections in a particular region of the brain, and they identified a gene that appears to regulate the number of these connections, called synapses.

8 Oct 2010

New approach to provide long lasting relief for headache

Most physicians are treating the symptom of headache using medication. Patients often receive temporary relief from the medication but it does not deal with the cause of the headache. The drug companies are sponsoring research programs to test their drugs in conjunction with most "Headache Facilities."

8 Oct 2010

Researchers reveal neural responses associated with empathy for others' pain

Witnessing a person from our own group or an outsider suffer pain causes neural responses in two very different regions of the brain. And, the specific region activated reveals whether or not we will help the person in need. Researchers at the University of Zurich studied the brain responses of soccer fans and now have neurobiological evidence for why we are most willing to help members of our own group.

8 Oct 2010

Mouse study may help develop new therapies for spinal cord injury

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown how stem cells, together with other cells, repair damaged tissue in the mouse spinal cord. The results are of potential significance to the development of therapies for spinal cord injury.

8 Oct 2010

SRA International receives award of task order to continue support for TCGA

SRA International, Inc., a leading provider of technology and strategic consulting services and solutions to government organizations and commercial clients, today announced the award of a task order as a contractor to the National Institutes of Health to continue bioinformatics support of the Data Coordinating Center for The Cancer Genome Atlas.

8 Oct 2010

Presbyterian Hospital collaborates with New York Center for Autism to establish Institute for Brain Development

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, along with its affiliated medical schools Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College, announced its collaboration with the New York Center for Autism to establish the Institute for Brain Development, a comprehensive, state-of-the-art institute dedicated to addressing the pressing clinical needs of individuals living with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disorders of the brain, across their lifespan.

8 Oct 2010

Study finds boosting mitochondria may delay onset of Parkinson's disease

In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight.

8 Oct 2010

Study suggests athletes suffer a form of injury that is difficult to diagnose

A study by researchers at Purdue University suggests that some high school football players suffer undiagnosed changes in brain function and continue playing even though they are impaired.

8 Oct 2010

StemCells provides update on PMD Phase I clinical trial

StemCells, Inc. today provided an update on its ongoing Phase I clinical trial in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a fatal myelination disorder that afflicts male children.

8 Oct 2010

Two-day symposium marks an extraordinary decade for Brown Institute for Brain Science

Just as intense concentration allows a sharp mind to perform at its peak, a research institute that concentrates pre-eminent scientists from 11 academic departments can push back the frontiers of knowledge in a complex research area: the human brain.

8 Oct 2010

Speech impaired after stroke but can sing

A British professional singer and music and drama teacher, Ann Arscott who was left unable to speak after suffering a devastating stroke has discovered she can still sing. She is from Birmingham, central England and suffered a sudden stroke in April last year which left her speechless – a condition known as aphasia.

8 Oct 2010

Targacept announces top-line results from AZD1446 Phase 2 clinical trial for ADHD

Targacept, Inc. today announced top-line results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of AZD1446 conducted by AstraZeneca in adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

8 Oct 2010

Parkinson’s disease pathology breakthrough

Researchers have found that brain cells of people with early Parkinson's disease have damaged powerhouses. In a new study they have identified 10 groups of gene sets related to the energy production problems in the brain cells of these people.

8 Oct 2010

AMIC signs world-wide license for brachytherapy seed with fast-dissolving matrix

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation, a company engaged in the production and distribution of medical isotopes, is delighted to announce the execution of an exclusive world-wide license for patented technology for a proprietary brachytherapy seed with a fast-dissolving matrix for optimized delivery of radionuclides to cancer tissue.

7 Oct 2010

Cs-131 brachytherapy seed implant can treat metastasized cancer

IsoRay, Inc. announced today another milestone in the use of Cesium-131 (Cs-131) brachytherapy seeds (internal radiation therapy). Doctors at a world renowned medical facility have performed the world's first Cs-131 brachytherapy seed implant following a wedge resection of a lung tumor which originated from a form of malignant uterine cancer. Initially used to treat primary cancers, Cs-131 seeds are now being used to treat metastasized cancer.

7 Oct 2010

Elevated levels of iron in brain enhance brain-destroying plaque production in Alzheimer's patients: Research

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers say they have determined how iron contributes to the production of brain-destroying plaques found in Alzheimer's patients.

7 Oct 2010