Motor Neuron Disease News and Research

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Magnetic nano-sized disks could restore function for Lou Gehrig’s disease patients

For decades the renowned English physicist Stephen Hawking lived with a motor neuron disease until his death last year.

5 Dec 2019

Coriell Institute for Medical Research wins $7.7 million NINDS contract

Coriell Institute for Medical Research has been awarded a $7.7 million contract by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health focused on the study of nervous system disorders.

21 Nov 2019

Adult SMA patients treated with Nusinersen show improvement in motor function

A study published in the Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases presents the first evidence of mild improvement or stabilization of motor and respiratory function in adults with spinal muscular atrophy type 3 (SMA3) treated with Nusinersen, which was the case even in patients who have had the disease for 20 years or more.

11 Nov 2019

TDP-43 study could speed up the diagnosis and treatment of ALS

A new study suggests that TDP-43 may be used as a biomarker in the diagnosis and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

30 Oct 2019

Prilenia's lead compound selected to participate in first-ever ALS platform trial

Prilenia, a newly formed biotech company focused on developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, announces that Pridopidine, its lead compound, has been selected as the first of three potential new treatments to be included in the launch of the first ever platform trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

19 Sep 2019

New genomic module facilitates more personalized forms of medicine

Researchers from the HSE Epilepsy Lighthouse Project and FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases hosted by RCSI, have developed a new genomics module in the Irish National Epilepsy Electronic Patient Record system.

9 Aug 2019

Researchers decode factors that contribute to risk of developing motor neuron disease

Trinity College Dublin researchers have found that one in 347 men and one in 436 women can be expected to develop motor neuron disease during their lifetime.

25 Jul 2019

Intestinal microbes may affect course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have shown in mice that intestinal microbes, collectively termed the gut microbiome, may affect the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

22 Jul 2019

UK charity invests £1 million to develop potential therapeutic for Parkinson's

Charity Parkinson's UK is partnering with NRG Therapeutics Ltd to discover and develop a potential drug that could safeguard dopamine cells that are damaged by Parkinson's and slow down the progression of the condition.

1 Jul 2019

Device converts brain signals into speech, offering hope for patients

In a remarkable application of modern technology, scientists have created a device that can decode signals from the brain’s speech centers to produce speech through a synthesizer.

25 Apr 2019

Study suggests novel therapeutic strategy for ALS

In a study published online in Brain on April 1, researchers from Dr. XU Jin's lab at the Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators revealed a new cellular mechanism for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, suggested a novel therapeutic strategy targeting the RNA degradation pathway, and identified an asthma drug as a potential medication for ALS.

9 Apr 2019

First-of-its-kind human trial of new brain reading device to help speech and movement

The Stentrode™ is a device that is placed inside a blood vessel of the brain located in an area that controls movement (motor cortex). It is the only investigational technology of its kind that does not require open brain surgery.

8 Apr 2019

Promising diagnostic, prognostic tools for onset and progression of ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a motor neuron disease with rampant progression and that it is typically fatal within 5 years of prognosis.

5 Apr 2019

Ezogabine treatment reduces motor neuron excitability in ALS patients, study shows

Brian Wainger, MD, PhD, of the Healey Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital presented initial, top-level results of a recently completed phase 2 clinical trial of ezogabine (also called retigabine) on December 9 at the Motor Neurone Disease Association annual meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

11 Dec 2018