Nerve activity News and Research

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Renal denervation reduces blood pressure for patients not responding to drug therapy

Up to 10 per cent of patients with high blood pressure are resistant to treatment, which puts them at increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks. Clinical trials show that catheter-based renal denervation reduces blood pressure in patients who do not respond to conventional drug therapy.

26 Apr 2013

Targeting pathway may lead to better hypertension treatments for at-risk patients

Obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure (hypertension) are all related, but understanding the molecular pathways that underlie cause and effect is complicated.

12 Apr 2013

BDNF molecule appears to play a direct role in regulation of blood pressure

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's School of Dentistry have made an important connection between a molecule critical to nerve cells and high blood pressure. Production of the molecule Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) appears to increase dramatically in blood pressure-sensing nerve cells during hypertension.

7 Dec 2012

Developmental key to overactive sympathetic system

Being small for gestational age may be accompanied by an exaggerated sympathetic response to physical exercise, an animal study suggests.

20 Nov 2012

Heart rate variability may help to understand chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

Researchers have discovered for the first time that reduced heart rate variability – or changes in heart beat timing – best predicts cognitive disturbances, such as concentration difficulties commonly reported by people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

15 Nov 2012

University of Leicester scientists identify unique forms of spinal nerve activity

Scientists from the University of Leicester have hit upon unique forms of spinal nerve activity that shape output of nerve cell networks controlling motor behaviours.

9 Nov 2012

UAF scientists discover evolutionary origin of air breathing in vertebrates

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists have identified what they think is the ancestral trait that allowed for the evolution of air breathing in vertebrates. They will present their research at the 42nd annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Oct. 17 in New Orleans.

17 Oct 2012

Anesthetic-loaded liposomes can delay onset of neuropathic pain

Using tiny spheres filled with an anesthetic derived from a shellfish toxin, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to delay the rise of neuropathic pain, a chronic form of pain that arises from flawed signals transmitted by damaged nerves.

10 Oct 2012

New findings on how naked mole-rats adapt to acidic environments

Naked mole-rats evolved to thrive in an acidic environment that other mammals, including humans, would find intolerable. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago report new findings as to how these rodents have adapted to this environment.

24 Sep 2012

Cardiovascular control continues despite low pulse pressure in LVAD patients

Patients implanted with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices have low pulse pressure levels but are nevertheless able to maintain cardiovascular control through baroreflexes, German and US scientists have discovered.

14 Aug 2012

Obese women draw the hypertension short straw

The associations of obesity with prehypertension and hypertension are stronger in women than men, a study suggests.

2 Jul 2012

ASI completes $5.3 million Series A Preferred Stock financing

Ablative Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a privately-held company headquartered in Kalamazoo, MI with offices in Menlo Park, CA announced today that it has completed a Series A Preferred Stock financing, totaling approximately $5.3 million (including the conversion of the bridge financing completed earlier this year), to fund its unique technology platform.

19 Jun 2012

New research reveals effective treatments for gastrointestinal conditions

New research being presented at Digestive Disease Week- (DDW) reveals effective treatments for a number of gastrointestinal conditions, which are often chronic and costly.

22 May 2012

New technology delivers electrical signals from brain directly to muscles

A new Northwestern Medicine brain-machine technology delivers messages from the brain directly to the muscles -- bypassing the spinal cord -- to enable voluntary and complex movement of a paralyzed hand. The device could eventually be tested on, and perhaps aid, paralyzed patients.

20 Apr 2012

Researchers describe how they combine two pieces of technology to create neuroprosthesis

An artificial connection between the brain and muscles can restore complex hand movements in monkeys following paralysis, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

19 Apr 2012

Scientists develop mutant zebrafish to study Maple Syrup Urine Disease

In medical research, finding a reliable and cost-effective animal model can greatly enhance success in identifying disease mechanisms and genetic pathways, potentially cutting years off drug testing regimes and development of new treatment strategies.

14 Feb 2012

Scientists map neurons that process different kinds of visual information

There's a 3-D world in our brains. It's a landscape that mimics the outside world, where the objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits and electrical impulses.

7 Jan 2012

Subconscious nervous impulses may be prognostic markers for weight-loss outcome

A recent study of obese volunteers participating in a 12-week dietary weight-loss program found that successful weight losers had significantly higher resting nerve activity compared to weight-loss resistant individuals.

5 Dec 2011

Researchers identify how to design drugs to target specific brain areas

The future of drug design lies in developing therapies that can target specific cellular processes without causing adverse reactions in other areas of the nervous system. Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Li-ge in Belgium have discovered how to design drugs to target specific areas of the brain.

11 Nov 2011

Researchers identify FMRP protein as key player in RNA editing

The most common form of heritable cognitive impairment is Fragile X Syndrome, caused by mutation or malfunction of the FMR1 gene. Loss of FMR1 function is also the most common genetic cause of autism. Understanding how this gene works is vital to finding new treatments to help Fragile X patients and others.

31 Oct 2011