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Lenzenweger releases book for schizophrenia

About 1 in 10 people have the potential to develop schizophrenia, but only 1 in 100 actually end up with this devastating illness. The challenge is in knowing why some do and some don't.Drawing from over 25 years of laboratory study, Mark F. Lenzenweger, a distinguished professor of clinical science, neuroscience and cognitive psychology at Binghamton University, thinks that not only does he have the makings of a good response to this troubling question but also how to go about finding those answers.

27 Jul 2010

Psychologists to host China's first-ever conference on positive psychology

The ranks of China's millionaires continue to grow, but the increased wealth has done little to boost the country's gross domestic happiness, according to psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley. They say the pursuit of prosperity in the nation is fast outpacing mental health and well-being, and are seeking to correct that imbalance by spreading the science of happiness in China.

27 Jul 2010

Albert Einstein College of Medicine receives research grant to help people with MDR-TB

For the third time in four months, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a research grant aimed at helping people infected with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Taken together, all three NIH grants total $8.57 million.

27 Jul 2010

Epilepsy drugs analyzed for causing increased risk of suicide in patients

While the Food and Drug Administration requires a warning of an increased risk of suicide for all epilepsy drugs, a new study shows that only certain drugs may increase the risk. The study is published in the July 27, 2010, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Newer drugs with a higher risk of causing depression than other epilepsy drugs, such as levetiracetam, topiramate and vigabatrin, were found to increase the risk of self-harm or suicidal behavior among people with epilepsy.

27 Jul 2010

Seaside Therapeutics reports positive data from STX209 Phase 2 study in fragile X syndrome

Seaside Therapeutics, Inc. announced today data from the largest randomized, placebo-controlled study conducted to date in individuals with fragile X syndrome. In a Phase 2 study of STX209, clinically meaningful improvements on global and specific neurobehavioral outcomes were observed in the general study population. The improvements were statistically significant in pediatric patients with more severe impairments in sociability -- a core symptom of fragile X syndrome.

26 Jul 2010

Research reveals molecular basis of neural circuits

The basal ganglia is a series of highly connected brain areas localised deep in the cerebral cortex that recently has attracted interest of neuroscientists when it was linked to learning, and discovered to be affected in a number of disorders of the addictive and obsessive spectrum, but also in Parkinson's disease (PD). And now researchers think they have understood why as they found that neurons in this area signal the beginning and the end of voluntary actions. In fact, problems in these neurons could explain the "incapacity to stop" seen in obsession or compulsive behaviour, but also the problems in learning and control of movement characteristic of Parkinson's

26 Jul 2010

Diagnostic guidelines for arthritis-related back pain result in excessive tests, delay in pain relief: Research

Slavishly following long-held guidelines for diagnosing the cause of arthritis-related back pain is resulting in excessive tests, delays in pain relief and wasteful spending of as much as $10,000 per patient, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.

26 Jul 2010

FDA approves Aricept 23 mg tablet for Alzheimer's disease

Eisai Inc. and Pfizer Inc announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new once-daily, higher-dose Aricept 23 mg tablet for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aricept 23 mg tablet offers another dosing option for patients with moderate-to-severe AD, for whom few treatments are available

26 Jul 2010

Einstein scientists awarded $4.1M to test microbicide Carraguard against HPV

The National Cancer Institute has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University $4.1 million to test the microbicide Carraguard- against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer. The research will evaluate the efficacy of Carraguard- - a clear gel made from the seaweed derivative carrageenan - in preventing new HPV infections in women.

26 Jul 2010

Lack of SIRT1 protein exhibits impaired memory and learning: Study

A protein implicated in many biological processes also may play a role in memory, according to a study led by the University of Southern California and the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.The findings, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, agree with research by a different team published online by Nature on July 11. Both studies found that mice lacking the protein SIRT1 exhibited impaired memory and learning, suggesting SIRT1's importance to those functions.

23 Jul 2010

Euthymics Bioscience completes $24 million Series A financing

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing next-generation antidepressants, today announced the completion of a Series A financing -- led by Novartis Venture Funds and Venture Investors - for a total investment commitment of $24 million in milestone-conditioned tranches. Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management, LLC, GBS Venture Partners and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board also participated in the financing.

22 Jul 2010

AstraZeneca provides medicines to patients at Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers

AstraZeneca announced today that it is providing medicines at no cost to qualifying patients at Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers, Inc. in St. Louis.

22 Jul 2010

New research identifies stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells

New research, published in the journal Development, by Dr. Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, professor of Pharmacology & Physiology and director of the newly formed GW Institute for Neuroscience, and his colleagues have identified the stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells - olfactory receptors, vomeronasal and gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons - that are responsible for enabling animals and humans, to eat, interact socially and reproduce.

22 Jul 2010

Elan total revenue increases 10% to $579.4 million for first half of 2010

Elan Corporation, plc today reported its second quarter and first half 2010 financial results.

22 Jul 2010

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Rui Costa, Principal Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and Xin Jin, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, describe in the latest issue of the journal Nature, that the activity of certain neurons in the brain can signal the initiation and termination of behavioural sequences we learn anew. Furthermore, they found that this brain activity is essential for learning and executing novel action sequences, many times compromised in patients suffering from disorders such as Parkinson's or Huntington's.

22 Jul 2010

CFAR receives a five-year renewal grant to continue AIDS research

The Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Case Medical Center Center for AIDS Research announced today it has received a five-year renewal grant from the National Institutes of Health for $9 million. The CFAR provides clinical and technological support to researchers working on HIV-related projects at Case Western Reserve, University Hospital Case Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, and several international sites.

22 Jul 2010

Abbott second-quarter global sales increase 17.8% to $8.8 billion

Abbott today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

21 Jul 2010

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

How do mammals prepare themselves in utero for a radical modification to their respiration at the time of birth, when they move abruptly from an aquatic medium to air? CNRS researchers, working in collaboration with teams from the Universities of the Méditerranée, Paris-Sud 11 and Paul Cézanne have identified a gene in the mouse that is essential to respiration and consequently to survival at birth.

21 Jul 2010

Review shows how music training primes nervous system, boosts learning

Those ubiquitous wires connecting listeners to you-name-the-sounds from invisible MP3 players -- whether of Bach, Miles Davis or, more likely today, Lady Gaga -- only hint at music's effect on the soul throughout the ages.

21 Jul 2010

Washington University's new Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center to focus on children

Improving the lives of infants and children with developmental disabilities will be the focus of Washington University's new Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (WUIDDRC).

21 Jul 2010