Medical Research News

RSS

UC Berkeley study finds cocaine can dominate high-level brain circuits

Cocaine can speedily rewire high-level brain circuits that support learning, memory and decision-making, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and UCSF. The findings shed new light on the frontal brain's role in drug-seeking behavior and may be key to tackling addiction.

26 Aug 2013

Glutathione peroxidase activity protects against symptoms of Huntington's disease

Leicester geneticists have discovered a potential defence against Huntington's disease - a fatal neurodegenerative disorder which currently has no cure.

26 Aug 2013

Ability to draw spontaneously may be preserved in brains of artists even after vascular dementia

The ability to draw spontaneously as well as from memory may be preserved in the brains of artists long after the deleterious effects of vascular dementia have diminished their capacity to complete simple, everyday tasks, according to a new study by physicians at St. Michael's Hospital.

26 Aug 2013

BES procedure may prevent cell apoptosis in stem cell-based transplantation therapy

Researchers at the Beihang University School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, led by Dr. Yubo Fan, have discovered that Biphasic Electrical stimulation (BES), a non-chemical procedure, may be used as a strategy for preventing cell apoptosis in stem cell-based transplantation therapy.

26 Aug 2013

Researchers identify compound that eases symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have brought new clarity to the picture of what goes awry in the brain during Parkinson's disease and identified a compound that eases the disease's symptoms in mice.

26 Aug 2013

University of York reveals early ancestors had taste for spicy food

Our early ancestors had a taste for spicy food, new research led by the University of York has revealed.

26 Aug 2013

Scientists Shed New Light On Malignant Pancreatic Cancer

...

23 Aug 2013

Research shows depressed people are more accurate with time estimation

People with mild depression underestimate their talents. However, new research carried out researchers at the University of Limerick and the University of Hertfordshire shows that depressed people are more accurate when it comes to time estimation than their happier peers.

23 Aug 2013

Early antiretroviral therapy treatment benefits HIV-infected infants

Giving antiretroviral therapy immediately after diagnosis for a limited period of time is more beneficial than postponing treatment in young infants infected with HIV, slowing progression of the disease and delaying the time to starting long-term ART, according to new research published in The Lancet.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists discover that chromosomal rearrangements can be advantageous

In a pioneer study published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature Communications, a research team at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia (IGC; Portugal), led by Miguel Godinho Ferreira in collaboration with Isabel Gordo, show for the first time that chromosomes rearrangements (such as inversions or translocations) can provide advantages to the cells that harbor them depending on the environment they are exposed.

23 Aug 2013

Article sheds new light on differences between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease

The ability of different regions of the brain to communicate gradually breaks down with aging and in Alzheimer's disease, but there are key differences between these two processes. Some of these differences are reported in a study that compared neural networks, signaling efficiency, and disruptions in connectivity in the brains of healthy elderly subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease.

23 Aug 2013

Loyola neurologists describe first known case of musical hallucinations

One night when she was trying to fall asleep, a 60-year-old woman suddenly began hearing music, as if a radio were playing at the back of her head. The songs were popular tunes her husband recognized when she sang or hummed them. But she herself could not identify them. This is the first known case of a patient hallucinating music that was familiar to people around her, but that she herself did not recognize, according to Dr. Danilo Vitorovic and Dr. José Biller of Loyola University Medical Center.

23 Aug 2013

Shire extends existing partnership with Santaris Pharma in rare genetic disease space

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that its long term partner, Shire has extended the existing partnership in the rare genetic disease space.

23 Aug 2013

Hope for hand amputees: Researchers test new method for local immunosuppression

Hope for hand amputees: researchers at Inselspital and the University of Bern have successfully tested a new method for local immunosuppression.

23 Aug 2013

Study suggests that human brains are hardwired to empathize with friends, spouses

Perhaps one of the most defining features of humanity is our capacity for empathy - the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes. A new University of Virginia study strongly suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely associate people who are close to us - friends, spouses, lovers - with our very selves.

23 Aug 2013

Stem cell therapy improves radiation-induced cognitive impairment

Patients receiving cranial irradiation treatment for brain cancer may find the treatment life-saving, but often suffer progressive and debilitating cognitive detriments, including spatial learning and memory deficits. The cognitive deficits are a contributing factor to the often significant adverse impacts on the surviving patients' quality of life after radiation therapy. In an effort to improve post-irradiation cognitive impairment, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues at Neuralstem, Inc. (Rockville, MD), have transplanted fetal stem cells into laboratory animals with radiation-induced cognitive impairments and found that this led to a number of cognitive improvements.

23 Aug 2013

No need of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, shows study

Despite the longstanding, widespread practice of restricting women's food and fluid intake during labor, a large-scale analysis in The Cochrane Library finds no need for these restrictions and supports women eating and drinking as they please.

23 Aug 2013

Researchers estimate actual number of child fatalities due to neglect and abuse

Approximately 1,700 children die of maltreatment every year in the United States, according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System; however, researchers estimate that the actual number of child fatalities due to abuse and neglect is nearly double that number.

23 Aug 2013

Research findings lay foundation for regenerating damaged heart muscle

In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage need not be permanent-by finding a way to transform the class of cells that form human scar tissue into those that closely resemble beating heart cells.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists grow cells that line blood vessels from human iPSCs

In a scientific first, Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have successfully grown the cells that line the blood vessels-called vascular endothelial cells-from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), revealing new details about how these cells function.

23 Aug 2013