Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Latest Alzheimer's & Dementia News and Research

Cotinine can reduce plaques linked with dementia and prevent memory loss

Cotinine, a compound derived from tobacco, reduced plaques associated with dementia and prevented memory loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a study led by researchers at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System and the University of South Florida found.

28 Apr 2011

Scientists weaken long-term memory

Could veterans of war, rape victims and other people who have seen horrific crimes someday have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains? In a new study, UCLA life scientists report a discovery that may make the reduction of such memories a reality.

28 Apr 2011

Baby doll can serve as effective therapy for geriatric patients

What parent hasn't watched their young child in amazement as they pick up a baby doll, tenderly cradling and stroking it as though the child were mimicking the way their own parent held them? As quintessential as these toys are for young children, research has found that baby dolls are also effective tools in soothing geriatric patients.

28 Apr 2011

NHL Alumni, Baycrest team up for brain health research

One of the world's top neuroscience institutes has teamed up with the NHL Alumni on a study that will track the brain health of retired NHL players over several years.

28 Apr 2011

Proteostasis acquires Harvard University's two novel protein target licenses

Proteostasis Therapeutics announced today that it has acquired two exclusive licenses from Harvard University to technologies for enhancing the activity of a key cellular protein clearance mechanism, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

27 Apr 2011

Biologists determine molecular structure of GluN2D receptor subunit

Structural biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in collaboration with colleagues at Emory University have determined the molecular structure of a key portion, or subunit, of a receptor type commonly expressed in brain cells.

27 Apr 2011

USPTO grants Cortex patent for CX1739 AMPAKINE molecule

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for a patent that protects its lead AMPAKINE® molecule, CX1739.

26 Apr 2011

Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce effectiveness of widely used antidepressant medications

Scientists at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at The Rockefeller University, led by Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Ph.D., have shown that anti-inflammatory drugs, which include ibuprofen, aspirin and naproxen, reduce the effectiveness of the most widely used class of antidepressant medications, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, taken for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders.

26 Apr 2011

Frequent social activity may prevent or delay cognitive decline in old age

If you want to keep your brain healthy, it turns out that visiting friends, attending parties, and even going to church might be just as good for you as crossword puzzles.

26 Apr 2011

Simple, obvious and obscure ways to keep minds sharp and brains healthy

From a glance at the magazine stands, Americans appear obsessed with losing weight, cutting their cardiac risks and seeking to improve their odds against cancer. But where's the focus on brain health?

25 Apr 2011

Researchers to develop Alzheimer's diagnostic test based on spinal fluid biomarkers

Researchers at the University of Kentucky are working on a potential diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease, based on biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid.

25 Apr 2011

LoJack announces availability of SafetyNet service in Miami-Dade County

LoJack SafetyNet, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of LoJack Corporation, today announced that its SafetyNet service is now available in Miami-Dade County.

25 Apr 2011

Cornell University professor comments on interventions identified by new Alzheimer's guidelines

Paul Eshelman, professor of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell University, comments on intervention strategies for earlier stages of Alzheimer's Disease identified by the Alzheimer's Association's new guidelines for diagnosis.

25 Apr 2011

Eisai receives FDA Complete Response Letter for Aricept Patch NDA

Eisai announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter to Teikoku Pharma USA, Inc., regarding the New Drug Application of the Aricept® Patch.

25 Apr 2011

U-M receives Taubman Institute's $100 million gift for innovative medical science

A. Alfred Taubman has become U-M's largest individual donor, with total giving of more than $142 million. His latest gift of $56 million to the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, announced today before the University's Board of Regents, will bring his support of innovative medical science at the University of Michigan to a total of $100 million.

25 Apr 2011

TJX commits $1 million to advance mission of Alzheimer's Association

According to the 2011 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, as many as 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. Given the prevalence of Alzheimer's, approximately one in every three people knows someone with the disease.

22 Apr 2011

Study finds link between musical activity and high cognitive aging

A study conducted by Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist in Emory's Department of Neurology, and cognitive psychologist Alicia MacKay, PhD, found that older individuals who spent a significant amount of time throughout life playing a musical instrument perform better on some cognitive tests than individuals who did not play an instrument.

22 Apr 2011

Coquitlam student earns top prize in 2011 British Columbia SABC competition

Ground-breaking research by a 17-year-old Coquitlam student who found a way to observe the effects of ethanol on early brain development in an intact and awake brain has earned him the top prize in the 2011 British Columbia sanofi-aventis BioTalent Challenge.

22 Apr 2011

Scientists to develop new technique for early-stage Alzheimer's detection

Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are developing a technique based on a new discovery which could pave the way towards detecting Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages - and could help to develop urgently-needed treatments.

22 Apr 2011

Two Canadian health researchers earn UBC recognition

Two of Canada's most eminent health researchers - Dr. Jacques Genest at McGill University and Dr. Michael Hayden at the University of British Columbia - have been awarded the inaugural Margolese National Brain and Heart Disorders Prizes, the most lucrative prizes bestowed by UBC.

22 Apr 2011