Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Consuming carotenoid-rich foods may help prevent or delay onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

New research suggests that increased consumption of foods containing colorful carotenoids, particularly beta-carotene and lutein, may prevent or delay the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

29 Jan 2013

Part of Human Brain Project focuses on Neurorobotics

Extensive knowledge about the human brain and its functioning already exists but is highly fragmented. The goal of the Human Brain Project is to pull together this knowledge and to reconstruct the brain, piece by piece, in supercomputer-based models and simulations. The models offer the prospect of a new understanding of the human brain and its diseases and of completely new computing and robotic technologies.

29 Jan 2013

Mayo Clinic study: Cardiac disease may increase risk of mild cognitive impairment

Cardiac disease is associated with increased risk of mild cognitive impairment such as problems with language, thinking and judgment -- particularly among women with heart disease, a Mayo Clinic study shows. Known as nonamnestic because it doesn't include memory loss, this type of mild cognitive impairment may be a precursor to vascular and other non-Alzheimer's dementias, according to the findings published online Monday in JAMA Neurology.

29 Jan 2013

Quantitative MRIs evade multiple sclerosis clinicoradiologic paradox

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging can detect microstructural changes in the spinal cords of patients with multiple sclerosis that correlate with observed differences in clinical disability, according to a cross-sectional study in Neurology.

28 Jan 2013

Evidence links HPV16 to focal cortical dysplasia type IIB

Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) - the most common cause of cervical cancer - to a common form of childhood epilepsy.

28 Jan 2013

Daily antibacterial baths can safely reduce risk of bloodstream infections in critically ill children

Daily baths with an ordinary antibacterial cleanser can safely reduce the risk of dangerous bloodstream infections in critically ill children, according to a trial conducted in five pediatric hospitals and led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

28 Jan 2013

Alzheimer's Association, SNMMI publish appropriate use criteria for brain amyloid imaging with PET

Only recently has it become possible to create high-quality images of the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's disease in living people through positron emission tomography (PET). Even so, questions remain about what can be learned from these PET images and which people should have this test.

28 Jan 2013

Positive top-line results from Biogen Idec’s peginterferon beta-1a Phase 3 trial on RRMS

Today Biogen Idec released the primary efficacy analysis and safety data from its Phase 3 pivotal clinical trial, ADVANCE.

28 Jan 2013

IRHOM2-targeted drugs can effectively treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

28 Jan 2013

FDA approves Takeda’s NESINA, OSENI and KAZANO for treatment of type 2 diabetes

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. today announced that the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved NESINA (alogliptin) and the fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapies OSENI (alogliptin and pioglitazone) and KAZANO (alogliptin and metformin HCl) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults as adjuncts to diet and exercise.

28 Jan 2013

Lasting impact of fetal valproate exposure

Fetal exposure to the antiepileptic drug valproate has a dose-dependent negative impact on children’s IQ at age 6 years, shows a study in The Lancet Neurology.

25 Jan 2013

Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center performs DBS surgery on Alzheimer's patient

During a five-hour surgery last October at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer's patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain.

25 Jan 2013

Research shows brain cells regulate blood vessel development

Zhen Huang freely admits he was not interested in blood vessels four years ago when he was studying brain development in a fetal mouse. Instead, he wanted to see how changing a particular gene in brain cells called glia would affect the growth of neurons.

25 Jan 2013

New book discusses the basics of brain tumors

Empowering patients during the course of their treatment is the goal of a new book, Navigating Life with a Brain Tumor, written by neuro-oncologists from Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

24 Jan 2013

Neuromuscular blockade (NMB) reversal

General anesthesia is made up of three components: hypnotic medicines, to induce sleep; analgesics, or medicines to inhibit pain; and NMB agents that induce muscle relaxation. Anesthesiology professionals use NMB to relax a patient’s muscles and prevent involuntary movement that could impact surgery.

24 Jan 2013

Researchers discover unique hairpin-like structure that facilitates Abeta clumping

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of late-life dementia. The disorder is thought to be caused by a protein known as the amyloid-beta protein, or Abeta, which clumps together in the brain, forming plaques that are thought to destroy neurons. This destruction starts early, too, and can presage clinical signs of the disease by up to 20 years.

24 Jan 2013

Inspiration, Ipsen and Baxter enter Asset Purchase Agreement for OBI-1

Ipsen and Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc. today announced they entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) whereby Baxter International (Baxter) agrees to acquire the worldwide rights to OBI-1, a recombinant porcine factor VIII (rpFVIII) in development for congenital hemophilia A with inhibitors and acquired hemophilia A, and Ipsen's industrial facility in Milford (Boston, MA).

24 Jan 2013

Journal of Unsolved Questions presents 5th issue on 'scientific labor'

In its recently published 5th issue, the Journal of Unsolved Questions (JUnQ) invites readers to take a look behind the doors of researchers' offices and laboratories, presenting "reports from the academic workforce". Researchers from archeology to neurology were invited to reflect upon "Scientific Labor". With this cover topic, JUnQ continues its endeavor to promote a realistic view of academic work.

23 Jan 2013

Taking antiepileptic drug valproate during pregnancy affects the IQ of children

Research published in The Lancet Neurology shows that taking the antiepileptic drug valproate during pregnancy affects the IQ of children up to the age of six.

23 Jan 2013

Imaging supports Braak Parkinson’s staging

A magnetic resonance imaging study supports the hypothesis that degeneration occurs in the substantia nigra pars compacta before the basal forebrain in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

22 Jan 2013