Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

New insights into identifying children at risk for autoimmune brain disorders

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing common throat infections.

11 Aug 2009

Mediterranean diet associated with reduced Alzheimer’s risk

Both being more physically active and adhering to a Mediterranean-type diet appears to be associated with reduced Alzheimer’s risk, according to a new report in the August 12, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

11 Aug 2009

Toxic levels of Alzheimer's clusters in brain determined

Scientists have long suspected that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by a small protein called the amyloid β-protein (Aβ). This protein clumps or binds to itself, eventually changing chemically to create brain protein deposits (plaques) that are characteristic of AD.

11 Aug 2009

Knopp Neurosciences to present phase 2 results of drug candidate in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Knopp Neurosciences Inc. said the results of a Phase 2 safety and tolerability study of KNS-760704 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) will be presented at the 20th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Berlin on December 9, 2009.

11 Aug 2009

Depomed reports promising results in phase I trial for DM-1992 in Parkinson’s

Depomed, Inc. (NASDAQ:DEPO) today announced that in its Phase 1 pharmacokinetic study in Parkinson’s patients, DM-1992, Depomed’s investigative novel gastric retentive extended-release formulation of levodopa/carbidopa, extended coverage above levodopa’s efficacious threshold and extended the time to peak levodopa concentration relative to currently available sustained release levodopa/carbidopa formulations.

11 Aug 2009

Somanetics files patent infringement against CAS Medical Systems

Somanetics Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTS), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of the INVOS(R) Cerebral/Somatic Oximeter, a medical device that monitors oxygen saturation in the brain and other regions of the body, announced that it has filed a patent infringement action against CAS Medical Systems, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

11 Aug 2009

Seizures during pregnancy linked to pre-term, small or low-birth-weight babies

Women with epilepsy who have seizures during pregnancy appear more likely to give birth to pre-term, small or low-birth-weight babies than women without epilepsy, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Neurology.

10 Aug 2009

Ministrokes predict memory problems, strokes predict non-memory problems

Areas of brain damage seen on brain scans and originally thought to be related to stroke may help doctors predict a person’s risk of memory problems in old age, according to research published in the August 11, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Aug 2009

Chemists rationally design inhibitors against an RNA molecule that causes myotonic muscular dystrophy

Chemists at the University at Buffalo have used rational drug design to synthesize small, cell-permeable molecules that are effective in vitro against two common types of myotonic muscular dystrophy, a result that has implications for potentially curing muscular dystrophy, as well as other diseases.

9 Aug 2009

NIH stimulus funding supports Emory - grants to advance research, create jobs, support students

At least 50 research projects so far, supported by more than $10 million in stimulus grants from the National Institutes of Health, are expected to lead to new discoveries at Emory University that will improve medical treatment, create new jobs, and provide additional educational opportunities for students. Emory has received half of all the NIH ARRA grants awarded to Georgia academic institutions thus far.

9 Aug 2009

Transcranial MR-guided focused ultrasound for brain disorders a step closer

A team of researchers working at the MR-Center of the University Children's Hospital in Zürich has completed a pilot study using transcranial MR-guided focused ultrasound to treat 10 patients with neuropathic pain.

9 Aug 2009

New journal integrates the science of medicine with the art of music

In response to a recent surge in studies that integrate medicine and music, SAGE, the world's leading independent academic and professional publisher, is pleased to launch Music and Medicine in July, a new interdisciplinary journal that will incorporate the research that combines the two disciplines.

9 Aug 2009

Unlikely genetic suspect implicated in Dandy-Walker malformation

A genetic search that wound its way from patients to mouse models and back to patients has uncovered an unlikely gene critically involved in a common birth defect which causes mental retardation, motor delays and sometimes autism, providing a new mechanism and potentially improving treatment for the disorder.

9 Aug 2009

Scientists discover link between mutations in INPP5E gene and ciliopathies

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have discovered a connection between mutations in the INPP5E gene and ciliopathies. Their findings, which may lead to new therapies for these diseases, will appear in the online edition of Nature Genetics on August 9.

9 Aug 2009

Ichor Medical Systems awarded $3.3 million to develop Alzheimer’s vaccine

Ichor Medical Systems of San Diego has announced that it has been selected to receive a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for development of a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease.

6 Aug 2009

Exercise for the brain may slow dementia

People who engage in activities that exercise the brain, such as reading, writing, and playing card games, may delay the rapid memory decline that occurs if they later develop dementia, according to a study published in the August 4, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

4 Aug 2009

Elevated cholesterol levels in midlife raises risk of late-life dementia

Elevated cholesterol levels in midlife - even levels considered only borderline elevated - significantly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia later in life, according to a new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research and the University of Kuopio in Finland. The study appears in the journal Dementia & Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.

4 Aug 2009

Long-term brain damage after bypass surgery - more evidence puts blame on heart disease

Brain scientists and cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence from 227 heart bypass surgery patients that long-term memory losses and cognitive problems they experience are due to the underlying coronary artery disease itself and not ill after-effects from having used a heart-lung machine.

3 Aug 2009

Neural correlates of impaired cognitive-behavioral flexibility in anorexia nervosa

Anorexic patients drastically reduce food intake and are often not capable of changing their behavior. This can lead to life-threatening weight loss. Using MRI technology, scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital have discovered for the first time processes in brain metabolism that explain this disturbed eating behavior.

3 Aug 2009

Hypertension may lead to ‘silent’ strokes

"Silent" strokes, which are strokes that don't result in any noticeable symptoms but cause brain damage, are common in people over 60, and especially in those with high blood pressure, according to a study published in the July 28, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jul 2009