Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Nerve-stimulation device proves effective against epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common medical condition characterized by convulsions and short periods of confusion.

20 Mar 2009

Anti-seizure drugs may increase risk of cardiovascular problems

An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

20 Mar 2009

Intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain's axons

They say a picture tells a thousand stories, but can it also tell how smart you are? Actually, say UCLA researchers, it can.

17 Mar 2009

Shrinking in hippocampus area of brain precedes Alzheimer's disease

People who have lost brain cells in the hippocampus area of the brain are more likely to develop dementia, according to a study published in the March 17, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

16 Mar 2009

A biomarker test to diagnose or rule out Alzheimer's disease

A test capable of confirming or ruling out Alzheimer's disease has been validated and standardized by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

16 Mar 2009

First treatment for muscular dystrophy a step closer

Genetic researchers at Children's National Medical Center and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo published the results of the first successful application of "multiple exon-skipping" to curb the devastating effects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in an animal larger than a mouse.

16 Mar 2009

Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative announces completion of genome-wide analysis

Researchers announced today that a high-density genome wide analysis of participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI; www.adni-info.org) is more than 95% complete and that data will be shared with scientists around the world for further analysis.

16 Mar 2009

Novel genetic technology for canine form of muscular dystrophy

Using a novel genetic technology that covers up genetic errors, researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health have developed a successful treatment for dogs with the canine version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a paralyzing, and ultimately fatal, muscle disease.

16 Mar 2009

University of Florida doctors test targets for Parkinson surgery

Doctors may be able to tailor a specialized form of brain surgery to more closely match the needs of Parkinson patients, according to results from the first large-scale effort to compare the two current target areas of deep brain stimulation surgery, or DBS.

15 Mar 2009

Blocking the dual leucine zipper kinase gene may help ease painful nerve condition

Scientists have identified the first gene that pulls the plug on ailing nerve cell branches from within the nerve cell, possibly helping to trigger the painful condition known as neuropathy.

15 Mar 2009

Disparities in stroke outcomes between black and white patients still great

In Florida, black young adults are hospitalized for stroke at a rate three times higher than their white and Hispanic peers, a new study by University of South Florida researchers reports.

15 Mar 2009

Weighing the options after life-altering stroke

Choosing to have aggressive brain surgery after suffering a severe stroke generally improves the patients' lives and allows them to live longer, according to research by neurologists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

12 Mar 2009

Patients who wake up with stroke may be candidates for clot-busters

Giving clot-busting drugs to patients who wake up with stroke symptoms appears to be as safe as giving it to those in the recommended three-hour window, according to researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

12 Mar 2009

Parkinson's-linked mutation makes neurons vulnerable to calcium-induced death

A new study reveals the mechanism by which a genetic mutation linked with Parkinson's disease (PD) renders dopamine neurons particularly vulnerable to cell injury and death.

12 Mar 2009

AMP-activated protein kinase essential contributor to brain growth

An enzyme researchers have studied for years because of its potential connections to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, appears to have yet another major role to play: helping create and maintain the brain.

12 Mar 2009

Weighing the options after life-altering stroke

12 Mar 2009

AMP-activated protein kinase is unexpected contributor to brain growth

12 Mar 2009

Alzheimer's marker amyloid beta 42 linked to brain damage

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked a potential indicator of Alzheimer's disease to brain damage in humans with no signs of mental impairment.

11 Mar 2009

Diagnostic errors: The new focus of patient safety experts

Johns Hopkins patient safety experts say it's high time for diagnostic errors to get the same attention from medical institutions and caregivers as drug-prescribing errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital-acquired infections.

11 Mar 2009

Brain damage found in cognitively normal people with Alzheimer's marker

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have linked a potential indicator of Alzheimer's disease to brain damage in humans with no signs of mental impairment.

11 Mar 2009