Neurology Product Guide » Research

UB Researchers Propose A Novel Therapeutic Target For The Treatment Of Huntington Disease

Jim Marino — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:29:25 +0000

An article published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry presents a novel pharmacological target that, in combination with a neurotrophic factor, could be used to improve the survival of striatal neurons, the principal nerve cells affected by the neurodegeneration observed in Huntington’s disease. The study was conducted by the researchers at the University of Barcelona. Huntington’s chorea is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by a genetic mutation of the gene encoding for the protein Huntingtin.

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Researchers Developing Novel Treatment For Chronic Pain

Jim Marino — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:23:57 +0000

The research team, led by Dr. Richard Ambron, Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology at Columbia University Medical Center, has started developing N60 after his colleague, Dr. Ying-Ju Sung, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology, discovered the pathway that neurons use to inform the brain of an injury. Left uncontrolled, this pathway, called PKG, persistently alters the electrical properties of the neuron, ultimately causing chronic pain. Laboratory tests have shown that N60 is a powerful and very selective PKG blocker.

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Referenced-EEG Has 65 Percent “Success” Rates on Treatment-Resistant Depression

Jim Marino — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:00:08 +0000

CNS Response today announced that physicians using Referenced-EEG (rEEG(R)) had “success” rates reaching 65 percent for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Referenced-EEG showed “significant improvement” in informing pharmacotherapy for treatment-resistant patients in a 12-week study, according to the Journal of Psychiatric Research article.

Novel Approach To Study Neurological Disorders Developed

Jim Marino — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:33:22 +0000

Researchers at a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) have developed a novel approach to efficiently identify disease relevant genes in human complex neurological disorders and demonstrated the effectiveness of this method by applying it to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, according to a new study reported online in the journal, Human Molecular Genetics. The approach developed by the scientists uses cutting-edge techniques to study human tissue and animal models.

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Growing Brain Is Particularly Flexible

Jim Marino — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:35:00 +0000

A group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, and Princeton University (USA) have now put forward a new explanation regarding growth of brain. Using a combination of experiments, mathematical models and computer simulations they showed that neuronal connections in the visual cortex of cats are restructured during the growth phase and that this restructuring can be explained by self-organizational processes.

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Researchers Reveal How Lead Exposure Damages The Brain

Jim Marino — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:31:33 +0000

Exposure to lead during early childhood and even later in life has long been known to affect the release of these critical neurotransmitters. However, the precise mechanism by which lead ions (Pb2+) impair this process has remained unknown. The study conducted by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, demonstrates that during the formation of synapses – synaptogenesis – exposure to lead alters the levels of several key proteins involved in neurotransmitter release.

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Large Number Of Proteins Found In Spinal Fluid Of Normal People

Jim Marino — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:15:42 +0000

A research team has sharply expanded scientific knowledge of the composition of human spinal fluid. The researchers have identified 2,630 proteins that reside in fluid that is considered “normal,” a number nearly three times as great as the total number of proteins previously identified. Another striking finding was that more than half (56%) of the proteins were relatively unique to the spinal fluid and not found in blood.

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Incidental Findings Regarding Brain MRI In Children Yield Disclosure Dilemmas For Doctors, Patients

Jim Marino — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:10:56 +0000

Pediatricians whose patients undergo “routine” brain MRIs need a plan to deal with findings that commonly reveal unexpected-but-benign anomalies that are unlikely to cause any problem, report investigators at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. The most common reasons for MRI testing in children are seizures and headaches or as a prerequisite for enrolling in certain studies. The investigators emphasize that none of the brain anomalies discovered in the study were related to the patients’ underlying condition.

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Individual Brain Cells Can ID Both Cars And Cats

Jim Marino — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:58:23 +0000

Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory found that single brain cells, if confronted with a difficult task, can identify objects as dissimilar as sports cars and dogs. Researchers have never been sure exactly how specialized cells in the brain can be. MIT researchers examined the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive in charge of decision-making and planning.

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Skin Cells Converted to Brain cells; Herald the Emergence of New Era

Jim Marino — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:23:10 +0000

Scientists are heralding a major leap forward in dementia treatment after transforming skin cells into brain cells. The pioneering study raises the hope that doctors could create nerve cells to inject into the brains of Alzheimer’s patients to repair damage. The researchers, who report their breakthrough in the journal Nature, used just three genes to transform mouse skin cells into nerve cells, called neurons. The converted skin cells could also be used to treat Parkinson’s disease or heal damaged spinal cords, it is hoped.

Dr Irving Weissman, from Stanford University in California, said: ‘This study is a huge leap forward.’

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