African American patients and those with lower socioeconomic status have more advanced disease and greater disability when they seek treatment from Parkinson’s specialists, according to a University of Maryland study.
Expression of a toxic RNA that leads to Fragile X Tremor Ataxia Syndrome is modifiable by genetic or pharmacologic means, according to new research from U-M Medical School scientists.
Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year.
Neurologists have answered one of the most important questions about Alzheimer's: Do rising brain levels of a plaque-forming substance mean patients are making more of it or that they can no longer clear it as effectively? Researchers found clearance rates decline in Alzheimer's patients.
Scholars are establishing a new professional organization, the Society for Social Neuroscience, to advance an emerging interdisciplinary field. Research in social neuroscience is based on the use of new technologies, advanced understanding of genetics and other research, including studies on animal behavior.
Mayo Clinic researchers found that the part of the brain generating seizures in individuals with epilepsy is functionally isolated from surrounding brain regions. The researchers hope this finding could be a clinical biomarker to help identify individuals with abnormal brain function. This study was presented at the American Epilepsy Society’s annual meeting in San Antonio on Dec. 4.
Many people believe that the popular herb ginseng can improve thinking ability and prevent or even treat dementia. However, a comprehensive review of research failed to find convincing evidence of these benefits.
Pankaj Karande, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, is among a new generation of scientists and engineers developing exciting and novel new techniques to treat some of the most complex brain illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and brain cancer. His research has already attracted the interest of the Goldhirsh Foundation and now has garnered the support of the Alzheimer’s Association with an additional $80,000 in research funding.
Status epilepticus, prolonged seizures, can lead to significant neurological deficits and, rarely, even death. The anticonvulsant diazepam, a first line therapy for the condition, is neuroprotective when administered in high doses within two hours from seizure onset. Researchers at the 64th AES Annual Meeting now report that the combination of low-dose diazepam and NS-398, a COX-2 inhibitor, has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone.
Epilepsy research is reaching beyond improving the means for quelling symptoms to the exploration of potential modalities for correcting or reversing alterations in neural function that underlay some forms of the disorder. In research reported at the 64th American Epilepsy Society (AES) Annual Meeting, investigators at the University of Florida have demonstrated that adult human neuronal progenitor cells (AHNPs) generate functional neurons that integrate into host neuronal networks in the cerebral cortex.
The largest clinical trial of therapeutic brain cooling (hypothermia) after stroke has launched, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. This study looks at whether hypothermia can safely be used in elderly stroke patients.
A new technique that jumpstarts the growth of nerve fibers could reverse much of the damage caused by strokes, researchers report in the journal Stroke.
Women with transient restless legs syndrome (RLS) during pregnancy appear to be at a higher risk of developing a chronic form of RLS later in life or have the same symptoms during future pregnancies, according to new research published in the December 7, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. RLS is a sleep-related motor disorder that causes an unpleasant feeling in the legs. The condition generally worsens during rest at night and improves with movement. Symptoms tend to progress with age.
A higher rate of mortality is known to be associated with epilepsy, but the precise contribution of the underlying health factors is unknown. The results from the study of a large cohort of people born in Denmark in 1977 through 2006 were reported today at the American Epilepsy Society meeting here.
The mortality rate among people with epilepsy is slightly higher than the mortality rate in the general population. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is estimated to account for 8 – 17% of deaths in people with the disorder, with an overall higher incidence of SUDEP in males Less is understood about the gender difference in SUDEP susceptibility associated with specific medications used in treating the condition.
Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is the most common condition-related cause of death in chronic epilepsy. Case-control studies using living people with epilepsy as controls have aimed at identifying factors that distinguish the epilepsy patient at risk of SUDEP, but there are disagreements between studies and a lack of precision in the risk estimates attributed, in part, to the small number of cases in each study. To counterbalance these study limitations, the Epidemiology Task Force of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) pooled data from four published studies of SUDEP from the U.S., Sweden, Scotland and England.
In retrospective research reported today at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting, all newborns in a study who received IV levetiracetam for their seizures had achieved acute seizure freedom within 72 hours of being treated. Improvement both in brain wave activity and in clinically observable behavior was seen in 86 percent of newborns in the study within an hour after the initial dosing.
Many children with certain forms of epilepsy achieve seizure control through a stringent medically supervised diet, either the ketogenic diet (KD) or a Modified Atkins Diet (MAD). When to use these diets and the mechanisms underlying their anticonvulsant effect are not well defined. Research presented here at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting provides new insight into when and how these diets work.
External trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS), a novel form of neurostimulation, is an emerging therapy for drug resistant epilepsy. The results of a pilot feasibility study on the safety and tolerability of external TNS and its effect on the heart and blood pressure were reported here today at the 64th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting.
A study reported today at the 64th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting has found that, of patients with a cerebral hemorrhage or hematoma, one in four had a diagnosis of sub-clinical seizures while in the ICU: sub-clinical seizures can only be detected with continuous electroencephalographic (EEG) recording.
In the first study to utilize continuous EEG monitoring (cEEG) to define the incidence of early post traumatic seizures (EPTS) in children compared to published rates in adults, investigators at the University of Colorado followed pediatric patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to Denver Children’s Hospital over a nine month period.. Their report presented here at the 64th American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting suggests that the incidence of EPTS in children with moderate to severe TBI is more than twice the rate in adults. (Platform C.05)
Approximately 5 – 30% of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) develop post traumatic epilepsy (PTE). The onset of seizures in patients who are susceptible to PTE can range from weeks or months to more than a decade after TBI. In a presentation at the 64th American Epilepsy Society annual meeting, scientists report that the analysis of routine MRI scans can reliably quantify the disruptions in the blood brain barrier that are increasingly believed to be a prominent contributor to epilepsy development.
Status epilepticus (SE) is a true medical and neurologic emergency. To better understand the causes, treatment approaches and associated outcomes among SE patients, investigators at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System retrospectively reviewed all SE cases treated within their system over an eight year period.
Exposure to nicotine during pregnancy leads to a decrease in adult stem cells and a change in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of the offspring, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Researchers say this could be a possible cause for behavioral problems such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seen in children whose mothers smoked.
According to the AANS, in 2009, an estimated 1.5 million people were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for head injuries related to common products found inside the home. While Christmas decorations are not a leading cause of head injury, there is a documented head injury trend in December and January when people are using ladders to decorate their homes. The AANS offers head injury prevention tips to help keep you safe during the holiday season and all year round.
Post-traumatic seizures and epilepsy can develop anytime from immediately to days or weeks to more than a decade after brain injury. Not all military personnel who have experienced combat-related TBI obtain care in the VA hospital system. Many integrate into civilian medical practice and receive care from healthcare professionals who might not recognize TBI as the cause of the epilepsy.
Neuropsychologists at Baylor University have found the particular cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the age-dependent effect of alcohol in teens that may cause the reduced motor impairment.
Using a new brain imaging technique, Washington University neuroscientists could see an investigational drug for Parkinson’s disease get into a patient’s brain and affect blood flow in several key structures, an indicator the drug may be effective. In the future, similar brain scans could speed the development of new drugs and help clinicians learn whether established drugs are working.
The American Academy of Neurology has developed a new tool to help doctors gauge how well they are caring for people with Parkinson’s disease. The new quality measures are published in the November 30, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Mimicking the reflective iridescence of a butterfly's wing, investigators have developed a color-changing patch that could be worn on soldiers' helmets and uniforms to indicate the strength of exposure to blasts from explosives in the field. Future studies aim to calibrate the color change to the intensity of exposure to provide an immediate read on the potential harm to the brain and the subsequent need for medical intervention.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination.
There’s good news for women with epilepsy. Breastfeeding your baby while taking your seizure medication may have no harmful effect on your child’s IQ later on, according to a study published in the November 24, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Buck Institute, Yale University and University of California, Berkeley scientists identify three caspase inhibitors that block HD-associated neuronal damage in cell culture; follow up experiments are underway in mice
More than half of all combat-related injuries sustained by U.S. troops are the result of explosions, and many of those involve injuries to the head. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, about 130,000 U.S. service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained traumatic brain injuries — ranging from concussion to long-term brain damage and death — as a result of an explosion. A recent analysis by a team of researchers led by MIT reveals one possible way to prevent those injuries — adding a face shield to the helmet worn by military personnel.
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have published a study showing listeners can become effectively deaf to sounds that do not conform to their brains’ expectations.
Columbia University and Neuromatters, LLC announced that they have entered into an agreement to develop a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for rapid identification of relevant images.
Researchers have determined the biological basis of your brain’s ability to quickly switch from detecting an object moving in your direction to determining what the object is: neurons located at the beginning of the brain’s sensory information pathway changing their level of simultaneous firing.
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center scientists have discovered that high blood levels of a protein commonly found in the central nervous system can predict brain injury and death in critically ill children on a form of life support called extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO.
A new book entitled “Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring” has been published by Cambridge University Press, co-authored by Nationwide Children’s Hospital Pediatric Neurologists Gloria M. Galloway, MD, and Khaled M. Zamel, MD; Marc R. Nuwer, MD, of UCLA; and Jaime R. Lopez, MD of Stanford University.
Researchers -- led by James Eberwine, PhD, the Elmer Holmes Bobst professor of Pharmacology and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute -- have documented a novel form of splicing in the cytoplasm of a nerve cell, which dictates a special form of a potassium channel protein in the outer membrane. The channel protein is found in the dendrites of hippocampus cells -- the seat of memory, learning, and spatial navigation -- and is involved in coordinating the electrical firing of nerve cells. Dendrites, which branch from the cell body of the neuron, play a key role in the communication between cells of the nervous system. Diseases such as epilepsy that are based on electrical misfiring in the brain could be targets of manipulation of the type splicing of splicing studied.
Frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele is a type of facial malformation that is rarely seen in developed countries, but is quite common in many Southeast Asian countries. A compelling article in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics details the experiences of a cross-cultural surgical team who performed humanitarian work from 2004-2009 repairing the faces and spirits of Cambodian children.
Exposure to even dim light at night is enough to cause physical changes in the brains of hamsters that may be associated with depression, a new study shows.
By tracking the fate of a group of immature cells that persist in the adult brain and spinal cord, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in mice that these cells undergo dramatic changes in ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
A protein known to exist in the brain for more than 30 years has been found to play a regulatory role in the formation of the amyloid beta in the brain, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s disease
There is growing evidence that exposure to a group of chemicals known as type-2 alkenes -- which are found in the smoke inhaled from cigarettes, the exhaust of automobiles and even in French fries – can increase the chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Can Curry, Wine and Apple Skins Offer an Antidote?
A comprehensive program combining education and rule enforcement has been effective in reducing the high rate of brain and spinal cord injuries among rugby players, reports the November issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
New results from a study by neuroscientists at Rush University Medical Center suggest that people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease exhibit a specific structural change in the brain that can be visualized by brain imaging. The findings may help identify those who would most benefit from early intervention.
Two speech pathologists have developed a system of software applications for nonverbal dysphagia patients.
Strokes, seizures and other neurological complications related to heart surgery account for "considerable morbidity and mortality," Loyola University Health System neurologists report.
A brain area known to play a critical role in vision is divided into compartments that respond separately to different colors and orientations, Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered. The findings have important implications for furthering our understanding of perception and attention.
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