Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Expansion of clinical trial of an experimental West Nile virus (WNV) treatment

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health, has expanded its clinical trial of an experimental West Nile virus (WNV) treatment to about 60 sites throughout the United States and Canada.

15 Jul 2004

Using a combination of therapies and cell grafts could help treat patients with chronic spinal cord injuries

Using a combination of therapies and cell grafts, a team of University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine researchers has promoted significant regeneration of nerve cells in rats with spinal cord injury.

15 Jul 2004

Novel tool that can be used to visualize single neurons in living brain tissue

Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Alison Barth has developed the first tool to identify and study individual neurons activated in a living animal.

15 Jul 2004

Research that directs cancer-killing immune cells against the deadliest brain tumors shows promise

Researchers seeking to direct cancer-killing immune cells against the deadliest brain tumors have three new targets that show promise in laboratory studies and in a Phase I patient trial, according to two articles in the July 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

15 Jul 2004

Dietary niacin may protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease

Dietary niacin (vitamin B3 ) may protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease and the cognitive decline associated with ageing in older people, suggests research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

15 Jul 2004

Women with a condition called vulvodynia process pain differently

The researchers tested 17 women with vulvodynia and 23 similar women without pain at 23 sites throughout the vulva and at the deltoid muscle, the shin and the thumbnail to assess pain tolerance. They found the women with vulvodynia had lower tolerance at all sites than the women without vulvodynia.

13 Jul 2004

Updated guidelines for treatment of blood cholesterol

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has updated its guidelines for treatment of blood cholesterol, suggesting that people at risk for heart attack and stroke would benefit from more intensive cholesterol-lowering therapies.

13 Jul 2004

Findings alleviate concerns of physicians reluctant to prescribe beta-blockers because of cardiovascular adverse effects

Beta-blocker therapy in patients with heart failure is well tolerated and associated with fewer overall withdrawals and less heart failure deterioration than placebo, according to a new article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

13 Jul 2004

New hereditary spastic paraplegia research

In work reported this week, researchers have taken our understanding of HSP to a new level with the development of an animal model for the disease.

13 Jul 2004

Molecular mechanisms behind XsalF's anterior specifying activity

Embryologists have long been interested in working out the means by which this regionalization is achieved, and for years the dominant theory has involved a two-step mechanism in which neural tissues are first induced lengthwise down the entire body axis, followed by a transformation step where a second signal specifies the posterior identities of the neural tissue

13 Jul 2004

Study shows that in older age, myelin insulation breaks down, resulting in a decline in the speed and efficiency of our brain

UCLA neuroscientists using a new MRI analysis technique to examine myelin sheaths that insulate the brain's wiring report that as people age, neural connections that develop last degenerate first.

12 Jul 2004

International leader backs regional brain injury research

President-elect of the International Brain Injury Association Dr David Burke will become patron of a new research partnership between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and the Greater Murray Area Health Service (GMAHS).

12 Jul 2004

Tobacco, obesity, HIV/AIDS and immigrant health addressed by members of congress

Members of Congress, public health experts, community leaders and citizens of South Florida convened today to address racial and ethnic health disparities in the areas of tobacco, obesity, immigrant health and HIV/AIDS.

11 Jul 2004

The case of a high school student in King County who died this week of meningococcal disease has created public concern

The case of a high school student in King County who was hospitalized and died this week of meningococcal disease – commonly called bacterial meningitis – has created some public concern about risks of exposure to the disease.

10 Jul 2004

Mollycoddled boys are more likely to grow into men who will be more successful at work and in their relationships

Boys who are “mollycoddled” as babies and toddlers are more likely to grow into men who will be more successful at work and in their relationships than babies who are taught to be tough.

10 Jul 2004

Having a good time can strengthen different centres in the brain and help it grow healthy brain cells

Dr Ian Reid, professor of mental health at the University of Aberdeen, told delegates that for many years psychiatrists believed that poor mental health was just caused by imbalances in various brain chemicals.

10 Jul 2004

Role of environmental risks in the development of autism

Funding for a new study to find out more about the role of environmental risks in the development of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), has been announced by The Medical Research Council.

10 Jul 2004

Natural hormone called melatonin may guide our sleep patterns

Our general sleep patterns – being sleepy at night and awake during the day – are guided to a great extent by our exposure to light and darkness.

10 Jul 2004

HHS strengthen safeguards against mad cow disease

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has announced three actions being taken to further strengthen existing safeguards that protect consumers against the agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as “mad cow disease”).

10 Jul 2004

The structure of AGT shows how one human protein reduces the potency of chemotherapy

The fine details of this x-ray structure may help scientists find ways to fight certain cancers, such as brain tumors, which express high levels of AGT making them resistant to chemotherapy.

9 Jul 2004

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Expansion of clinical trial of an experimental West Nile virus (WNV) treatment

Using a combination of therapies and cell grafts could help treat patients with chronic spinal cord injuries

Novel tool that can be used to visualize single neurons in living brain tissue

Research that directs cancer-killing immune cells against the deadliest brain tumors shows promise

Dietary niacin may protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease

Women with a condition called vulvodynia process pain differently

Updated guidelines for treatment of blood cholesterol

Findings alleviate concerns of physicians reluctant to prescribe beta-blockers because of cardiovascular adverse effects

New hereditary spastic paraplegia research

Molecular mechanisms behind XsalF's anterior specifying activity

Study shows that in older age, myelin insulation breaks down, resulting in a decline in the speed and efficiency of our brain

International leader backs regional brain injury research

Tobacco, obesity, HIV/AIDS and immigrant health addressed by members of congress

The case of a high school student in King County who died this week of meningococcal disease has created public concern

Mollycoddled boys are more likely to grow into men who will be more successful at work and in their relationships

Having a good time can strengthen different centres in the brain and help it grow healthy brain cells

Role of environmental risks in the development of autism

Natural hormone called melatonin may guide our sleep patterns

HHS strengthen safeguards against mad cow disease

The structure of AGT shows how one human protein reduces the potency of chemotherapy

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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