Neurological Disease News and Research

RSS

Researchers reveal how brain-specific microRNA plays key role in causing abnormal brain development

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are a group of highly inheritable behavioural disorders that pose major personal and public health concerns. Patients with ASDs have mild to severe communication difficulties, repetitive behaviour and social challenges. Such disorders significantly challenge an individual's ability to conduct daily activities and function normally in society. Currently there are very few medication options that effectively treat ASDs.

17 Feb 2016

Synthetic RNA and DNA could reverse protein deficiency that causes Friedreich's ataxia

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified synthetic RNA and DNA that reverses the protein deficiency causing Friedreich's ataxia, a neurological disease for which there is currently no cure.

17 Feb 2016

Researchers identify how Toxoplasma parasite crosses blood-brain barrier

An estimated 30 percent of the world's population is chronically infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Most people live with the infection without noticeable effect, but it can be life-threatening for people with suppressed immune systems, such as people on cancer therapies or who have HIV/AIDS.

16 Feb 2016

Taste deficits appear to be more prevalent in MS patients

Taste deficits appear to be more prevalent among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients than previously reported and correlate with brain lesions left by the debilitating disease, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania's Smell and Taste Center and the department of Radiology found.

9 Feb 2016

Clinicoradiological syndromes allow rapid recognition of EV71 neurological problems

Severe enterovirus 71 neurological disease in children predominantly involves the spinal cord and brainstem and can be quickly recognised using the World Health Organisation classification of clinicoradiological syndromes, study findings suggest.

29 Jan 2016

Researchers identify protein that could protect against toxic degeneration of cells in ALS

J. Gavin Daigle, a PhD candidate at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Graduate Studies, is the first author of a paper whose findings reveal another piece of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) puzzle.

19 Jan 2016

Novartis announces FDA approval of Cosentyx for treatment of adult patients with AS and PsA

Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Cosentyx (secukinumab) for two new indications - the treatment of adult patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and active psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

17 Jan 2016

Scientists identify unusual regulator of body weight, metabolic syndrome

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered an unusual regulator of body weight and the metabolic syndrome: a molecular mechanism more commonly associated with brain cells. Lowering levels of P75 neurotrophin receptor (NTR)--a receptor involved in neuron growth and survival--protected mice fed a high-fat diet from developing obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.

12 Jan 2016

Leading researchers reject proposed link between adeno-associated virus 2 and hepatocellular carcinoma

The conclusion drawn from a recent study that insertion of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) into human DNA causes mutations leading to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was resoundingly rejected by leading researchers in the fields of gene therapy and molecular genetics.

7 Jan 2016

Researchers link idiopathic congenital nystagmus to a defect in neurocomputation

Botond Roska and his group at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research implicate a clearly defined neuron type and its circuit in the retina in the pathophysiology of idiopathic congenital nystagmus.

6 Jan 2016

FDA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Ionis Pharmaceuticals' IONIS-HTT Rx for treatment of HD patients

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to IONIS-HTTRx for the treatment of patients with Huntington's disease (HD).

5 Jan 2016

NEJM publishes results of Cosentyx Phase III studies in ankylosing spondylitis

Novartis announced today that the results of the MEASURE 1 and MEASURE 2 Phase III studies for Cosentyx® (secukinumab) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) were published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). These pivotal studies demonstrated significant clinical improvements with Cosentyx versus placebo in reducing the signs and symptoms of active AS – a long-term, painful and debilitating inflammation of the spine.

24 Dec 2015

Inorganic mercury can damage key cell processes, finds UGA study

University of Georgia research has found that inorganic mercury, which was previously thought to be a less harmful form of the toxic metal, is very damaging to key cell processes.

22 Dec 2015

New discovery could open door to potential treatment for West Nile virus and Dengue virus infections

A new discovery from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry could open the door to one day treat or prevent diseases caused by West Nile virus and Dengue virus infections.

18 Dec 2015

Central thalamus tunes the brain to different states of activity and arousal

Scientists showed that they could alter brain activity of rats and either wake them up or put them in an unconscious state by changing the firing rates of neurons in the central thalamus, a region known to regulate arousal.

18 Dec 2015

Researchers identify dazzling new method for visualizing neurons

Researchers have discovered a dazzling new method of visualizing neurons that promises to benefit neuroscientists and cell biologists alike: by using spectral confocal microscopy to image tissues impregnated with silver or gold.

16 Dec 2015

Study: Brain cell death may trigger multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) may be triggered by the death of brain cells that make myelin, the insulation around nerve fibers, according to research on a novel mouse model developed by scientists from the University of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine. The death of these cells initiates an autoimmune response against myelin, the main characteristic of the disease, which leads to MS-like symptoms in mice.

14 Dec 2015

Existing compound offers hope for slowing Huntington's disease progression

Currently, there is no treatment to halt the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), a fatal genetic disorder that slowly robs sufferers of their physical and mental abilities. Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that an existing compound, previously tested for diabetes, offers hope for slowing HD and its symptoms.

8 Dec 2015

Low levels of BRCA1 protein in the brain linked to dementia

Mutant forms of breast cancer factor 1 (BRCA1) are associated with breast and ovarian cancers but according to new findings, in the brain the normal BRCA1 gene product may also be linked to Alzheimer's disease. The results, published in Nature Communications, suggest that low levels of BRCA1 protein in the brain may contribute to dementia.

1 Dec 2015

BRCA1 depletion can potentially contribute to cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from the Gladstone Institutes have shown for the first time that the protein BRCA1 is required for normal learning and memory and is depleted by Alzheimer's disease.

30 Nov 2015