Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

New computer program shows how brain's complex fiber tracks mature as we grow up

The brain's inner network becomes increasingly more efficient as humans mature. Now, for the first time without invasive measures, a joint study from the Ecole Polytechnique F-d-rale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, has verified these gains with a powerful new computer program. Reported in the PNAS early online edition last week, the soon-to-be-released software allows for individualized maps of vital brain connectivity that could aide in epilepsy and schizophrenia research.

28 Oct 2010

Individuals can consciously control neurons inside the head, study finds

Five years ago, neuroscientist Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), neurosurgeon Itzhak Fried of UCLA, and their colleagues discovered that a single neuron in the human brain can function much like a sophisticated computer and recognize people, landmarks, and objects, suggesting that a consistent and explicit code may help transform complex visual representations into long-term and more abstract memories.

28 Oct 2010

New computational techniques to overcome obstacles in hard-to-study genes

Scientists have invented methods to scout the human genome's repetitive landscapes, where DNA sequences are highly identical and heavily duplicated. These advances, as reported today in Science, can identify subtle but important differences among people in the number and content of repeated DNA segments.

28 Oct 2010

Neurologix holds license for gene therapy to treat severe depression

Neurologix, Inc. today announced that a landmark paper, published on October 20th in Science Translational Medicine demonstrating the importance of the p11 gene in modulating depression in mice, utilized a gene therapy approach to reverse depression in mice for which the Company holds exclusive development rights. Based on the findings reported in the paper, gene therapy may have potential as a new treatment option for people who suffer from severe depression.

26 Oct 2010

Study on gene variant associated with narcolepsy

Ever wonder why some people breeze along on four hours of sleep when others can barely function? It may be in our genes, according to new research and an accompanying editorial published in the October 26, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

26 Oct 2010

Vertex initiates OPTIMIZE Phase 3b study in patients infected with genotype 1 HCV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced the initiation of a Phase 3b study called OPTIMIZE that will evaluate twice-daily (BID) dosing of a telaprevir-based combination regimen in people chronically infected with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have not been treated previously. This is the first Phase 3 study to evaluate twice-daily dosing of a protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C. OPTIMIZE will not include a control arm of pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone.

26 Oct 2010

Two researchers receive European Research Council Starting Grants

Two European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants worth almost one and a half million euros each over the next five years have been awarded to two researchers from the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and the Charit Universit-tsmedizin, Berlin in Germany.

25 Oct 2010

UCSF scientists receive grants to refine embryonic stem cell-based strategies for neurological diseases

UCSF scientists have received two grants from the California Institutefor Regenerative Medicine to refine their human embryonic stem cell-based strategies for treating neurological diseases and liver failure. The goal of the grants is for researchers to make significant strides toward the development of potential therapies within the next three years.

25 Oct 2010

New epilepsy drugs give more options, but make treatment decisions more complex: Epilepsy specialist

A dozen new epilepsy drugs are giving doctors and patients more options, but making treatment decisions more complex, a Loyola epilepsy specialist reports in the journal Neurologic Clinics.

22 Oct 2010

Stanford Hospital opens Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Clinic

The Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Clinic opening this month at Stanford Hospital will help advance a new generation of diagnostic techniques for earlier detection and improved management of cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders.

22 Oct 2010

A new way of seeing the world

Scientists at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, McGill University have discovered that our brains have the ability to determine the shape of an object simply by processing specially-coded sounds, without any visual or tactile input. Not only does this new research tell us about the plasticity of the brain and how it perceives the world around us, it also provides important new possibilities for aiding those who are blind or with impaired vision.

20 Oct 2010

Vitamin B12 may help protect against Alzheimer's disease

A new study shows that vitamin B12 may protect against Alzheimer's disease, adding more evidence to the scientific debate about whether the vitamin is effective in reducing the risk of memory loss. The research will be published in the October 19, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

19 Oct 2010

UCSF professor receives National Medal of Science

UCSF Nobel laureate Stanley B. Prusiner, MD, UCSF professor of neurology and director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, today (Oct. 15, 2010) was named to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for science and technology.

18 Oct 2010

Questcor's H.P. Acthar Gel sNDA for infantile spasms receives FDA approval

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Questcor's supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in the treatment of infantile spasms (IS), an ultra-rare orphan disorder affecting approximately 2,000 American children annually. IS is a devastating and potentially life-threatening form of epilepsy seen in infancy and early childhood.

15 Oct 2010

Questcor, CNF partner to fund infantile spasms research

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it is partnering with the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF) to fund a $30,000 grant to support research into infantile spasms (IS). Catherine Chu-Shore, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital was selected by CNF as the recipient of this first-ever "Logan Infantile Spasms Research Award."

15 Oct 2010

UCB announces winners of 2010 UCB Crohn's and Me Scholarship Program

UCB, Inc., a global leader in the research and development of medications to treat immunology disorders, today announced the winners of its 2010 UCB Crohn's and Me Scholarship Program for outstanding individuals affected by this condition. UCB has selected 31 winners to receive a scholarship worth up to $10,000 to help them seek personal growth through higher education.

15 Oct 2010

FDA approves Cephalon's REMS for GABITRIL

Cephalon, Inc. today announced that a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for its antiepileptic medication GABITRIL(R) (tiagabine hydrochloride) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The GABITRIL REMS consists of a Medication Guide to inform patients about the potential risks associated with the use of GABITRIL.

15 Oct 2010

CNF initiates annual event to raise awareness on infantile spasms

The Child Neurology Foundation (CNF) announced today the start of Infantile Spasms Awareness Week, an annual event to raise awareness and understanding of infantile spasms (IS) with pediatricians, child neurologists, parents and caregivers.

14 Oct 2010

Risingsun signs consent decree to stop selling unapproved drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that Toby McAdam and Greta Armstrong, doing business as Risingsun Health and The Center for Complimentary and Alternative Health of Livingston, Montana, have signed a consent decree that prohibits them from manufacturing and selling unapproved new drugs and adulterated or misbranded dietary supplements in violation of the law.

14 Oct 2010

Experts reach consensus about DBS treatment for Parkinson's disease

Since the late 1990s, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proven to be a lifeline for some patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, a cruel neurological disorder that can cause lack of control over movement, poor balance and coordination, and rigidity, among other symptoms.

14 Oct 2010