Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Scientists identify brain mechanisms that turn unpleasant experiences into long-lasting memories

We know that everyday events can be easy to forget, but dangerous experiences that trigger fear can remain engraved in the brain for years. Now, scientists from New York University and Japan's RIKEN Brain Science Institute have added to our understanding how this occurs.

9 Dec 2014

McMaster University researchers identify hormone that contributes to obesity, diabetes

Researchers from McMaster University have identified an important hormone that is elevated in obese people and contributes to obesity and diabetes by inhibiting brown fat activity.

8 Dec 2014

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.

6 Dec 2014

FDA Advisory Committee votes in favor of Actavis' ceftazidime-avibactam

Actavis plc today announced that the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has voted to recommend approval of Actavis' New Drug Application (NDA) for ceftazidime-avibactam, an investigational antibiotic being developed to treat hospitalized patients when limited or no treatment options are available for complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) (in combination with metronidazole) and complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) (including acute pyelonephritis) caused by Gram-negative pathogens.

5 Dec 2014

New chemical compound shows promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury

Case Western Reserve scientists have developed a new chemical compound that shows extraordinary promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury. The compound, which the researchers dubbed intracellular sigma peptide (ISP), allowed paralyzed muscles to activate in more than 80 percent of the animals tested.

4 Dec 2014

Tobacco smoke toxin could increase pain in people with spinal cord injury

A neurotoxin called acrolein found in tobacco smoke that is thought to increase pain in people with spinal cord injury has now been shown to accumulate in mice exposed to the equivalent of 12 cigarettes daily over a short time period.

4 Dec 2014

Otsuka Pharmaceutical to acquire Avanir Pharmaceuticals for $3.5B

Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. pursuant to which Otsuka will acquire Avanir for $17.00 per share in cash.

2 Dec 2014

Ligand indazole chloride improves motor function, study shows

Multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease of the brain and spinal cord, affects about 2.3 million people worldwide (400,000 in the United States). Affecting more women than men, it can be seen at any age, although it is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

2 Dec 2014

DFG to establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs).

2 Dec 2014

DFG to establish new Collaborative Research Centres

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eight new Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs).

29 Nov 2014

UCL research opens up new way to treat neurological disorders

The way that tetanus neurotoxin enters nerve cells has been discovered by UCL scientists, who showed that this process can be blocked, offering a potential therapeutic intervention for tetanus. This newly-discovered pathway could be exploited to deliver therapies to the nervous system, opening up a whole new way to treat neurological disorders such as motor neuron disease and peripheral neuropathies.

28 Nov 2014

55% of people with dementia have never seen a doctor, shows study

The majority of people with dementia have never seen a doctor about their memory and thinking problems, according to a new study published in the November 26, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Nov 2014

FDA issues Complete Response letter for Avanir’s AVP-825 NDA

Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a Complete Response letter to its New Drug Application (NDA) for AVP-825.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers say that nervous system may play vital role in infections, autoimmune diseases

The nervous system may play a bigger role in infections and autoimmune diseases than previously known. If researchers can learn more about that role, it could provide insight into diagnosing and treating everything from the stomach flu to rheumatoid arthritis.

27 Nov 2014

Biologist Marnie Halpern selected as AAAS Fellow

Biologist Marnie Halpern of Carnegie's Department of Embryology has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her "fundamental contributions to developmental biology, particularly using novel genetic approaches to study patterning of the nervous system."

26 Nov 2014

Adults diagnosed with retinoblastoma as infants perform better on tasks, study finds

Most long-term survivors of retinoblastoma, particularly those who had been diagnosed with tumors by their first birthdays, have normal cognitive function as adults, according to a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study. The research, which appears in the current issue of the journal Cancer, found that the vast majority of survivors work full time, live independently and fulfill other milestones of adult life.

25 Nov 2014

Researchers take major step in fight against sleeping sickness

Researchers from Aarhus University have taken an important step in the fight against sleeping sickness, a disease that is a major problem in parts of Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the disease threatens approximately 60 million people and the treatment options are poor.

24 Nov 2014