Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Scientists identify small molecule inhibitors of cellular uptake

Scientists from Freie Universität Berlin and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence led by biochemist Volker Haucke in collaboration with colleagues from Australia and the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology in Berlin have developed small molecules that inhibit the internalization of important signaling molecules but also of pathogenic organisms such as the immunodeficiency virus and bacteria into cells.

5 Aug 2011

Scientists convert human skin cells into forebrain neurons

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have for the first time directly converted human skin cells into functional forebrain neurons, without the need for stem cells of any kind.

5 Aug 2011

Researchers identify genes that play a key role in pain perception

By working with individuals suffering from a severe disorder that causes sensory neurons to degenerate, researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital and CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital have discovered how a specific genetic mutation causes their patients' condition, which in turn has revealed more information about the mechanisms in our bodies which enable us to sense pain.

5 Aug 2011

UH undergraduates seek solutions to many maladies like diabetes, Alzheimer's

Students from a variety of majors are devoting their summers to serious research at the University of Houston (UH), seeking eventual solutions to many serious maladies that include Alzheimer's, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, alcoholism and anxiety.

4 Aug 2011

Insight into how brain organizes during development

Scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science have taken an important step in identifying how the brain organizes itself during development. The findings, published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology today, describe - in more detail than ever before - the consequences of the loss of a key molecule involved in establishing proper brain architecture during brain development.

3 Aug 2011

VIB researchers develop mouse model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy

VIB researchers have developed a mouse model for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) neuropathy, a hereditary disease of the peripheral nervous system.

3 Aug 2011

Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes in middle age linked to brain damage

A new study suggests smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and being overweight in middle age may cause brain shrinkage and lead to cognitive problems up to a decade later.

2 Aug 2011

Statins may help protect young people from future strokes

New research indicates cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins may help prevent future strokes among young people who have already had a stroke.

2 Aug 2011

Vanda, Biotoscana Farma partner to commercialize Fanapt in Argentina

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of products for central nervous system disorders, today announced its exclusive license agreement with Argentina-based Biotoscana Farma S.A., a wholly owned affiliate of Biotoscana International, based in Bogota, Colombia, for the commercialization of Fanapt ™ in Argentina.

1 Aug 2011

Artificial nanoparticles have direct effect on heart rate and rhythm

Artificial nanoparticles are becoming increasingly pervasive in modern life. However, their influence on our health and the mechanisms by which they affect the human body remain largely shrouded in mystery.

1 Aug 2011

Scientists study how nervous system translates sensory information into coordinated motor output

Escape responses are some of the most studied behaviors by neurobiologists who want to understand how the brain processes sensory information. The ability to evade predators plays a vital role in the process of natural selection.

30 Jul 2011

Scientists receive funding to continue research into pathological processes supporting Alzheimer's

Neuroscientists at the University of Bristol have received a major funding boost of -550,000 from the Medical Research Council to continue their research into the pathological processes underpinning Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, affecting around 465,000 people in the UK.

30 Jul 2011

Humira defect lawyers file lawsuit against Abbott in Texas state court

Humira defect lawyers filed a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories in Texas state court claiming Abbott's blockbuster drug, Humira, caused a life-threatening disease, leukemia.

30 Jul 2011

Improved cardiovascular health can help hear better

Improving cardiovascular health appears to be the best way to help process what we hear, according to Ray Hull, an audiologist at Wichita State University.

29 Jul 2011

RegeneRx to initiate enrollment in RGN-259 Phase 2 trial for dry eye syndrome

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it is set to begin a Phase 2 clinical trial in 72 patients with dry eye syndrome.

29 Jul 2011

Amylin, Lilly and Alkermes submit reply to FDA complete response letter for BYDUREON

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. today announced that the companies have submitted their reply to a complete response letter issued in October 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding BYDUREON™ (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension), an investigational medication for type 2 diabetes.

28 Jul 2011

New candidate gene for human benign childhood epilepsies

A new epilepsy gene, LGI2, has been found in the Lagotto Romagnolo dogs, known from their gift for truffle hunting. The gene discovery made by Professor Hannes Lohi and his research group at the University of Helsinki and the Folkhälsan Rsearch Center offers a new candidate gene for human benign childhood epilepsies characterized by seizure remission.

28 Jul 2011

Cognitive behavioral therapy and self-help may improve unexplained symptoms of pain, fatigue

A new type of therapy may help people with symptoms such as pain, weakness, or dizziness that can't be explained by an underlying disease, according to a study published in the July 27, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jul 2011

Yoga reduces symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia

A new study by York University researchers finds that practicing yoga reduces the physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia.

28 Jul 2011