Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Emotional empathy linked to physiological responses to angry faces

Egocentric, self-centred, and insensitive to the needs of others: these social problems often arise in people with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and have been attributed in part to a loss of emotional empathy, the capacity to recognise and understand the emotions of other people.

29 Jun 2011

Anacor, DNDi and SCYNEXIS complete SCYX-7158 pre-clinical studies for combating sleeping sickness

Anacor Pharmaceuticals, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and SCYNEXIS Inc. today announced the successful completion of pre-clinical studies for the first new oral drug candidate discovered specifically to combat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness.

29 Jun 2011

New concepts for how evolutionary change occurs

At a recent Kavli Futures Symposium, 19 experts from a diverse range of fields discussed the promise of using the lab to understand and exploit the evolution of organisms -- progress that may one day lead to new vaccines or other biotechnology products.

29 Jun 2011

Genetic tools that enable cell type-specific delivery hold promise for combating incurable neurologic diseases

Novel tools and methods for delivering therapeutic genes to cells in the central nervous system hold great promise for the development of new treatments to combat incurable neurologic diseases. Five of the most exciting developments in this rapidly advancing field are presented in a series of articles in the June issue of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc..

29 Jun 2011

BioLineRx initiates enrollment in BL-1020 Phase II/III trial against schizophrenia

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today the enrollment of the first patient in the Phase II/III CLARITY clinical trial of BL-1020, a first in class, orally available, GABA-enhanced antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia.

28 Jun 2011

TrialNet presents Diamyd Phase II study results on type 1 diabetes at ADA 2011

The American research consortium Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet presented their results of a Phase II study with the antigen-based diabetes therapy Diamyd yesterday, June 27, at the American Diabetes Association 71st Scientific Sessions (ADA) in San Diego, California, USA, after the closing of the stock market.

28 Jun 2011

Omeros identifies compounds that interact with orphan GPCRs associated with leukemia

Omeros Corporation today reported that it has identified compounds that interact with orphan G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) P2Y8 and OPN4. P2Y8 (also known as P2RY8) is associated with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells.

27 Jun 2011

New 3D herpes infection model brings hope

Herpes infections on the lips, in the eyes or on the nose are painful, long-lasting and unpleasant. A new 3D herpes infection model brings hope: active ingredients and new treatments can be reliably tested with this model. Animal tests could soon be a thing of the past.

27 Jun 2011

EnVivo initiates EVP-0962 GSM Phase 1 clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease

EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, a company dedicated to developing a broad range of novel central nervous system (CNS) therapies, announced today that it recently initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of EVP-0962, its potent and selective gamma secretase modulator (GSM), in healthy volunteers.

27 Jun 2011

Acorda to move corporate headquarters to Ardsley Park life science campus

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to the Ardsley Park life science campus in Ardsley, New York, which was acquired by BioMed Realty Trust, Inc..

27 Jun 2011

Yissum, BioLineRx sign license deal to develop and commercialize BL-7040 for IBD

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical drug development company, and Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., the Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced today that they have signed a worldwide, exclusive license agreement for BioLineRx to develop and commercialize BL-7040, an orally available Phase II ready molecule for treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases.

27 Jun 2011

Anticholinergic medications linked to risk of cognitive impairment, death in older population

A large, long-term study confirms that medications with anticholinergic activity, which include many drugs frequently taken by older adults, cause cognitive impairment. The research is also the first to identify a possible link between these drugs - which include over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments - and risk of death.

27 Jun 2011

Maternal MS not linked with poor pregnancy or birth outcomes

Canadian researchers have found that maternal multiple sclerosis (MS) is generally not associated with adverse delivery outcomes or risk to their offspring. Full findings now appear in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association.

27 Jun 2011

McMaster researchers to use tiny worms for Parkinson's project

McMaster researchers from three disciplines are deploying thousands of tiny worms and a homegrown invention to test drugs in a collaborative bid to defeat Parkinson's Disease.

27 Jun 2011

Department of Defense awards Impel Phase II SBIR grant for blood-brain barrier bypass technology

Impel NeuroPharma, a medical device company whose technology is designed to enable pharmaceutical drugs to bypass the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system (CNS), today announced that it was selected to receive a Phase II Small Business Investigational Research (SBIR) grant from the Department of Defense's Chemical and Biological Defense SBIR Program entitled, "Blood Brain Barrier Drug Delivery of Therapeutics for Chemical Warfare Agents."

24 Jun 2011

Protein globin E helps avian eyes 'breathe' and contributes to visual acuity

Say what you will about bird brains, but our feathered friends sure have us -- and all the other animals on the planet -- beat in the vision department, and that has a bit to do with how their brains develop.

24 Jun 2011

ABA honors Acorda Therapeutics president with 2011 Stevie Award

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. announced that Ron Cohen, M.D., President and CEO of Acorda Therapeutics, was awarded the 2011 Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in the Health Products & Services category at the 9th Annual American Business Awards (ABA) ceremony held on June 20, 2011.

24 Jun 2011

Hormone ghrelin mediates stress-induced food-reward behavior

Many people when stressed turn to high calorie "comfort foods". Despite the contribution this behavior makes to the current obesity epidemic, little is known about the molecules and nervous system circuits that control it. Insight into this could provide new targets for the development of therapeutics to curb this potentially detrimental behavior.

24 Jun 2011

Birth defects more prevalent in mountaintop coal mining areas

Birth defects are significantly more common in areas of mountaintop coal mining and are on the rise as the practice becomes more common, according to a study by researchers at Washington State University and West Virginia University.

24 Jun 2011

Endo's complete response for new formulation of OPANA ER NDA accepted by the FDA

Endo Pharmaceuticals announced today that it received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Endo's complete response to the FDA's Jan. 7, 2011 Action Letter relating to Endo's new drug application (NDA) for a new formulation of OPANA ER has been accepted.

24 Jun 2011