Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

New common pathway in neurodegenerative disease is a possible door to a point of no return

A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS going - until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them - may largely come down to poor conversational skills.

9 Apr 2009

Withdrawal of Raptiva from U.S. market

Genentech, the manufacturer of the psoriasis drug Raptiva (efalizumab), has announced that it has begun a voluntary, phased withdrawal of the product from the U.S. market.

8 Apr 2009

Simple bedside test improves diagnosis of chronic back pain, could guide treatment

A simple and inexpensive method of assessing pain, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, is better than currently used techniques for distinguishing neuropathic pain - pain caused by damage to the nervous system - from other types of chronic back pain.

6 Apr 2009

Researchers regenerate axons necessary for voluntary movement

For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

6 Apr 2009

How the retina works: Like a multi-layered jigsaw puzzle of receptive fields

About 1.25 million neurons in the retina -- each of which views the world only through a small jagged window called a receptive field -- collectively form the seamless picture we rely on to navigate our environment.

6 Apr 2009

Researcher tackles deadly brain tumors

Natalie Ciaccio, a fourth-year graduate student researcher in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas, is investigating what might be an ideal target for anti-cancer drug therapy, and she is focusing her work on brain tumors specifically.

6 Apr 2009

Fluorescent anesthetic compound brings new avenues for drug discovery

A collaboration of University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin chemists and anesthesiologists have identified a fluorescent anesthetic compound that will assist researchers in obtaining more precise information about how anesthetics work in the body and will provide a means to more rapidly test new anesthetic compounds in the search for safer and more effective drugs.

6 Apr 2009

55 proteins found to interact with nicotine

Nicotine isn't just addictive. It may also interfere with dozens of cellular interactions in the body, new Brown University research suggests.

6 Apr 2009

Monoclonal antibody cancer therapy

The strategy of using monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment was first described in the late 1970s with the promise that they could be developed into therapies that were highly specific to cancer cells, killing them with few or no side effects.

6 Apr 2009

Blocking hunger hormone helps fight cocaine addiction

UC Irvine pharmacological researchers have discovered that blocking a hormone related to hunger regulation can limit cocaine cravings.

1 Apr 2009

Researchers delve into blood cell generation process

These new insights represent an important contribution to future clinical therapeutic approaches.

1 Apr 2009

CeNeRx BioPharma awarded patent for novel compounds that selectively target peripheral cannabinoid receptors

CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc. has announced issuance of a new U.S. patent covering its novel compounds that selectively target peripheral cannabinoid receptors.

1 Apr 2009

West Nile virus studies show how star-shaped brain cells cope with infection

A new study published as the cover article for the April 2009 issue of The FASEB Journal promises to give physicians new ways to reduce deadly responses to viral infections of the brain and spinal cord.

1 Apr 2009

New insights into how brain responds to viral infection

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered that astrocytes, supportive cells in the brain that are not derived from an immune cell lineage, respond to a molecule that mimics a viral infection using cellular machinery similar to that used by classical immune cells in the blood.

1 Apr 2009