Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Fullerenes can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation.

28 Nov 2005

Loss of genes on chromosome 1 or 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma

A new study reports that a loss of genes on chromosome 1 or chromosome 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma, even when other indicators seem to point to a lower-risk form of the disease.

28 Nov 2005

Study finds common pollutants linked to fetal growth retardation

Babies born to women exposed to high ozone levels during pregnancy are at heightened risk for being significantly underweight, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

26 Nov 2005

Updated guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis

An international panel of neurologists has updated the current guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), strengthening the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

26 Nov 2005

Teenage suicides and Tamiflu - is there a link?

Roche the maker of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu has reported to authorities in Japan the possible suicides of two teenage boys although the company says there was no clear evidence that the drug had contributed to their deaths.

14 Nov 2005

Nerve-cell dendrites splice messenger RNA

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA (pre-mRNA), a process once believed to only take place in the nucleus of cells.

14 Nov 2005

Lupus discovery may improve treatment

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Virginia hope to reset part of the "epigenetic code" in lupus patients and thus improve treatment.

7 Nov 2005

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have deciphered code for motor neuron wiring

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have deciphered a key part of the regulatory code that governs how motor neurons in the spinal cord connect to specific target muscles in the limbs.

7 Nov 2005

Scientists find new mechanism by which brain cells can be damaged during chronic neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have targeted a new culprit and method of attack on neurologic functions in diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia associated with HIV.

7 Nov 2005

Tryptophan metabolites play an important role in the immune system

Tryptophan is the source of Thanksgiving legend and grist for a "Seinfeld" episode, but it's not the chemical that you'd expect to find in Lawrence Steinman's lab.

7 Nov 2005

Brain has more than one pathway along which visual information can be sent

Visual information can be processed unconsciously when the area of the brain that records what the eye sees is temporarily shut down, according to research at Rice University in Houston.

1 Nov 2005

Link between the act of lying and a significant increase in gastric arrhythmia

A new study suggests that changes in gastric physiology perform better than standard polygraph methods in distinguishing between lying and telling the truth.

1 Nov 2005

When it comes to telling lies it's the stomach not the heart which is the giveaway

According to a new study it is suggested that it is the stomach rather than the heart that offers greater lie detection accuracy.

31 Oct 2005

Gene involved in B-cell development might play a role in multiple sclerosis

The results of a large study published today in the open access journal BMC Neurology reveal that multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are more likely to carry two specific genetic variations in the Early B-cell factor gene (EBF-1), than healthy individuals.

30 Oct 2005

Type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix

Patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared to patients with type 2 diabetes alone, over the three-year period of a recent study in Washington state.

27 Oct 2005

The face represents an important window into the influences of stress and emotion on health

A provocative new study has found that people who respond to stressful situations with angry facial expressions, rather than fearful expressions, are less likely to suffer such ill effects of stress as high blood pressure and high stress hormone secretion.

25 Oct 2005