Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Sudden emotional stress can result in severe but reversible heart muscle weakness

Shocking news, such as learning of the unexpected death of a loved one, has been known to cause catastrophic events, such as a heart attack.

10 Feb 2005

Sex hormone progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone reduces stress

A steroid hormone released during the metabolism of progesterone, the female sex hormone, reduces the brain's response to stress, according to research in rats by scientists at Emory University School of Medicine, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Atlanta's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.

9 Feb 2005

Research confirms how early-life events shape later physiology

Underscoring the value of good prenatal care, new research suggests that early infection may create a cognitive vulnerability that appears later during stress on the immune system.

8 Feb 2005

Gene dynamin 2 underlies one form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

A gene that plays many fundamental roles in cells throughout the body has, for the first time, been implicated in human disease, according to researchers at the Duke Center for Human Genetics.

31 Jan 2005

Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens today, adding seventeen substances to the growing list of cancer-causing agents, bringing the total to 246.

31 Jan 2005

Scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons

After years of trial and error, scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons, critical nervous system pathways that relay messages from the brain to the rest of the body.

30 Jan 2005

New highly active agents against leishmaniasis

Parasitic diseases, especially leishmaniases and trypanosomiases, kill hundreds of thousands of people every year in the world, mainly in the countries of the South. The most severe form of leishmaniosis (kala-azar, the visceral form), induced by Leishmania donovani and L. infantum, affects about 500 000 people per year and proves fatal if no treatment is given.

25 Jan 2005

Organon’s compound, Org 24448, selected to test efficacy of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) sponsored network called Treatment Units for Research on Neurocognition in Schizophrenia (TURNS) has selected Organon’s compound, Org 24448, to undergo testing as part of its effort to facilitate the development of medications to enhance cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

24 Jan 2005

Insight into potential mechanisms underlying type II diabetes

New research published in the premier issue of Cell Metabolism finds that a single brain region is sufficient for normal control of blood sugar and activity level by the fat hormone leptin. The same region also exerts significant, though more modest, control over leptin's effects on body weight.

19 Jan 2005

Psychiatric disorders detected using blood test

ChondroGene Limited reported today that a paper entitled "Assessing the Validity of Blood- Based Gene Expression Profiles for the Classification of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A preliminary Report" is available online on the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics' website.

19 Jan 2005

Lifting weights can help people with multiple sclerosis

Lifting weights can improve muscle strength and quality of life for people afflicted with the degenerative disease multiple sclerosis, a new University of Florida study finds.

17 Jan 2005

Anti-seizure drugs slow aging in roundworms

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that a class of anti-seizure medications slows the rate of aging in roundworms. The worms, when exposed to drugs used to treat epilepsy in humans, lived longer and retained youthful functions longer than normal.

17 Jan 2005

Researchers have identified the cellular receptor for the JC virus

Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have identified the cellular receptor for the JC virus, which causes the fatal neurological disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

17 Jan 2005

Latest Canadian mad cow case poses no threat

The recently confirmed case of mad cow disease in Canada is an isolated case and does not represent a threat to the food chain, according to the Pan American Health Organization’s top expert on the issue.

12 Jan 2005

Escalating demand for novel and effective therapeutic approaches underlines growing appeal of peptides

With a 30 per cent revenue share, Europe trails the United States as the second largest regional market for therapeutic peptides. The rising need for new therapeutic approaches combined with the potential of peptides as active pharmaceutical ingredients for effective drug formulation is contributing to rapid market development.

12 Jan 2005

Scientists identify a protein that regulates alcohol-withdrawal seizures

Seizures are the most life-threatening, as well as disconcerting, symptoms of withdrawal in people who are alcoholics and who abruptly stop drinking. Heavy consumption of alcohol, or ethanol, the substance in beer, wine and liquor that is addictive, leads to changes in the brain.

10 Jan 2005

Ascorbic acid doesn't seem to help physical exercise performance

Orange juice or other sources of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), may (or may not) benefit you in terms of health and exercise, but contrary to what many people thought previously, ascorbic acid doesn't seem to help physical exercise performance.

6 Jan 2005

Glia cells may be essential for the normal development of nerve cells responsible for hearing and balance

Traditionally viewed as supporting actors, cells known as glia may be essential for the normal development of nerve cells responsible for hearing and balance, according to new University of Utah research. The study is reported in the January 6, 2005 issue of Neuron and is co-authored by scientists at the University of Washington.

6 Jan 2005

New painkiller was discovered in natural form in venomous snails in 1979

The natural form of Prialt – a new drug for severe pain approved this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – was discovered at the University of Utah in 1979 by an incoming freshman studying toxins produced by cone snails.

30 Dec 2004

Restless legs syndrome is underdiagnosed in kids

A new Mayo Clinic study has for the first time established rates of restless legs syndrome in children, finding that almost 6 percent of children seen in Mayo's sleep clinic have the disease.

28 Dec 2004