Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Investigational drug may help increase protein levels in babies with spinal muscular atrophy

A preliminary study suggests that an investigational drug may help increase protein levels in babies with spinal muscular atrophy. The open-label study is released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, April 21 to 27, 2018.

19 Apr 2018

People diagnosed with traumatic brain injury may have increased risk of Parkinson's disease, shows study

People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the April 18, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

19 Apr 2018

Functional connectivity MRI could help detect brain disorders and diseases

There are no laboratory tests to diagnose migraines, depression, bipolar disorder and many other ailments of the brain. Doctors typically gauge such illnesses based on self-reported symptoms and behavior.

18 Apr 2018

UT Southwestern scientists discover protein linked to metastatic breast cancer

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a protein that is strongly associated with metastatic breast cancer and that could be a target for future therapies.

18 Apr 2018

New drug for migraine in the pipeline

According to a pilot study results released yesterday (17th of April 2018), a new drug may help provide relief to people with migraine that is unsuccessfully treated with the currently available drugs.

18 Apr 2018

Novel interactive diagram shows many facets of mild traumatic brain injury

A Portland State University research team studying concussion has published an interactive diagram showing the many facets of mild traumatic brain injury - from sleep problems to mood disorders to the increased danger of dementia - and how they connect with and affect each other.

17 Apr 2018

Middle ear infection can lead to deadly neurological complications

While antibiotics have greatly reduced the dangers of ear infections, serious neurological complications, including hearing loss, facial paralysis, meningitis and brain abscess still occur, according to an article in the journal Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.

16 Apr 2018

Engineered immune cells clear deadly pediatric brain tumor in mice

Engineered human immune cells can vanquish a deadly pediatric brain tumor in a mouse model, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has demonstrated.

16 Apr 2018

'Night owls' have higher risk of early death than 'larks'

"Night owls" - people who like to stay up late and have trouble dragging themselves out of bed in the morning - have a higher risk of dying sooner than "larks," people who have a natural preference for going to bed early and rise with the sun, according to a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom.

13 Apr 2018

People who stay up late risk shorter lives

New research shows that people who habitually stay up late and wake up late are at risk of shorter lives compared to those who follow the old adage – “early to bed and early to rise…” The study titled, “Associations between chronotype, morbidity and mortality in the UK Biobank cohort,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Chronobiology International.

13 Apr 2018

Severity of cognitive and language impairment in MS patients

Neurocognitive impairment is frequently encountered in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients affecting between 40-65% of these individuals, irrespective of disease duration, severity of physical disability, and at both the earlier and later disease stages, with a tendency to worsen over time.

12 Apr 2018

Study explores relationship between age at menopause and memory

Entering menopause at a later age may be associated with a small benefit to your memory years later, according to a study published in the April 11, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

12 Apr 2018

Traumatic brain injury associated with higher risk of dementia

The risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's, was significantly higher in people who had experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than with people who had no history of TBI, according to one of the largest studies to date on that association.

11 Apr 2018

ALS and frontotemporal dementia share genetic connections

Nearly half of all patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neuromuscular disorder, develop cognitive problems that affect memory and thinking.

9 Apr 2018

Study reveals how apoE4 gene confers risk for Alzheimer's disease in brain cells

Using human brain cells, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes discovered the cause of--and a potential solution for--the primary genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, a gene called apoE4.

9 Apr 2018

Smartphone 'scores' can reliably reflect symptom severity in Parkinson's patients

Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder, is often tough to treat effectively because symptoms, such as tremors and walking difficulties, can vary dramatically over a period of days, or even hours.

6 Apr 2018

New brain cells are added in elderly adult brains too

Scientists have long debated the fact that brains change with age and no new brain cells or neurons are added once an adult is fully grown. With age the number of neurons begins to decline leading to several problems with memory and cognition.

6 Apr 2018

Parkinson's patients who show depression symptoms may actually have demoralization, study says

People with Parkinson's disease who show signs of depression may actually have a condition called demoralization, according to a study published in the April 4, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. That study found demoralization may be common in Parkinson's disease.

5 Apr 2018

Early life epilepsies should be treated with urgency as childhood cancers

Like childhood cancers, early life epilepsies represent many rare disorders with diverse underlying causes. Unlike childhood cancers, little has changed in the outcomes of early life epilepsies in the past few decades, despite advances in diagnostic technologies and availability of new treatments.

5 Apr 2018

Adult-onset degenerative disease mechanism begins much earlier than previously thought

The disease mechanism for adult-onset progressive degenerative diseases begins much earlier than previously thought, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

30 Mar 2018