Newsline — Tuesday, May 29, 2012 8:00
International Expert Suggests Training Brain Could Help Reduce Pain
Experimental Drug Successfully Shrinks Tumors That Spread to Brain
Monday, May 28, 2012 8:00
An experimental drug targeting a common melanoma mutation successfully shrank tumors that spread to the brain in nine out of 10 patients as part of an international phase I clinical trial report, published in the May 18 issue of The Lancet. The drug dabrafenib, which targets the Val600 BRAF mutation that is active in half of melanoma cases, also cut the size of tumors in 25 out of 36 patients with late-stage melanoma that had not spread to the brain. In addition, the drug showed activity in other cancer types with the BRAF mutation. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Can Reverse Brain Abnormalities in Children
Friday, May 25, 2012 8:00
A new study reports that treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children normalizes disturbances in the neuronal network responsible for attention and executive function. The results were presented at the ATS 2012 International Conference in San Francisco last week. “OSA is known to be associated with deficits in attention, cognition and executive function,” says lead author Ann Halbower, MD, associate professor at the Children’s Hospital Sleep Center and University of Colorado Denver. “Our study is the first to show that treatment of OSA in children can reverse neuronal brain injury, correlated with improvements in attention and verbal memory in these patients.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study Investigates Role of Specific Autoantibodies in Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Thursday, May 24, 2012 11:13
New research from scientists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine (UMDNJ-SOM), Stratford, N.J., shows how dying or damaged brain cells release debris into the bloodstream, giving rise to specific autoantibodies that appear to be reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The researchers also have found a key mechanism in the development of Alzheimer’s that mirrors a process common in autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Study results appear online in the Journal of Autoimmunity. “Our earlier research showed that human blood contains perhaps thousands of autoantibodies for clearing cellular debris, and that some of these autoantibodies can potentially be used to accurately diagnose neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” says Robert Nagele, PhD, a professor of medicine at UMDNJ-SOM and the study’s corresponding author. “Here, we found that the release of damaged proteins from dying neurons triggers the production of specific brain-reactive autoantibodies that are directed against this protein debris, a response similar to that seen in some autoimmune disorders.” For more information,…
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Nantz National Alzheimer Center Names New Clinical Director
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 9:00
The Methodist Neurological Institute’s Nantz National Alzheimer Center in Houston has named a new clinical director: Bryan M. Spann, DO, PhD, a board-certified neurologist specializing in the clinical management of patients with cognitive disorders. Previously, Spann served as medical director of the Memory and Aging Center at the University of Southern California. He now joins a multidisciplinary team — led by Gustavo C. Roman, MD, director of the Nantz National Alzheimer Center — whose focus covers the spectrum of cognitive disorders and dementias. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Cellist Realizes Talent Potential Through Neurofeedback
Monday, May 21, 2012 9:00
Practice may make perfect, but optimal performance can require more than talent, effort and repetition. Training the brain to reduce stress through neurofeedback can remove barriers and enhance one’s innate abilities. That’s according to a recent article in the journal Biofeedback, which presents the narrative of a young cellist who was able to realize the potential of his talent and eliminate debilitating migraine headaches. The case study is part of a special section in the Spring 2012 issue that focuses on optimal functioning. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Scientists Reveal Positive Effects of Transplanted Gene-Modified Blood Stem Cells in Glioblastoma Patients
Friday, May 18, 2012 9:00
Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have transplanted brain cancer patients’ own gene-modified blood stem cells in order to protect their bone marrow against the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Initial results of the ongoing, small clinical trial of three patients with glioblastoma showed that two patients survived longer than predicted had they not been given the transplants; a third patient remains alive with no disease progression nearly three years after treatment. “We found that patients were able to tolerate the chemotherapy better and without negative side effects after transplantation of the gene-modified stem cells than patients in previous studies who received the same type of chemotherapy without a transplant of gene-modified stem cells,” says Hans-Peter Kiem, M.D., senior and corresponding author of the study, which appears in Science Translational Medicine. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Response to First Drug Treatment May Be Indication of Future Epileptic Seizures
Thursday, May 17, 2012 15:00
A new study has found that how well people with newly diagnosed epilepsy respond to their first drug treatment may signal the likelihood that they will continue to have more seizures. The results of this research appear in the May 9, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Our research shows a pattern based on how a person responds to initial treatment and specifically, to their first two courses of drug treatment,” says study author Patrick Kwan, MD, PhD, of the University of Melbourne in Australia. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Fossil Offers Indications of Human Brain Evolution
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 8:00
Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk and a group of anthropological researchers have found two significant features in the Taung fossil — the first australopithecine ever discovered — suggesting that brain evolution was a result of a complex set of interrelated dynamics in childbirth among new bipeds. The results of their research were published May 7 in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Music Lessons May Have Brain Benefits for Young Children
Monday, May 14, 2012 15:55
Very early musical training can benefit children even before they can walk or talk, say researchers at McMaster University, who just completed the first study of its kind in this area. Results show that one-year-old babies who participate in interactive music classes with their parents smile more, communicate better, and show earlier and more sophisticated brain responses to music. The findings have been published in the scientific journals Developmental Science and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. For more information, click here for the full article