Newsline — Friday, December 16, 2011 9:00
Widespread Brain Atrophy Detected in Cognitively Impaired Parkinson’s Patients
Researchers Design Antibodies Aimed at Combatting Alzheimer’s
Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:00
Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., have developed a new method for designing antibodies that are aimed at combating disease. The surprisingly simple process was used to produce antibodies that neutralize the harmful protein particles that lead to Alzheimer’s disease. The process is described in the Dec. 5 Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. Titled “Structure-based design of conformation- and sequence-specific antibodies against amyloid β,” the process could be used as a tool to understand complex disease pathology and develop new antibody-based drugs in the future. For more information, click here to read the full release.
The Brain on Trial: Neuroscience and the Law
Wednesday, December 14, 2011 9:00
How insights about the brain affect the course of a criminal trial, from the arguments in a courtroom to the issuing of a sentence, was the topic of the Fred Kavli Public Symposium, held recently at the Society for Neuroscience’s “Neuroscience 2011.” The symposium, titled “The Brain on Trial: Neuroscience and the Law,” examined how advances in neuroscience are both challenging and assisting the judicial system. The Kavli Foundation brought together three experts to discuss this subject further. For more information about the symposium, click here to read the full release.
Ecstasy Drug Can Cause Chronic Changes in the Brain
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:00
Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered that recreational use of Ecstasy — the illegal “rave” drug that causes feelings of euphoria and emotional warmth — is associated with chronic changes in the human brain. The findings, reported online Dec. 5 in the Archives of General Psychiatry, add to growing evidence that Ecstasy produces long-lasting serotonin neurotoxicity in humans, according to Ronald Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study Shows That Multiple Sclerosis May Start in Brain’s Outer Layers
Monday, December 12, 2011 15:50
Multiple sclerosis (MS) may progress from the outermost layers of the brain to its deep parts and isn’t always an inside-out process, as previously thought, according to a collaborative study from researchers at the Mayo and Cleveland clinics. It’s long been understand that the disease begins in the white matter that forms the bulk of the brain’s inside and extends to involve the brain’s superficial layers, the cortex. New findings support an opposite, outside-in process, from the cerebrospinal fluid-filled subarachnoid space — which cushions the outside of the brain and the cortex — into the white matter. These findings will guide researchers as they seek to further understand and treat the disease. The study was published in the December issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers do not know exactly what causes MS, but it is considered an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own myelin. This fatty substance surrounds and protects axons, nerve cell projections that carry information; its damage slows down or blocks messages between the…
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Researchers Create First Realistic 3D Diagram of the Brain’s Cortical Column
Friday, December 9, 2011 14:00
Researchers from the lab of Nobel Laureate Bert Sakmann, MD, PhD, at the Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) say they have created the first realistic 3D diagram of a thalamocortical column in the rodent brain through the use of a conceptually new approach and state-of-the-art research tools. The cortical column is a vertically organized series of connected neurons that form a brain circuit. It is considered the elementary building block of the cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for many of its higher functions. This achievement is the first step toward creating a complete computer model of the brain, one that could ultimately lead to an understanding of how the brain computes as well as how it goes awry in neurological, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. The results of the study are published online in the Cerebral Cortex journal. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Incidence of Headaches Following Traumatic Brain Injury Occur More Often in Adolescents and Girls
Friday, December 9, 2011 10:00
Every year, more than half a million U.S. children sustain traumatic brain injury (TBI). Adults who suffer TBI often report headaches afterward, but little has been reported about how often children suffer headaches following similar injuries. In “Headache After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Cohort Study,” researchers analyzed the prevalence of headaches three and 12 months after mild, moderate or severe TBI in children ages 5 to 17. They discovered the risk of headache was higher in adolescents (ages 13 to 17) as well as girls. The study was led by Heidi Blume, MD, MPH, from Seattle Children’s Research Institute and principal investigator Fred Rivara, MD, MPH, of Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington. The results were published online in Pediatrics. The study indicates that post-TBI headaches can be a significant problem for some children (ages five to 12 years). Three months after a mild TBI, 43 percent of children reported headaches, compared to the 37 percent who suffered a moderate to severe TBI and 26 percent in the control group (patients…
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Recently FDA-Approved Device Closes Wide-Neck Aneurysms
Thursday, December 8, 2011 14:00
Los Angeles independent travel consultant Stephanie Weiss was told there was no minimally invasive way to treat a wide-neck aneurysm — one of the defects of her having two large and three small aneurysms in her brain. She was told she would have to undergo open-brain surgery. But in a second consultation with neurosurgeon Michael J. Alexander, MD, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Weiss learned about a new device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April, that made it possible to close even wide-neck aneurysms that were pressing against the optic nerves without the risks, pain and longer recovery of major surgery. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Matthew C. Tate, MD, Named 2012 Van Wagenen Fellow
Thursday, December 8, 2011 9:00
The 2012 William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship has been awarded to Matthew C. Tate, MD. Dr. Tate, a resident in neurological surgery at University of California in San Francisco, will commence the fellowship on July 1, 2012. He will travel to Montpellier, France, where he will be hosted by the Department of Neurosurgery at the Hôpital Gui de Chauliac and be part of the Plasticity of Central Nervous System, Human Stem Cells and Glial Tumors team at the Institute of Neuroscience of Montepellier, INSERM U1051, at the Hôpital Saint-Eloi. Under the mentorship of Dr. Hugues Duffau, Dr. Tate plans to utilize direct cortical stimulation in awake human patients to both establish a standardized functional atlas of human brain function and to investigate the functional consequence of brain plasticity following injury. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Neurosurgery Residents Say 80-Hour Work Week Isn’t Enough
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 15:25
Residents partaking in U.S. neurosurgery training programs strongly oppose new regulations that further limit their duty hours, according to a survey published in the December issue of Neurosurgery, the official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). The study was issued by Dr. Kyle M. Fargen and colleagues at the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. Researchers sent the survey to residents enrolled in 101 neurosurgery training programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, asking them for their views on the new rules, which restrict the maximum shift lengths of doctors in training, as well as the perceived effects of the limited hours on their education. The surveys were distributed prior to July 2011, when the new rules took effect. Responses were received from 377 residents, representing about one-third of all U.S. neurosurgery residents. For more information, click here to read the full release.