Newsline — Wednesday, July 23, 2014 13:00
Study Compares Structures of Huntington’s Disease Protein
Brain Exercise and Warding off Cognitive Decline
Wednesday, July 23, 2014 10:01
A study, recently published in JAMA Neurology and discussed in a MedPageToday.com article, seems to indicate that people who engage in vigorous mental activity throughout their lives tend to delay or slow cognitive impairment, compared to those whose minds are less stimulated. In the new study, 277 participants in their mid-70s to early 80s who had developed mild cognitive impairment were prospectively compared over five years with 1,718 others who scored cognitively normal. The participants, all Olmsted County, Minn., residents, were quizzed at baseline about their job types and 10 categories of cognitive activity in which they engaged in the previous year and when they were 50 to 65 years old. Their performance on cognitive tests was tracked from enrollment through the follow-up period. Those with higher educational attainment and more mentally challenging employment at baseline had higher cognitive performance throughout the study period; moreover, even within categories of education/occupation level, those with higher middle- and late-life levels of cognitive activity also performed better. To read a discussion about the study, click here.
Neurons, Brain Cancer Cells Require the Same Protein for Survival
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 16:45
Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have discovered that the protein PARC/CUL9 helps neurons and brain cancer cells override the biochemical mechanisms that lead to cell death in most other cells. In neurons, long-term survival allows for proper brain function as we age. In brain cancer cells, though, long-term survival contributes to tumor growth and the spread of the disease. These results, published in the journal Science Signaling, not only identify a previously unknown mechanism used by neurons for their much-needed survival, but show that brain cancer cells hijack the same mechanism for their own survival. “PARC is very similar to Parkin, a protein that’s mutated in Parkinson’s disease,” said senior author Mohanish Deshmukh, a professor of cell biology and physiology. “We think they might work in tandem to protect neurons.” To learn more about the study, click here.
No Anti-clotting Treatment Needed for Most Kids Undergoing Spine Surgeries
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 13:00
According to a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study, blood clots occur so rarely in children undergoing spine operations that most patients require nothing more than vigilant monitoring after surgery and should be spared risky and costly anti-clotting medications. The findings, recently published online in the journal Spine, narrow down the pool of high-risk patients and should help clinicians better determine which children might benefit from treatment with anti-clotting drug. The results of the study are based on a review of surgical outcomes among nearly 22,000 children nationwide who had spinal fusion surgery between 2001 and 2010. Overall, blood clots were rare — 21 episodes for 10,000 surgeries, on average — and no patients died as a result of one, the study found. But heightened risk emerged in certain subgroups. To learn more about the study, click here.
Study Finds Decrease in Incidence of Stroke, Subsequent Death
Monday, July 21, 2014 16:10
In a study that included a large sample of black and white U.S. adults from several communities, rates of stroke incidence and subsequent death decreased from 1987 to 2011, with decreases varying across age-groups, according to a study in a recent issue of the JAMA. Researchers examined trends in stroke incidence and subsequent death among black and white adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort, a study of 15,792 residents in four communities in the U.S., ages 45 to 64 years at baseline (1987-1989). The communities were Minneapolis; Washington County, Md.; Forsyth County, N.C.; and Jackson, Miss. For this analysis, the researchers followed-up on 14,357 participants free of stroke at baseline for all stroke hospitalizations and deaths from 1987 to 2011. During the study period, there were 7 percent participants with incident stroke. The researchers found a significant decrease in stroke incidence from 1987 to 2011 in both whites and blacks, as well as men and women, but this decrease was seen only above age 65 years, with younger participants experiencing stable stroke…
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After a Concussion, Which Teens Will Have Emotional Symptoms?
Monday, July 21, 2014 9:47
After a concussion, teens who are sensitive to light or noise may also be more likely to have emotional symptoms, such as anxiety, according to a recent study. “While most people recover from a concussion within a week, a number of factors affect people’s recovery, and studies have shown that teenage athletes may take up to seven to 10 days longer to recover than older athletes,” said study authors Lisa M. Koehl, MS, and Dong (Dan) Y. Han, PsyD, of the University of Kentucky in Lexington. The study involved 37 athletes, aged 12 to 17, who had persisting symptoms for an average of 37 days following a concussion. Participants were excluded if they had a previous history of psychological issues. One group of 22 teens had emotional symptoms, such as irritability, aggression, anxiety, depression, apathy, frequent mood changes or excessive emotional reactions, after the concussion, while the second group of 15 teens did not have emotional symptoms. The study found that of the 22 teens who had emotional symptoms, five teens (23 percent) were sensitive to…
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Babies’ Brains Rehearse Speech Mechanics Months Before They Speak
Friday, July 18, 2014 13:00
University of Washington (UW) research in 7- and 11-month-old infants shows that speech sounds stimulate areas of the brain that coordinate and plan motor movements for speech. The study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that baby brains start laying down the groundwork of how to form words long before they actually begin to speak, and this may affect the developmental transition. In the experiment, infants were assessed using magnetoencephalography (MEG). The UW’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences was the first in the world to use MEG scans to study babies while they engaged in a task. The babies, 57 7- and 11- or 12-month-olds, each listened to a series of native and foreign language syllables, such as “da” and “ta,” as researchers recorded brain responses. The researchers observed brain activity in the superior temporal gyrus, as well as in Broca’s area and the cerebellum. This pattern of brain activation occurred for sounds in the 7-month-olds’ native language (English), as well as in a non-native language (Spanish), showing…
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Even Mild Traumatic Brain Injury May Cause Brain Damage
Friday, July 18, 2014 9:00
Even mild traumatic brain injury may cause brain damage and thinking and memory problems, according to a study recently published in an online issue of Neurology. For the study, 44 people with a mild traumatic brain injury and nine people with a moderate traumatic brain injury were compared to 33 people with no brain injury; all of the participants took tests of their thinking and memory skills. At the same time, they had diffusion tensor imaging scans. The people with brain injuries had their scans an average of six days after the injury. A year later, 23 of those with injuries had another scan and took the cognitive tests again. Compared to the people with no brain injury, those with injuries had brain damage in brain white matter consisting of disruption to nerve axons. To learn more about the study, click here.
New Device Allows Brain to Bypass Spinal Cord, Move Paralyzed Limbs
Thursday, July 17, 2014 16:30
For the first time, a paralyzed man can move his fingers and hand with his own thoughts, thanks to a partnership between The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Battelle. Ian Burkhart, a 23-year-old quadriplegic from Dublin, Ohio, is the first patient to use Neurobridge, an electronic neural bypass for spinal cord injuries that reconnects the brain directly to muscles, allowing voluntary and functional control of a paralyzed limb. The Neurobridge technology combines algorithms that learn and decode the user’s brain activity and a high-definition muscle stimulation sleeve that translates neural impulses from the brain and transmits new signals to the paralyzed limb. Paralyzed four years ago during a diving accident, Burkhart is the first of a potential five participants in the six-month, FDA-approved clinical trial. During a three-hour surgery in late April 2014, Ali Rezai, MD, FAANS, implanted a chip smaller than a pea onto the motor cortex of Burkhart’s brain. The tiny chip interprets brain signals and sends them to a computer, which recodes and sends them to the high-definition electrode stimulation…
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Noninvasive Brain Control
Thursday, July 17, 2014 13:36
Optogenetics, a technology that allows scientists to control brain activity by shining light on neurons, relies on light-sensitive proteins that can suppress or stimulate electrical signals within cells. Until now, this technique required a light source to be implanted in the brain, where it can reach the cells to be controlled. Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now developed the first light-sensitive molecule that enables neurons to be silenced noninvasively, using a light source outside the skull. The protein, known as Jaws and discussed in a recent issue of Nature Neuroscience, allows a larger volume of tissue to be influenced at once. This noninvasive approach could pave the way to using optogenetics in human patients to treat epilepsy and other neurological disorders, the researchers say. To learn more about this study, click here.