Newsline — Tuesday, April 29, 2014 13:00
Study: Spine Surgeons Need to Screen More Patients for Anxiety, Depression
A New Cell Type is Implicated in Epilepsy Caused by TBI
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 9:00
A recent study suggests that damage to interneurons disrupts neurotransmitter levels and plays a role in the development of epilepsy after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Published in Cerebral Cortex, the study examined the effect of TBI on the levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the cerebral cortex. Researchers identified a disrupted balance of GABA and its precursor, glutamate, as a factor in increased epileptic brain activity, findings that suggest traumatic brain injuries cause damage to the interneurons responsible for creating GABA. “Our study is an important step in identifying the mechanistic relationship between TBI and post-traumatic epilepsy. The study describes a potential outline of what happens after brain injury to trigger epilepsy, but the neurological causes of how TBI kills interneurons specifically after the initial injury are still unknown,” reveals first author David Cantu, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at Tufts University School of Medicine. To read more about the study, click here.
Plaques Detected in Brain Scans Forecast Cognitive Impairment
Monday, April 28, 2014 13:00
According to a 36-month study, brain imaging using radioactive dye can detect early evidence of Alzheimer’s disease that may predict future cognitive decline among adults with mild or no cognitive impairment. The current study, led by Duke Medicine, was designed to assess whether silent pathological changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s and detected with positron emission tomography (PET) can predict cognitive decline. The study’s findings, recently published online in Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that identifying silent beta-amyloid plaque build-up in the brain could help guide care and treatment decisions for patients at risk for Alzheimer’s. The radioactive dye used, florbetapir (Amyvid), binds to the beta-amyloid plaques that characterize Alzheimer’s disease, helping to measure the extent to which plaques have formed in different brain regions. Subjects completed cognitive tests and underwent PET scans of their brains; 36 months later, the researchers repeated the same cognitive exams. “Our research found that healthy adults and those with mild memory loss who have a positive scan for these plaques have a much faster rate of decline on memory, language…
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A Brain Region for Resisting Alcohol’s Allure
Monday, April 28, 2014 9:00
University of Utah neuroscientists report that when the brain’s lateral habenula is chronically inactivated in rats, they repeatedly drink to excess and are less able to learn from the experience. The animal study, recently published online in PLOS ONE, has implications for understanding behaviors that drive alcohol addiction. The lateral habenula is activated by bad experiences, yet rats with an inactivated lateral habenula sought out the juice more than control animals, even though it meant a repeat of the bad experience. The researches think the lateral habenula likely works in one of two ways. The region may regulate how badly an individual feels after over-drinking. Alternatively, it may control how well an individual learns from their bad experience. To learn more about the study, click here.
Study Helps Unravel the Tangled Origin of ALS
Friday, April 25, 2014 13:00
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have pinpointed an error in protein formation that could be the root of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. In a recent study, published in Cell Stem Cell, researchers identified proteins that build neurofilaments inside the motor neurons. Scientists have known for some time that in ALS, “tangles” along the nerve’s projections, formed of misshapen protein, block the passage along the nerve fibers, eventually causing the nerve fiber to malfunction and die. The core of the new discovery is the source of these tangles: a shortage of one of the three proteins in the neurofilament. Beyond ALS, neuroscientist Su-Chun Zhang, senior author of the new report, says “very similar tangles” appear in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases: “We got really excited at the idea that when you study ALS, you may be looking at the root of many neurodegenerative disorders.” To read more about the study, click here.
Positive Memories of Exercise Spur Future Workouts
Friday, April 25, 2014 9:00
When it comes to exercise, it may truly be a case of mind over matter. A recent study from the University of New Hampshire reveals that just remembering a positive memory about exercise may be just what it takes to get on the treadmill. Published in the journal, Memory, it is the first study to explore how positive memories can influence future workouts. The researchers examined the effects of remembering past exercise experience on college students’ subsequent exercise intentions and behaviors. They found that students who remembered a positive exercise memory reported significantly higher levels of subsequent exercise than those who were not asked to recall a memory about exercise. To read more about the study, click here.
Memory Accuracy and Strength Can Be Manipulated During Sleep
Thursday, April 24, 2014 13:00
The sense of smell is one of the first things to fail in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center believe that, if more can be learned from better understanding of how the brain processes odors, it could lead to novel therapies that target specific neurons in the brain, perhaps enhancing memory consolidation and memory accuracy. According to an animal study reported online in the Journal of Neuroscience, odor memory in rats was strengthened when odors sensed the previous day were replayed during slow-wave sleep. Moreover, memories deepened more when odor reinforcement occurred during sleep than when the rats were awake. However, it was also possible to create false memories and impair memory accuracy during sleep. “Our findings confirm the importance of brain activity during sleep for both memory strength and accuracy,” says Donald A. Wilson, PhD, the study’s senior author. To read more about the study, click here.
Study: AVM Outcomes Better with Conservative Treatment
Thursday, April 24, 2014 9:00
According to a non-randomized, observational study conducted at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, patients with unruptured arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in the brain seemed to fare better over the long term when a conservative strategy was followed and interventions were avoided. The research, reported in a recent issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated that the risk of non-fatal symptomatic stroke or death due to an AVM, associated arterial aneurysm or intervention was lower in the study’s conservative group through the end of the 12-year follow-up period. To read the full article, click here.
New Treatment for Atrial Fibrillation Reduces Stroke Risk
Wednesday, April 23, 2014 13:00
Those at risk for stroke due to atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) may have another treatment option. Doctors at the Stony Brook Heart Institute Electrophysiology Lab are using a new nonsurgical technique called the LARIAT Suture Delivery Device to treat patients with A-Fib who cannot tolerate blood thinning medication, such as Coumadin. For individuals who cannot tolerate blood thinners due to prior bleeding or those who are at a high risk for bleeding, the LARIAT procedure can safely reduce the risk of stroke without any further bleeding risk. The LARIAT procedure is a nonsurgical, minimally-invasive technique that uses sutures to tie off the left atrial appendage of the heart, the area of the heart that is the primary source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. To learn more about the procedure, click here.
Brain Tumor Treated Using Sound Waves
Wednesday, April 23, 2014 9:00
Researchers in Zurich, Switzerland have successfully used focused ultrasound for the first time to ablate part of a recurrent glioma tumor through a patient’s intact skull. Performed to assess the feasibility and safety of focused ultrasound in treating brain tumors, the treatment was conducted at the Focused Ultrasound Center of University Children’s Hospital Zurich by a neurosurgical team. Javier Fandino, MD, professor of neurosurgery at Kantonsspital Aarau, reports: “The patient was awake and responsive during the treatment, and we were able to successfully target and destroy a part of the tumor located deep within the patient’s brain. We are very encouraged that we could utilize focused ultrasound to accomplish this with no side effects or complications.” To read more about this study, click here.