Newsline — Tuesday, February 25, 2014 13:00
The Number of Neurons in a Brain Network May Not Matter
Can a Protein Controlling Blood Pressure Enhance Immune Responses and Prevent Alzheimer’s?
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 9:00
A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and conducted by Cedars-Sinai researchers found that genetically targeting certain immune blood cells to overproduce the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), broke down defective proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease and prevented cognitive decline in laboratory mice bred to model the disease. The study demonstrates for the first time that ACE, which is largely known for its effects outside the central nervous system, can induce a protective immune response in the brain and affect cognition. The study also shows how ACE, as a naturally occurring enzyme, can have either detrimental or beneficial effects, depending on how and where it is active. To read more about this study, click here.
New Method to Restore Skull After Brain Surgery May Reduce Complications
Monday, February 24, 2014 13:00
A recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins University reports the development of a safer method to replace bone removed after brain surgery. The new technique appears to result in fewer complications than the standard restoration, which has changed little since its inception in the late 19th century. Patients who had a piece of skull removed to treat a swelling brain caused by brain injury, infection, tumor or stroke typically undergo a second operation a few months later to restore the protective covering. Traditionally, surgeons have completely peeled the scalp off the brain to then tuck the skull bone or custom implant back into place — a practice which puts the patient at risk of bleeding, seizure, stroke and deep infection. With the new approach, surgeons pull back only the top three layers of the five-layer scalp and sandwich the bone or implant in between. Researchers say this innovation not only prevents brain injury, but also reduces the risk of infection by providing access to blood supply in the scalp from both the top and bottom….
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Imaging Technique Shows Brain Anatomy Change in Women with MS, Depression
Monday, February 24, 2014 9:00
A recent study conducted by a multicenter-research team led by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center used a new, automated imaging system to identify shrinkage of a mood-regulating brain structure in a large sample of women with multiple sclerosis (MS), who also have a certain type of depression. The research supports earlier studies suggesting that the hippocampus may contribute to the high frequency of depression seen in those who suffer from MS. The study showed that a computerized-imaging technique called automatic surface mesh modeling can readily detect thickness changes in sub-regions of the hippocampus. This previously required a labor-intensive manual analysis of MRI images. The study also found that women who have MS accompanied by certain symptoms of depression—such as fatigue and loss of interest —were found to have reduced size of the right hippocampus. Although, the left hippocampus remained unchanged in those women with other types of depression — such as vegetative depression — which can cause extreme fatigue. To read more about this study, click here.
Study Shows Autistic Brains Create More Information at Rest
Friday, February 21, 2014 13:00
New research published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroinformatics found that brain connections are different in autistic children, generating an average of 42-percent more information while at rest. The study offers a scientific explanation for a common characteristic of autism — withdrawal into one’s own inner world. The excess production of information may explain a child’s detachment from their environment, including interaction with other people. The authors of the study quantified information by recording activity between brain regions with magnetoencephalography (MEG), allowing them to determine the inputs to the brain in the resting state and interpret the child’s introspection level. The study provides quantitative support for the relatively new “Intense World Theory” of autism, which describes the disorder as the result of hyper-functioning neural circuitry, leading to a state of over arousal. To read more about this study, click here.
Study Finds Differences in Concussion Risk Between Football Helmets
Friday, February 21, 2014 9:00
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, football helmets can be designed to reduce the risk of concussion. The study analyzed six years of head-impact data from eight collegiate football teams between 2005 and 2010. A total of 1,833 players wore two different types of helmets equipped with sensors to measure the biomechanics of over one million head impacts. The sensors in the helmets measured head acceleration for each impact players experienced. According to the lead author of the study, this is the first study to control the number of times players hit their heads when comparing helmet types. The data showed a 54-percent reduction in concussion risk for players in one type of helmet compared to the other, although the authors of the study stress that no helmet will ever be able to eliminate the risk altogether. To read more about the results of this study, click here.
Study Reveals Sex-specific Patterns of Recovery from Newborn Brain Injury
Thursday, February 20, 2014 13:00
A recent study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center may reveal one possible reason why oxygen deprivation to the brain around the time of birth causes worse damage in boys than in girls. Temporary cutoff of oxygen to the brain before, during or immediately after birth can cause a range of neurologic, developmental and learning disorders. The results of the study conducted in mice show that there are inherent differences in the way newborns’ brains react to the sex hormone estradiol. Researchers say that neurons in male and female brains undergo different types of cell death following oxygen deprivation, which may be due to the presence of certain receptors that trigger sex-specific pathways of cell death. The findings highlight the need to explore questions about gender-based therapies that can stimulate brain-cell preservation and aid recovery. To read more about this study, click here.
Scientists Discover New Genetic Forms of Neurodegeneration
Thursday, February 20, 2014 9:00
Research conducted by an international team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine resulted in a significant increase of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder, hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP). HSP is characterized by progressive stiffness, contraction of the lower limbs, and is associated with epilepsy, cognitive impairment and blindness. The scientists analyzed about 100 patients using a technique called whole exome sequencing, which focuses on mapping key portions of the genome. They identified a genetic mutation in almost 75 percent of the cases, half of which were in genes never before linked with the disease. The researchers were also interested in understanding how HSP relates to other groups of disorders and found that HSP links to other more common neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To read more about this study, click here.
Neuroscientists Use Lightwaves to Improve Brain Tumor Surgery
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 13:00
Research conducted by the Innovation Institute at Henry Ford Hospital shows a promising method for identifying cancerous tissue during the surgical removal of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most common and deadliest types of brain tumors. GBM typically leaves neurosurgeons uncertain about successfully finding and removing the entire malignancy. This is because while some tumors have clearly defined edges that differentiate it from normal brain tissue, the edges of a GBM tumor are diffuse, blending into healthy tissue. The Henry Ford team set out to develop a highly efficient and inexpensive tool to distinguish normal brain tissue from both GBM and necrotic tissue in the operating room. The researchers chose the Raman spectroscopy (originally developed in 1930), which measures scattered light to provide a wavelength “signature” for the material being studied. It was only recently that the Raman spectroscopy was able to be condensed to fit on an intraoperative probe. Using 40 frozen sections of GBM tissue, the Henry Ford team used the Raman spectroscopy to identify normal brain matter, GBM and necrotic tissue with…
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Elevated Levels of Pesticide Linked to Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 9:00
In a recent study, researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center found a link between exposure to DDT (a U.S.-banned pesticide) and the increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Previous studies have made connections between chronic diseases and DDT, but this is the first clinical study to link the pesticide specifically to Alzheimer’s disease. DDT was used extensively as an insecticide in the 1940s, but has been banned in the U.S. since 1972 after scientists linked the compound to wildlife and environmental problems. Findings from the study show that elevated levels of the DDT metabolite, DDE, were 3.8 times higher in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in comparison to control subjects. The study found elevated levels of DDE in blood samples of 86 patients with Alzheimer’s disease in comparison to 79 control patients. Treatment of human nerve cells with DDE caused them to increase the production of the amyloid precursor protein that is directly linked to Alzheimer’s disease. To read more about this study, click here.