Newsline — Thursday, January 17, 2013 13:00
Famed Rock Star with ‘Curable’ Dementia Nearly Loses Career
Uganda Hospital Unveils New Neurosurgical Theater, Offers Patients Free Brain Surgery
Thursday, January 17, 2013 8:00
A new neurosurgical theater at Mulango National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, is offering free surgery to patients with brain ailments, according to the news source All Africa. The new theater is an addition to five other theaters the institution has been using. “My heart is very glad with the service delivery here, despite so many challenges in the health sector,” says Uganda Minister of Health Christine Ondoa, MD. Mulango National Referral Hospital has teamed up with physicians from Duke University in Durham, N.C., to treat select patients at no cost in said neurosurgical theaters. Of the 50-60 patients who visit the neurosurgery unit at the hospital on a daily basis, at least half require surgery. Micheal Muhumuza, MD, a consultant neurosurgeon, says that with one operation taking seven to eight hours, the team could only operate on an average of three patients per day. For more information, click here and here to read the original two articles.
New Research Method to Identify Brain Tumors Could Enhance Neurosurgery
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 13:00
The use of a new brain tumor-targeting contrast agent that differentiates between normal and cancer cells in conjunction with a high-powered microscopy system could potentially lead to a method of more precise neurosurgery for brain tumors, according to research paper published as a cover story in the December issue of Translational Oncology. Developed by researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Stony Brook University, the contrast agent adheres to a molecular marker of a form of brain cancer called medulloblastoma and can be seen by the optical microscope system, which the research team also developed. For more information, click here to read the full release.
New Study Discovers that Causality Is in the Eye of the Beholder’s Brain
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 8:00
We rely on our visual system more heavily than previously thought in determining the causality of events, according to researchers who recently showed that we don’t always need to use cognitive reasoning in making judgments about causality. In some cases, our visual brain — the brain areas that process what the eyes sense — can make these judgments rapidly and automatically. The results of this new study appear in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology. “Our study reveals that causality can be computed at an early level in the visual system,” says Martin Rolfs, who conducted much of the research as a post-doctoral fellow in NYU’s Department of Psychology. “This finding ends a long-standing debate over how some visual events are processed: We show that our eyes can quickly make assessments about cause-and-effect — without the help of our cognitive systems.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Stroke Survivors Who Experience Depression May Face Triple the Risk of Early Death
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 13:00
Patients who are depressed after a stroke may have triple the risk of dying early and four times the risk of death from stroke than people who have not experienced a stroke or depression — that’s according to a study to be presented March 16-23, 2013, at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego. “Up to one in three people who have a stroke develop depression,” reports study author Amytis Towfighi, MD, of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles, who is a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “This is something family members can help watch for that could potentially save their loved one.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study of Autism-Related Disorder Reveals Key Mechanism in Brain Development, Disease
Tuesday, January 15, 2013 10:15
A new finding in neuroscience points to a developmental mechanism linking the disease-causing mutation in an autism-related disorder, Timothy syndrome, to observed defects in brain wiring. These findings may be at the heart of the mechanisms underlying intellectual disability and many other brain disorders, it reports. The results of the study, led by scientist Ricardo Dolmetsch, appear online in Nature Neuroscience. The research reveals that a mutation of the disease-causing gene throws a key process of neurodevelopment into reverse. That is, the mutation underlying Timothy syndrome causes shrinkage, rather than growth, of the wiring needed for the development of neural circuits that underlie cognition. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Football Head Injuries that May Contribute to CTE Are On the Rise Due to Bigger, Faster Players
Monday, January 14, 2013 13:00
Boxers who had suffered multiple blows to the head used to be described as being “punch drunk.” Today, such a condition is a growing occupational hazard for the hard-hitting sport of football. Why? Because players are bigger, faster and more powerful than ever, according to reports. The degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been linked to repeated head trauma and, most recently, to former pro football player Junior Seau — the 20-season veteran NFL linebacker who committed suicide last year and was later diagnosed with CTE. Former NFL veterans Dave Duerson, Terry Long and Andre Waters all shot themselves to death before it was discovered that they, too, had the disease. And earlier this year, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself, which has led some to believe he may have had CTE, although that has yet to be confirmed. Two recent studies — one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — have found abnormalities associated with the condition in the brains of former pro football players like Seau. For more information, click…
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Saliva Gland Test May Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease
Monday, January 14, 2013 10:13
Testing a portion of a person’s saliva gland may be a way to diagnose Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study that will be presented March 16-23, 2013, at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego. “There is currently no diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease,” says study author Charles Adler, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic Arizona and a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “We have previously shown in autopsies of Parkinson’s patients that the abnormal proteins associated with Parkinson’s are consistently found in the submandibular salivary glands, under the lower jaw, and this is the first study demonstrating the value of testing a portion of the saliva gland to diagnose a living person for Parkinson’s disease. Making a diagnosis in living patients is a big step forward in our effort to understand and better treat patients.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Research Uncovers New Information on Developmental Disorder that Causes Autism, ADHD, Schizophrenia
Friday, January 11, 2013 13:00
Research out of the George Washington University (GW) reveals another piece of the puzzle in a genetic developmental disorder that causes behavioral diseases such as autism. The results of the study “Cxcr4 regulation of interneuron migration is disrupted in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome” appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, PhD, professor of pharmacology and physiology at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and director of the GW Institute for Neuroscience, along with post-doctoral fellow Daniel Meechan, PhD, performed the research over the course of nine years. During that time, they investigated how behavioral disorders such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia arise during early brain development. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Parkinson’s Disease Does Not Increase Risk of Gambling, Shopping Addiction
Friday, January 11, 2013 8:00
New research has found that Parkinson’s disease itself does not increase the risk of impulse control problems such as compulsive gambling and shopping that have been seen in people taking certain drugs for Parkinson’s disease. Study results appear in the Jan. 8, 2013, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “We’ve known for some time that these behaviors are more common in people taking certain Parkinson’s medications, but we haven’t known if the disease itself leads to an increased risk of these behaviors,” says study author Daniel Weintraub, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia. For more information, click here to read the full release.