Newsline — Monday, December 15, 2014 10:09
Scientists Develop Cooling Technique to Safely Map the Human Brain
Brain Receptor Cell Could be New Target for Alzheimer’s Disease
Friday, December 12, 2014 13:00
Temple University researchers have published a study in the journal Neurobiology of Aging which proposes that blocking a brain cell receptor utilized by oxygen free radicals could effectively neutralize most biological symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The study discovered that free radicals produced from oxidative stress bind to a protein receptor known as the thromboxane receptor, and then transmit signals to neuronal cells increasing the production of amyloid beta or phosphorylated tau. These two compounds are the primary Alzheimer’s pathologies. “Basically, it sends the wrong message inside the neuronal cells, and with time, this definitely will result in all the clinical manifestations of the disease, such as cognitive impairment, loss of memory and brain cell death,” explained the study’s lead researcher. By introducing a compound known for blocking the thromboxane receptor in test mice, researchers found that no symptoms of the disease manifested. This discovery will enable new research, targeting new Alzheimer’s disease treatments; including alternative compounds which may prove to be more effective. To learn more about this study, click here.
Formal Protocol Developed for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Friday, December 12, 2014 9:00
Neurosurgeons and neurointerventionalists at Kyungpook National University in the Republic of Korea have developed a formal protocol for delivering emergency treatment for patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) from ruptured aneurysms within the first few hours after bleeding occurs. The emergency treatment plan is shown to reduce the incidence of repeated hemorrhage during the hospital stay and improve clinical outcomes in patients with aneurysmal SAH. The treatment plan, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, was tested by comparing the clinical courses of 442 patients treated in this manner between 2008 and 2011, with the clinical courses of 423 patients treated between 2001 and 2004 under a different protocol. Results of the study found that the incidence of in-hospital re-bleeding was significantly lower among patients treated between 2008 and 2011. Additionally, the proportion of favorable outcomes one month after hospital admission was significantly higher among patients treated under the new protocol. To read more about this study, click here.
Researchers Find New Approach for Treating ALS
Thursday, December 11, 2014 13:00
Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University have published a study in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology which reports that amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) causes overactive toxin removal and reduces the effectiveness of treatment. The study began by analyzing transporter proteins, which function by pumping toxins and waste materials out of the body. In mice with ALS, these proteins were found to increase in intensity as the disease progressed, possibly to compensate for the breakdown of other functions. This led to the discovery that hyperactive cleansing was also removing drugs administered to treat ALS, causing the treatment to lose efficacy as the disease worsened. The author of the study explained, “This mechanism that normally protects the brain and the spinal cord from damage via environmental toxins, also treats the therapeutic drug as a threat and pumps that out as well.” To counteract this, researchers administered the proven ALS drug riluzole with elacridar, which was selected to block transport proteins located in the brain. Unlike traditional studies where drugs were administered before symptoms manifested, researchers instead applied…
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Chemotherapeutic Agent Reduces Resistance to Virus Therapy in Brain Tumor Patients
Thursday, December 11, 2014 9:00
In a recent study published in the journal Cancer Research, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers, in conjunction with researchers from the University of Calgary, have found that the common chemotherapeutic agent, cyclophosphamide, can help improve the success of oncolytic virus therapy in patients with malignant gliomas. Oncolytic virus therapy is an innovative therapeutic approach that uses viruses to target and kill cancer cells. These viruses can be modified to allow them to target specific cancer cells or to deliver therapy-modifying genes. Preclinical studies of oncolytic virus therapy in malignant gliomas are promising; however, a potential problem with this approach is that the body’s own immune system can recognize the virus and clear the infection, resulting in reduced therapeutic effects. During this study, researchers used a mouse model with an intact immune system to mimic what would occur in humans to determine how the immune system clears the oncolytic virus. Researchers believed that blocking the resident and infiltrating immune cells in the brain may allow the oncolytic virus to kill the malignant glioma cells. To test this…
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Research Finds Some Neurons Can Multitask
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 13:00
Researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a type of neuron found in rat brains which cannot be classified with a specialized function, redefining current beliefs by proposing that neurons can serve multiple functions. The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, details how researchers trained rats to respond to lights and sound, then analyzed cells in the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), which is linked to decision-making and planning. Rather than easily classified neurons which responded to single stimuli, researchers found that these neurons were remarkably unique and each cell defied typical categorization as they responded to multiple stimuli. The authors of the study speculated that these neurons are able to multi-task as a group — a behavior which has never before been observed in nature. “This changes the way our team thinks about how neurons are used and work together. It is no longer single neurons making sense of a behavior, but the whole group, integrating multiple signals,” said the lead researcher. These findings advance current understanding of how the brain handles multiple…
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Using Video Games to Improve Depth Perception
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 9:00
In an Ohio State University study presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, scientists created video games that add an important element of fun to the repetitive training needed to improve vision in people — including adults — with a lazy eye or poor depth perception. The training tools, including a Pac-Man-style “cat and mouse” game and a “search for oddball” game, produced results in pilot testing. In two adult research participants, whose vision was 20/25 and 20/63 at the start of the study, weak-eye vision later improved to 20/20 and 20/50 respectively. Unlike the common use of eye patches on dominant eyes to help make lazy eyes stronger, this type of testing uses a “push-pull” method by making both eyes work during the training. Using a patch is considered push-only training because the dominant eye remains completely unused. With the push-pull method, both eyes are stimulated, with the weaker eye exposed to more complex images that create a stronger stimulus. This technique targets important pathways in the brain that must be…
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Novel Cancer Vaccine Approach for Brain Tumors
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 13:55
Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University have released a study describing a cutting-edge vaccine being used to treat advanced-stage brain tumors following surgery, which has been shown to target surviving tumor cells. The study, published in the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy, details secondary testing of a technique in which a portion of a removed brain tumor is treated with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (AS-ODN) and then packed into a diffusion chamber before being implanted into the subject’s abdomen, in order to provide easy access to immune system cells. Researchers discovered that both the collapsing tumor cells and the presence of AS-ODN stimulated the immune system and promoted the development of antibodies, which targeted the remaining tumor cells in the brain. “The immune system has great potential for helping fight cancer. This study helps give us a roadmap for future brain cancer vaccines,” said the senior author. Out of 12 subjects, six showed visible immune response from the procedure. Researchers have speculated that compromised immune systems from chemotherapy may have decreased the effectiveness of the procedure. In order to potentially…
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Imagination, Reality Flow in Opposite Directions in the Brain
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 9:00
Aiming to discern discrete neural circuits, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have tracked electrical activity in the brains of people who alternately imagined scenes or watched videos. In a study recently published in the journal NeuroImage, researchers’ developed new tools in order to help untangle what happens in the brain during sleep and dreaming, as well as to understand how the brain uses networks to encode short-term memory. During the study, researchers found that an increase in the flow of information from the parietal lobe of the brain to the occipital lobe happens during imagination. In contrast, visual information taken in by the eyes, tends to flow form the occipital lobe — which makes up much of the brain’s visual cortex — to the parietal lobe. “There seems to be a lot in our brains and animal brains that is directional, that neural signals move in a particular direction, then stop, and start somewhere else,” said one of the study’s researchers. “I think this is really a new theme that has not been explored.” To read…
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Research Shows Why Antidepressant May Be Effective in Postpartum Depression
Monday, December 8, 2014 15:20
In an Ohio State University study presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, scientists found that an antidepressant commonly prescribed for women with postpartum depression may restore connections between cells in brain regions that are negatively affected by chronic stress during pregnancy. During the study, scientists found that the rats that had been chronically stressed during pregnancy showed depressive-like behaviors after giving birth, and structures in certain areas of their brain were less complex than in unstressed rats. After receiving the drug for three weeks, the rats had no depressive symptoms and neurons in their brains showed normal structural complexity. “We saw that Citalopram was effective in improving mood in stressed mothers and completely reversed the stress effects in areas of the brain that our lab has shown are altered by stress during pregnancy,” said the lead author of the study. Although clinical signs of postpartum depression are clear, researchers are still figuring out what happens in the brain when mothers suffer from this problem. To read more about this study,…
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