2020

  • Western students help stroke patients feeling the absence of in-person care

    December 16, 2020
    Among COVID-19’s collateral damage is the loss of in-person rehabilitation for recovering stroke patients. Two third-year science students at Western have taken action to mitigate that damage. Ganathyashan Chelliahpillai and Varunaavee Sivashanmugathas took the initiative to launch a stroke rehabilitation kit dubbed StrokeSMaRT (Stroke Self-Management and Rehabilitation Tools) after listening to a webinar about the issue.

  • U of M researchers study possible MS treatment

    December 14, 2020
    Researchers at the University of Manitoba have uncovered a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) that could also help predict if someone might develop the disease. The new study, led by Hardeep Kataria (PhD) and published this week in the peer-reviewed neurology journal Brain, focuses on cell protein Neuregulin-1 beta 1. Researchers found a link between a decline in Neuregulin-1 beta 1 levels and the onset — and progression — of MS.

  • Common diabetes drugs may help prevent Parkinson’s

    October 27, 2020
    The research team, funded by The Cure Parkinson’s Trust, examined patient records from 100,288 people with type 2 diabetes, from The Health Improvement Network database. The findings confirmed that people with type 2 diabetes face an elevated risk of Parkinson’s, when compared to another cohort of people without diabetes, but commonly prescribed drugs, GLP-1 agonists and DPP4 inhibitors, appeared to reverse that relationship.

  • Re-engineered enzyme could help reverse damage from stroke, spinal cord injury: U of T study

    August 24, 2020
    A team of researchers from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and the University of Michigan has redesigned and enhanced a natural enzyme that shows promise in promoting the regrowth of nerve tissue following injury. The new version of the enzyme is more stable and could lead to treatments for reversing nerve damage caused by traumatic injury or stroke.

  • Switching off ‘master regulator’ may shield the brain from Parkinson’s-related damage

    August 17, 2020
    Switching off a molecular “master regulator” may protect the brain from inflammatory damage and neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease, reports a study published today in Nature Neuroscience.

  • Discovery shows promise for treating Huntington's Disease

    August 05, 2020
    Now, scientists at the lab of Professor Hilal Lashuel at EPFL have identified a new enzyme that does both. The enzyme, called "TBK1", plays a central role in regulating the degradation and clearance of the huntingtin protein and introduces chemical modifications that block its aggregation. “We believe that this represents a viable target for the development of possible treatment of Huntington's disease,” says Lashuel.

  • Blood test could diagnose baby brain damage just hours after birth

    August 04, 2020
    The prototype test looks for certain genes being switched on and off that are linked to long-term neurological issues. Further investigations of these genes may provide new targets for treating the brain damage before it becomes permanent.

  • New study on development of parkinson’s disease is ‘on the nose’

    August 03, 2020
    Results of the study, published in the journal Brain Pathology , showed that application of an irritating component of a bacterium’s cell wall induces inflammation in the areas exactly where the olfactory neurons project, called the olfactory bulb. Moreover, these areas show the hallmark signs of PD, depositions of alpha-synuclein, the core components of Lewy bodies. PD is characterized by progressive motor and non-motor symptoms linked to alpha-synuclein pathology and the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal system. Toxic aggregates of alpha-synuclein can arise from either overexpression of the protein, changes in protein modifications, and from hereditary mutations.

  • Experimental drug shows early promise against inherited form of ALS, trial indicates

    July 08, 2020
    An experimental drug for a rare, inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has shown promise in a phase 1/phase 2 clinical trial conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and other sites around the world and sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Biogen Inc. The trial indicated that the experimental drug, known as tofersen, shows evidence of safety that warrants further investigation and lowers levels of a disease-causing protein in people with a type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, caused by mutations in the gene SOD1.

  • Halifax neurosurgeons perform first robot-assisted brain biopsy in Canada

    July 06, 2020
    Halifax neurosurgeons are the first in Canada to use cutting-edge robotic technology to perform a brain biopsy. The robot can be programmed to pinpoint the precise location where tissue samples can be extracted from a tumour, said Dr. David Clarke, head of neurosurgery at Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

  • New vitamin K-based drug shows promise against medication-resistant epilepsy

    July 03, 2020
    In the cover article of the June 11 issue of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, a team of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, led by Sherine Chan, Ph.D., and James Chou, Ph.D., reports that a new vitamin K-based drug has proved effective in mouse models of medication-resistant seizures.

  • Novel pathology could improve diagnosis and treatment of Huntington’s and other diseases

    June 30, 2020
    The article, published in Brain Pathology, describes how SAFB1 expression occurs in both spinocerebellar ataxias and Huntington's disease and may be a common marker of these conditions, which have a similar genetic background.

  • Plasticity May Make Neurons Vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Disease

    June 29, 2020
    Neurons that regularly remodel are more prone to Alzheimer’s disease and die when that remodeling goes awry, a new study suggests. The work is the first to track the progression of Alzheimer’s at the genetic and molecular levels within neurons vulnerable to the disease.

  • Could Gold Nanoparticles Save Neurons From Cell Death?

    June 26, 2020
    Gold nanoparticles have been developed in the laboratory in order to reduce the cell death of neurons exposed to overexcitement. The study is the result of an international collaboration coordinated by Roberto Fiammengo, researcher at the Center of Biomolecular Nanotechnologies of the IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) in Lecce (Italy). The international team also involves colleagues at the University of Genoa, Imperial College London, King's College London, the Center for Synaptic Neuroscience and Technology of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Genoa and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg.

  • One-Time Treatment Generates New Neurons, Eliminates Parkinson’s Disease in Mice

    June 24, 2020
    More recently, Fu and Hao Qian, PhD, another postdoctoral researcher in his lab, took the finding a big step forward, applying it in what could one day be a new therapeutic approach for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Just a single treatment to inhibit PTB in mice converted native astrocytes, star-shaped support cells of the brain, into neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. As a result, the mice’s Parkinson’s disease symptoms disappeared.

  • Study ties stroke-related brain blood vessel abnormality to gut bacteria

    June 03, 2020
    In a nationwide study, NIH funded researchers found that the presence of abnormal bundles of brittle blood vessels in the brain or spinal cord, called cavernous angiomas (CA), are linked to the composition of a person’s gut bacteria. Also known as cerebral cavernous malformations, these lesions which contain slow moving or stagnant blood, can often cause hemorrhagic strokes, seizures, or headaches. Current treatment involves surgical removal of lesions when it is safe to do so. Previous studies in mice and a small number of patients suggested a link between CA and gut bacteria. This study is the first to examine the role the gut microbiome may play in a larger population of CA patients.

  • Huntington's Brain Changes Identified Over Two Decades Before Symptom Onset

    May 28, 2020
    A potential blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases seems even more promising thanks to new research from a Massachusetts General Hospital-led study. According to this team’s work, neurofilament light chain (NfL) has great potential as a biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and could be also useful for monitoring treatment response for that condition.

  • Researchers Find New Evidence for a Blood-Based Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease

    May 27, 2020
    A potential blood-based biomarker for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases seems even more promising thanks to new research from a Massachusetts General Hospital-led study. According to this team’s work, neurofilament light chain (NfL) has great potential as a biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and could be also useful for monitoring treatment response for that condition.

  • Blood Test Could Predict Progression of Multiple Sclerosis Disability Symptoms

    May 21, 2020
    A blood test may help predict which people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will get worse during the following year, according to a study published in the May 20, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology

  • Game-changing blood test accurately detects Alzheimer’s disease

    May 09, 2020
    A simple blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been discovered and validated in a joint effort by a McGill University team and researchers in Sweden. Their results are published in the May issue of The Lancet Neurology. An accompanying commentary calls the discovery “transformative.”

  • 3D brain-like tissue model links Alzheimer’s disease with herpes

    May 06, 2020
    Engineers and scientists led by Tufts University used a three-dimensional (3D) human tissue culture model mimicking the components and conditions in the brain to demonstrate a possible causal relationship between sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and herpes simplex virus I infection (HSV-1). Reported today in Science Advances, the model will allow for further studies into the causes and possible treatments of this devastating neurodegenerative condition.

  • Resilience to ALS Due to Synaptic Safety Mechanism

    May 06, 2020
    In a new study published May 6, 2020, in Neuron, UC San Francisco neuroscientist Graeme Davis, PhD, and his team have identified a powerful self-corrective mechanism within synapses that is activated by neurodegeneration and acts to slow down disease progression in animal models of ALS. Selectively eliminating this self-corrective mechanism dramatically accelerated progression of ALS in mice, shortening their lifespan by 50 percent.

  • Genetic doppelgängers: Emory research provides insight into two neurological puzzles

    May 05, 2020
    An international team led by Emory scientists has gained insight into the pathological mechanisms behind two devastating neurodegenerative diseases. The scientists compared the most common inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) with a rarer disease called spinocerebellar ataxia type 36 (SCA 36).

  • AI Algorithm Can Accurately Predict Risk, Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease

    May 04, 2020
    Researchers have developed a computer algorithm based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can accurately predict the risk for and diagnose Alzheimer’s disease using a combination of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), testing to measure cognitive impairment, along with data on age and gender.

  • Nanodevices Aim To Halt Alzheimer's Plaque Formation

    May 01, 2020
    In a multidisciplinary study, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), have developed an approach to prevent plaque formation by engineering a nano-sized device that captures the dangerous peptides before they can self-assemble.

  • Light-Based Deep Brain Stimulation Relieves Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

    April 27, 2020
    Biomedical engineers at Duke University have used deep brain stimulation based on light to treat motor dysfunction in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease. Succeeding where earlier attempts have failed, the method promises to provide new insights into why deep brain stimulation works and ways in which it can be improved on a patient-by-patient basis.

  • Parkinson’s disease may start in the gut

    April 27, 2020
    Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of North Carolina have mapped out the cell types behind various brain disorders. The findings are published in Nature Genetics and offer a roadmap for the development of new therapies to target neurological and psychiatric disorders. One interesting finding was that cells from the gut's nervous system are involved in Parkinson's disease, indicating that the disease may start there.

  • HudsonAlpha scientists collaborate to uncover a gene that doubles the risk of developing several neurodegenerative diseases

    April 27, 2020
    Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), have identified a new risk factor for multiple neurodegenerative diseases.

  • Dynamic source imaging the brain

    April 23, 2020
    New functional imaging technology dynamically maps a signal’s source and underlying networks within the brain.

  • New therapeutic options for multiple sclerosis in sight

    April 20, 2020
    Strategies for treating multiple sclerosis have so far focused primarily on T and B cells. A group of MDC researchers has now unveiled a new approach in Nature Immunology – one that seeks to increase treatment effectiveness by selectively targeting another type of immune cell called monocytes.

  • Researchers delay onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in laboratory models

    April 20, 2020
    A team of researchers led by scientists at the University of Toronto has delayed the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in mice. They are cautiously optimistic that the result, combined with other clinical advances, points to a potential treatment for ALS in humans.

  • LJI scientists link immune cells to parkinson’s disease onset

    April 17, 2020
    A new study co-led by scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) adds increasing evidence that Parkinson’s disease is partly an autoimmune disease. In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson’s disease patients years before their official diagnosis.

  • Novel Risk Gene for Parkinson's Identified

    April 15, 2020
    Screening DNA of Parkinson’s patients in the Christine Van Broeckhoven laboratory (VIB-UAntwerpen Center for Molecular Neurology) identified a new risk gene for Parkinson’s disease. Mutations in ATP10B resulted in loss of ATP10B protein. The function of the ATP10B gene was revealed by the Peter Vangheluwe lab (KU Leuven, Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems). They identified ATP10B as a transporter for glucosylceramide, a lipid that plays a central role in Parkinson’s disease. Disease mutations disturb this function. Also, a reduced expression of ATP10B leads to neuronal loss and sensitizes neurons to environmental risk factors of Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, ATP10B is emerging as an interesting therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease.

  • Proteins Involved in Glucose Metabolism Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

    April 14, 2020
    In the largest study to date of proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease, a team of researchers has identified disease-specific proteins and biological processes that could be developed into both new treatment targets and fluid biomarkers. The findings suggest that sets of proteins that regulate glucose metabolism, together with proteins related to a protective role of astrocytes and microglia — the brain’s support cells — are strongly associated with Alzheimer’s pathology and cognitive impairment.

  • Symptoms in ALS Mouse Model Improve with CRISPR Base Editing

    April 10, 2020
    ABOVE: Astrocytes (blue) have infiltrated the interior of the spinal cord, affecting neurons (yellow) in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the study, the researchers developed an approach to deliver a CRISPR base editing system (green) to astrocytes in order to disable the expression of a mutant gene and reduce symptoms. COLIN LIM, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Base editors, which convert one nucleotide to another without a double-strand DNA break, have the potential to treat diseases caused by mutant genes. One drawback, though, is that the DNA that encodes CRISPR base editors is long—too long to fit in the adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) most commonly used for gene therapy. In a study published in Molecular Therapy on January 13, researchers split the DNA encoding a base editor into two AAV vectors and injected them into a mouse model of inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

  • Researchers successfully repair stroke-damaged rat brains

    April 08, 2020
    Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in restoring mobility and sensation of touch in stroke-afflicted rats by reprogramming human skin cells to become nerve cells, which were then transplanted into the rats’ brains. The study has now been published in the research journal PNAS.

  • Does long-term exposure to air pollution lead to a steeper rate of cognitive decline?

    April 08, 2020
    People who live in urban areas with higher levels of air pollution may score lower on thinking and memory tests and may also lose cognitive skills faster over time, or it is possible they also may not, according to a study published in the April 8, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers examined the association of air pollution levels and cognitive impairment and decline in participants in two large epidemiological studies. They found an association between the air pollution and cognitive decline in one study group but not in the other.

  • Potential therapy for rare neurologic disease discovered

    April 06, 2020
    The study, being published online April 6 in the journal EBioMedicine, revealed that the effects of a therapy delivery system using microscopic components of a cell (nanovesicles) called SapC-DOPS may be able to provide targeted treatment without harming healthy cells. This method could even prove to be successful in treating other neurologic conditions, like Parkinson’s disease.

  • Tracking the Spread of Tau Through the Brain

    April 02, 2020
    In the fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the tau protein is a major culprit. Found abundantly in our brain cells, tau is normally a team player – it maintains structure and stability within neurons, and it helps with transport of nutrients from one part of the cell to another.

  • Discovery of New Biomarker in Blood Could Lead to Early Test for Alzheimer’s Disease

    March 31, 2020
    Researchers at the University of California San Diego discovered that high blood levels of RNA produced by the PHGDH gene could serve as a biomarker for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The work could lead to the development of a blood test to identify individuals who will develop the disease years before they show symptoms.

  • Artificial Intelligence Can Speed up the Detection of Stroke

    March 30, 2020
    Human emotion system laboratory team at the University of Turku and Turku PET Centre introduces a fully automated method for acute ischemic lesion segmentation on brain MRIs and shows how artificial intelligence can reduce the work load of radiologists.

  • Antibodies in the brain trigger epilepsy

    March 24, 2020
    Certain forms of epilepsy are accompanied by inflammation of important brain regions. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now identified a mechanism that explains this link. Their results may also pave the way to new therapeutic options in the medium term. They have now been published in the renowned scientific journal "Annals of Neurology".

  • Study sheds light on fatty acid’s role in “chemobrain” and multiple sclerosis

    March 23, 2020
    Medical experts have always known myelin, the protective coating of nerve cells, to be metabolically inert. A study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has found that myelin is surprisingly dynamic, a discovery that has implications for treatment of multiple sclerosis and a type of myelin damage caused by some chemotherapy drugs, often referred to as “chemobrain.” Chemobrain can occur in up to 70 percent of patients receiving chemotherapy, leaving them with temporary and even permanent thinking and memory impairment.

  • Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, seventh edition: acetylsalicylic acid for prevention of vascular events

    March 23, 2020
    In 2016, 270 204 people in Canada (excluding Quebec) were admitted to hospital for heart conditions, stroke and vascular cognitive impairment, including 107 391 women and 162 813 men, of whom 91 524 died.1 This equates to 1 out of every 3 deaths in Canada and outpaces other diseases; 13% more people die of heart conditions, stroke or vascular cognitive impairment than die from all cancers combined.1

  • Stroke: When the system fails for the second time

    March 20, 2020
    After a stroke, there is an increased risk of suffering a second one. Until now, it was known that if areas in the left hemisphere were affected during the first attack, language is often particularly impaired. In order to maintain the language capabilities, the brain usually drives up neighboring areas and briefly also the counterparts on the right side. However, it was unclear whether this would still happen after a second attack, and whether the activation of the right hemisphere areas is supportive for the regeneration at all. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) now found an answer by using virtual lesions. Indeed, it seems that the right hemisphere plays a constructive role in maintenance of function following big lesions as well as repeated strokes. These findings can help to improve therapy for those affected.

  • “Hero” Proteins May Shield Other Proteins from Harm

    March 19, 2020
    Researchers at RIKEN and the University of Tokyo report the existence of a new class of proteins in Drosophila and human cell extracts that may serve as shields that protect other proteins from becoming damaged and causing disease. An excess of the proteins, known as Hero proteins, was associated with a 30 percent increase in the lifespan of Drosophila, according to the study, which was published last week (March 12) in PLOS Biology.

  • Turning the Body's "Natural Killers" Against Parkinson's Disease

    March 16, 2020
    Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center and their colleagues have found that “natural killer” white blood cells could guard against the cascade of cellular changes that lead to Parkinson’s disease and help stop its progression.

  • Nasally-delivered Muscle Relaxant Could Have Therapeutic Benefits for Brain Diseases

    March 13, 2020
    Delivering the medication dantrolene through the nose rather than the mouth may help the medication penetrate the brain more effectively, potentially maximizing its therapeutic benefits in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's disease. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania showed that administering dantrolene through the nose increased its brain concentration and duration in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease without causing obvious adverse side effects. The results were published today in PLOS ONE.

  • VR Allows Early Detection of MS Balance Problems

    March 12, 2020
    People with multiple sclerosis (MS) often have a greatly increased risk of falling and injuring themselves even when they feel they're able to walk normally. Now a team led by scientists from the UNC School of Medicine has demonstrated what could be a relatively easy method for the early detection of such problems.

  • The inactivated human receptor will help to create effective drugs

    March 11, 2020
    Scientists from China and Russia found a new way of searching for new drug candidates by inactivating the molecular structure of the human muscarinic receptor and applying screening to find drugs that it responds to. The results of their study were published in IUCrJ.

  • Scientists identify new target for Parkinson’s therapies

    March 10, 2020
    The finding, made by scientists from the University of Leeds’ Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, provides a new target for the development of therapies to try and slow down or even prevent the disease.

  • Gene Behavior a New Way To Diagnose Alzheimer's?

    February 28, 2020
    Scientists have detected that a previously overlooked gene behavior could potentially lead to a new way to diagnose Alzheimer's earlier. Published in the journal Epigenetics, an international research team's findings – discovered in mice and confirmed in human samples – suggest that the gene Presenilin1 (PSEN1) should be monitored as a 'biomarker': to see what environmental triggers, such as lifestyle and nutrition, can influence brain function and neurodegeneration or/and to see how well the body responds to a treatment for the disease.

  • Iron in brain shows cognitive decline in people with Parkinson’s

    February 21, 2020
    A cutting-edge MRI technique to detect iron deposits in different brain regions can track declines in thinking, memory and movement in people with Parkinson’s disease, finds a new UCL-led study.

  • New insights into the processes that cause Parkinson's disease

    February 20, 2020
    In a breakthrough for Parkinson’s disease, scientists at EPFL have reconstructed the process by which Lewy bodies form in the brain of patients. The study offers new insights into how Parkinson’s disease begins and evolves, and opens up a set of potential new treatment targets.

  • Research shows new drug helps to preserve brain cells for a time after stroke

    February 20, 2020
    The multi-centre, double-blinded, randomized trial, led by a team at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine (CSM), Hotchkiss Brain Institute, and Alberta Health Services investigates the use of the neuroprotective drug nerinetide, developed by NoNO Inc, in two scenarios in the same trial. In one scenario, nerinetide is given to patients in addition to the clot-busting drug alteplase. In the second scenario, patients who were not suitable for alteplase received only nerinetide. Both groups of patients had concurrent endovascular treatment (EVT) to remove the clot.

  • Multiple Sclerosis Drugs Might Not Need To Reach the Brain To Have Clinical Efficacy

    February 05, 2020
    Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have made an important discovery that could lead to more effective treatments for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Their work highlights the significant potential of drugs targeting a specific immune molecule (IL-17) implicated in MS.

  • Living near major roads linked to increased risk of dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS

    January 23, 2020
    Living near major roads or highways is linked to higher incidence of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests new research published this week in the journal Environmental Health. Researchers from the UBC faculty of medicine analyzed data for 678,000 adults in Metro Vancouver. They found that living less than 50 metres from a major road or less than 150 metres from a highway is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS—likely due to increased exposure to air pollution.

  • Gene Therapy Protects Eyesight in Models of Multiple Sclerosis

    January 22, 2020
    New research by Dorothy P. Schafer, PhD, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, reveals the molecular process in which synaptic connections in the brain are damaged in multiple sclerosis and how this contributes to neurodegenerative symptoms. The paper, published in Immunity, also shows how gene therapy may be used to preserve neural circuits and protect against vision loss in the disease

  • Protein "Bridge" Could Link Complex ALS Genetics

    January 20, 2020
    A study in fruit flies has identified a protein which authors say acts as a connection between multiple genes that cause the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when mutated. The research, conducted at the University of Malta, could point the way towards therapies that address the complex genetics of ALS. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

  • Could Essential Tremor Be Caused by Overactive Brain Waves?

    January 16, 2020
    Now a new study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian suggests the tremors are caused by overactive brain waves at the base of the brain, raising the possibility of treating the disorder with neuromodulation to calm the oscillations.

  • Functional Ultrasound Advance Could Improve Brain Tumor Removal

    January 15, 2020
    Researchers of CUBE (Center for Ultrasound Brain imaging @ Erasmus Medical Center) have managed to image live cerebral blood flow during awake brain surgery using functional Ultrasound (fUS). This cutting-edge technique could aid neurosurgeons in their effort to remove brain tumors without damaging surrounding functional brain tissue. Additionally, the researchers demonstrate that the technique can also pinpoint the healthy, functional areas in the brain during surgery. Their work was recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

  • Brain Connectivity Differences in Migraine Identified

    January 15, 2020
    A neuroimaging study has analyzed brain imaging data to try and identify a signature of migraine. The study authors noted that certain measurements of structural brain connectivity varied between migraine patients and healthy volunteers. The study was published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society.

  • What’s the gut got to do with Parkinson’s? Ask the expert

    January 14, 2020
    While Parkinson’s is fundamentally a condition that affects the brain, it has become increasingly clear that the gut plays a major role. Gut bacteria seem to be important in this process, and this opens up exciting new possibilities for research.

  • Molecular Switch Repairs the Central Nervous System in Models of MS

    January 13, 2020
    A molecular switch has the ability to turn on a substance in animals that repairs neurological damage in disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Mayo Clinic researchers discovered. The early research in animal models could advance an already approved Food and Drug Administration therapy and also could lead to new strategies for treating diseases of the central nervous system.

  • New Clinical Trial Compares Stem Cell Transplantation to Currently Available Drugs for MS

    January 07, 2020
    A clinical trial has begun testing an experimental stem cell treatment against the best available biologic therapies for severe forms of relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will compare the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the two therapeutic approaches.

  • Gene Therapy a Feasible Treatment Option for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

    January 06, 2020
    A new study shows the feasibility of using gene therapy to treat the progressive neurodegenerative disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The study, which demonstrated the effectiveness of direct delivery of gene therapy into the brain of a mouse model of CTE, is published in Human Gene Therapy.

  • Announcement: New Dean Chosen for Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry

    January 06, 2020
    On behalf of Western University's Board of Governors, President Alan Shepard, and the Schulich Medicine & Dentistry Decanal Selection Committee, I’m very pleased to announce that Dr. John Yoo has been appointed as the next Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, beginning May 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.

  • Extra benefit from epilepsy neurostimulators — reducing comorbid neuropsychiatric symptoms

    January 02, 2020
    Sandipan Pati, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham now report cases of five patients who found better treatments for those symptoms using data collected — while the patients were at home — from implanted neurostimulators placed in their brains to control their epileptic seizures. This is an extra benefit from the implanted Responsive Neurostimulator Systems, due to the system’s ability to record brain electrocorticography data initiated when a patient senses an anxiety or panic attack.

  • Neuroscience controversy resolved: The hippocampus is not just a GPS

    January 02, 2020
    New research from Western University published in Nature Neuroscience uses virtual reality video games to test this question. Using animal subjects and specially designed virtual reality navigation tasks, researchers showed that the neurons in this area of the brain do fire during navigation tasks, but mainly on the ones that require forming associative memory, not during a task that requires navigation alone.
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