Brain

ITHACA, NY. A new study published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine illustrates the dangers of using kitchen spoons to measure liquid medicine.

Former cold and flu sufferers were asked to pour one teaspoon of nighttime flu medicine into kitchen spoons of differing sizes. Depending upon the size of the spoon, the 195 former patients poured an average of eight percent too little or 12 percent too much medicine.

A drug already used to treat symptoms of epilepsy has potential to slow the muscle weakening that comes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists report after completing a Phase II clinical trial—an early, small-scale test to show if the drug works and continues to be safe.

Inheritance of an extra copy of the gene- β -amyloid precursor protein, APP, in individuals with Down syndrome leads to the inevitable development of early onset Alzheimer's disease, known to be linked to the deposition of Amyloid β peptide or Aβ in the brain. However, a new study published online by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identifies βCTF, a small protein found in APP, as a novel factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease related endosome abnormalities, which have also been tied previously to the loss of brain cells in Alzheimer's disease.

Changes are needed in the programs that train orthopedic surgeons to ensure these doctors are adequately trained, according to a study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City. The study, which analyzed feedback from heads of orthopedic programs around the country, appears in the January issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL January 4, 2010 - A researcher from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has defined a new, integrated interpretation of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), which makes it easier to understand both the commonalities and differences between ASD and other conditions.

In an article published in the December 2009 issue of The Neuroscientist titled: "The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Integration in Autism," Dr. Dorit Ben Shalom recommends a uniform approach to evaluating and confronting the four common problems associated with ASD.

If you're pregnant and looking for an excuse to eat bacon and eggs, now you've got one: a new research study published in the January 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) by a team of University of North Carolina researchers shows that choline plays a critical role in helping fetal brains develop regions associated with memory. Choline is found in meats, including pork, as well as chicken eggs.

DALLAS – Jan. 4, 2010 – An experimental drug currently being tested against breast and lung cancer shows promise in fighting the brain cancer glioblastoma and prostate cancer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in two preclinical studies.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology finds that transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), a widely used pain therapy involving a portable device, is not recommended to treat chronic low-back painpain that has persisted for three months or longerbecause research shows it is not effective. The guideline is published in the December 30, 2009, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

This release is available in http://chinese..org/zh/emb_releases/2009-12/jaaj-gbd122409.php">Chinese.

Older adults who used the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba for several years did not have a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to adults who received placebo, according to a study in the December 23/30 issue of JAMA.

By combining a research technique that dates back 136 years with modern molecular genetics, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist has been able to see how a mammal's brain shrewdly revisits and reuses the same molecular cues to control the complex design of its circuits.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scientists have created what appears to be a schizophrenic mouse by reducing the inhibition of brain cells involved in complex reasoning and decisions about appropriate social behavior.

Findings by Medical College of Georgia scientists, published Dec. 28 in PNAS, elucidate the critical balance between excitation and inhibition of these cells that appears to go awry in schizophrenia. They also provide the first animal model for studying the disabling psychiatric disorder that affects about 1 percent of the population.

FINDINGS: Several structurally similar small molecules appear capable of protecting cells from alpha-synuclein toxicity, a hallmark of Parkinson's disease.

RELEVANCE: Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremors, muscle rigidity, and slowed movements. There is currently no cure for the disease, and current Parkinson's therapies only address disease symptoms, not the disease's cellular cause.

Small molecules found to protect cells in multiple models of Parkinson's disease

The early stages of Alzheimer's disease are thought to occur at the synapse, since synapse loss is associated with memory dysfunction. Evidence suggests that amyloid beta (Aβ) plays an important role in early synaptic failure, but little has been understood about Aβ's effect on the plasticity of dendritic spines.

Tampa, Fla. (December 28, 2009) – Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a study in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (18:9)that explores ways to successfully keep stem cells "forever young" during implantation by slowing their growth, differentiation and proliferation.

LA JOLLA, CA—Like a spotlight that illuminates an otherwise dark scene, attention brings to mind specific details of our environment while shutting others out. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies shows that the superior colliculus, a brain structure that primarily had been known for its role in the control of eye and head movements, is crucial for moving the mind's spotlight.