The human body’s peripheral nervous system could be capable of interpreting its environment and modulating pain, neuroscientists have established, after successfully studying how rodents reacted to stimulation. Until now, accepted scientific theory has held that only the central nervous system – the brain and spinal cord – could actually interpret and analyse sensations like pain or heat....
Category: <span>Mental health</span>
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FDA approves drug to treat Parkinson’s disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Xadago (safinamide) tablets as an add-on treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease who are currently taking levodopa/carbidopa and experiencing “off” episodes. An “off” episode is a time when a patient’s medications are not working well, causing an increase in Parkinson’s symptoms, such as tremor and difficulty walking....
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New multiple sclerosis drug, backed by 40 years of research, could halt disease
An MRI scan of a person with multiple sclerosis shows bright spots, which are MS plaques. A newly approved drug that is the first to reflect the current scientific understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) – is holding new hope for the hundreds of thousands Americans living with the disease. It also highlights the importance...
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MicroRNA treatment restores nerve insulation, limb function in mice with multiple sclerosis
The restored presence of proteins indicating myelin reformation (shown in red) in the lumbar spinal cord of a mouse treated with miR-219 mimic after injury to its central nervous system. Researchers report March 27 in Developmental Cell …more Scientists partially re-insulated ravaged nerves in mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and restored limb mobility by...
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Improving memory with magnets
Researchers gave 17 individuals auditory memory tasks that required them to recognize a pattern of tones when it was reversed, while being recorded on MEG and EEG. Credit: Philippe Albouy The ability to remember sounds, and manipulate them in our minds, is incredibly important to our daily lives—without it we would not be able to...
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Cracking the brain’s genetic code to prevent neurological and psychiatric diseases
The network will provide data from 800 scientists and the brain diseases they study, which are represented on this map in different colors. An international network of neurologists, geneticists and researchers led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC is cracking the human genetic code so that one day people could check their...
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Could nasal insulin be an effective therapy for Alzheimer’s?
Can insulin, the hormone used for nearly a century to treat diabetes, improve cognition, memory and daily function in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease? Rush University Medical Center is testing this innovative potential treatment as part of a new nationwide study. Neurologists at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center...
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Scientific discovery may change treatment of Parkinson’s disease
When monitoring Parkinson’s disease, SPECT imaging of the brain is used for acquiring information on the dopamine activity. A new study conducted in Turku, Finland, shows that the dopamine activity observed in SPECT imaging does not reflect the number of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra, as previously assumed. One of the most significant changes...
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FDA approves drug to treat Parkinson’s disease
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Xadago (safinamide) tablets as an add-on treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease who are currently taking levodopa/carbidopa and experiencing “off” episodes. An “off” episode is a time when a patient’s medications are not working well, causing an increase in Parkinson’s symptoms, such as tremor and difficulty walking....
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Researchers make major brain repair discovery in fight against Multiple Sclerosis
Queen’s University Belfast scientists have discovered that specific cells from the immune system are key players in brain repair – a fundamental breakthrough that could revolutionise the treatment of debilitating neurological disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The research study, led by Dr Yvonne Dombrowski and Dr Denise Fitzgerald at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental...