All news from Neurology

Study: Genetic Diagnosis Of Huntington’s disease

Elongated segments of DNA cause Huntington's disease and certain other disorders of the brain. Researchers funded by the SNSF have developed a method to determine the length of the mutated genes quickly and easily. People with Huntington's disease suffer from jerky body movements and decreasing mental abilities. The condition usually leads to death 15-20 years after diagnosis. The cause of the disease is a region in the Huntington gene that is longer than in healthy people.

NIH Grant To Start Discovery Program For Alzheimer's Disease

Integral Molecular, the industry leader in membrane protein technologies, was awarded to Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the NIH to initiate a target discovery program for Alzheimer's disease. Under the grant, Integral Molecular will use its highly successful Membrane Proteome Array (MPA) platform to discover novel neuroimmune targets for treating Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Decreased Deep Sleep May Lead To Signs Of Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers have uncovered part of the explanation for why poor sleep is linked to Alzheimer's disease. They found that older people who have less slow-wave sleep the deep sleep you need to consolidate memories and wake up feeling refreshed have higher levels of the brain protein tau. Elevated tau is a sign of Alzheimer's disease and has been linked to brain damage and cognitive decline.

Essential Nutrient Might Be Treatment In Alzheimer's Disease

In a new study, researchers at the Biodesign Institute explore a safe and simple treatment for one of the most devastating and perplexing afflictions: Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lead authors Ramon Velazquez and Salvatore Oddo, along with their colleagues in the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center (NDRC), investigate the effects of choline, an essential nutrient that may hold promise in the war against the memory-stealing disorder.

AAN Guidelines: How Should Doctors Determine Brain Death?

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) called for uniform brain death laws, policies, and practices in a new position statement. The position paper, published in  Neurology , defines brain death – otherwise known as death by neurological criteria – as the individual's death due to irreversible loss of function of the entire brain in accordance with the  Uniform Determination of Death Act  (UDDA), model state law that was approved for the US in 1981.

Study: Parkinson's Disease Experts Devise a Roadmap

A recently discovered protein, alpha-synuclein, has become one of the most attractive targets for developing new drugs with the potential to slow down or arrest the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Experts in the field of Parkinson's research have now proposed a roadmap for preclinical and clinical trials investigating compounds targeting alpha-synuclein. Their consensus white paper is published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease .

New Strategies to Treat Silent Seizures in Children Identified

As early as 3 months of age, infants with a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome start having convulsive seizures, during which their arms and legs jerk repeatedly. As they become toddlers, another type of seizure begins to appear. These seizures do not cause obvious convulsions, but disrupt consciousness and can occur more than 50 times every single day.

A challenge to detect and difficult to treat, these non-convulsive seizures often go unnoticed by parents and physicians.  A recent study, published in the journal  Cell Reports , characterizes these silent seizures in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome and identifies the brain area that could be targeted to stop them. 

Risk Factors Linked to REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Taking antidepressants for depression, having post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety diagnosed by a doctor are risk factors for a disruptive and sometimes violent sleep disorder called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found men are more likely to have the disorder.

Alzheimer's Disease: Neuronal Cell Death May Actually Not be a Bad Thing

For the first time, scientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown (CCU), in Lisbon, Portugal, have shown that neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may actually not be a bad thing – on the contrary, it may be the result of a cell quality control mechanism trying to protect the brain from the accumulation of malfunctioning neurons. Their results, which were obtained using fruit flies that had been genetically modified to mimic the symptoms of human AD, were published in the journal Cell Reports.

Vaccine or Drug for Late-onset Alzheimer's, Path Suggested

UT Southwestern researchers have succeeded in neutralizing what they believe is a primary factor in late-onset Alzheimer's disease, opening the door to development of a drug that could be administered before age 40, and taken for life, to potentially prevent the disease in 50 to 80 percent of at-risk adults.