Grants From Michael J. Fox Foundation Awarded To BIDMC Scientists For Parkinson's Research

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171560.php

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) neurologists Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, and Daniel Tarsy, MD, have been awarded grants totaling more than $1.5 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to conduct investigations aimed at improving the quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease.

Findings That Should Speed The Development Of Drugs For Parkinson's Disease

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171528.php

Australian scientists have significantly advanced our understanding of dopamine release from nerve cells, findings that should speed the development of more effective drugs for treating Parkinson's Disease. People with Parkinson's Disease suffer from muscle rigidity, tremor, a slowing of physical movement and, in extreme cases, a loss of physical movement. These primary symptoms are caused by the loss of dopamine producing nerve cells in the brain.

NC State Researchers Advance Understanding Of Stem Cells

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171379.php

Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a gene that tells embryonic stem cells in the brain when to stop producing nerve cells called neurons. The research is a significant advance in understanding the development of the nervous system, which is essential to addressing conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

Discovery Of Potential Drug Target For Neurological Diseases

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170877.php

A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) report their success in solving the molecular structure of a key portion of a cellular receptor implicated in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other serious illnesses. Assistant Professor Hiro Furukawa, Ph.D., and colleagues at CSHL, in cooperation with the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory, obtained crystal structures for one of several "subunits" of the NMDA receptor.

Hope For Possible Parkinson's Disease Cure From ISU Researchers' Findings

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169776.php

Researchers at Iowa State University have found an essential key to possibly cure Parkinson's disease and are looking for others. Anumantha Kanthasamy, a distinguished professor of biomedical sciences and W. Eugene and Linda R. Lloyd Endowed Chair in Neurotoxicology at the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, has been working to understand the complex mechanisms of the disease for more than a decade and thinks he has found hope for the cure.

Researchers Unlock The 'Sound Of Learning' By Linking Sensory And Motor Systems

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169695.php

Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Haskins Laboratories, a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. The findings could have a major impact on improving speech disorders. "We've found that learning is a two-way street; motor function affects sensory processing and vice-versa," said David J.

Less Invasive Stereotactic Radiosurgery As Effective In Eliminating Parkinson's Disease Tremors As Other Treatments

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169636.php

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor than deep brain stimulation (DBS) and radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according to a long-term study presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

Progression Of Parkinson's Disease May Be Prevented By Widely Used Cholesterol-Lowering Drug

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169330.php

Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved medication in mice with Parkinson's disease and found that the drug successfully reverses the biochemical, cellular and anatomical changes caused by the disease.

Brain Cell Transplants Help Repair Neural Damage In Mouse Model

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169188.php

A Swiss research team has found that using an animal's own brain cells (autologous transplant) to replace degenerated neurons in select brain areas of donor primates with simulated but asymptomatic Parkinson's disease and previously in a motor cortex lesion model, provides a degree of brain protection and may be useful in repairing brain lesions and restoring function.

Impax Pharmaceuticals Initiates Second Phase III Trial Of IPX066 In Parkinson's Disease

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168899.php

Impax Pharmaceuticals, the brand products division of Impax Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPXL), announced that it has initiated a multinational Phase III trial of its late-stage drug candidate IPX066 in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. IPX066 is an investigational extended release carbidopa-levodopa product intended to rapidly achieve and then sustain effective blood concentrations of levodopa, potentially improving PD clinical symptom management.

Adult Eyes Cells Can Be Transformed Into Pluripotent Stem Cells Without Introducing Foreign Genetic Material

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168532.php

Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could be potentially harmful. The research, published in Stem Cells, suggests that cells taken from a patient's eye can be "reprogrammed" to replace or restore cells lost to degenerative diseases.

Study Conclusively Ties Rare Disease Gene To Parkinson's

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168330.php

An international team led by a National Institutes of Health researcher has found that carriers of a rare, genetic condition called Gaucher disease face a risk of developing Parkinson's disease more than five times greater than the general public. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In previous studies, several genes have been linked to Parkinson's disease.

New Research Highlighted At Neuroscience 2009

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167981.php

Research presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, provides a better understanding of the brain, nervous system, and related disorders.

Neural Stopwatch Found In The Brain

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168009.php

What's New: MIT researchers have identified populations of neurons that code time with extreme precision in the primate brain. These neurons are found in two interconnected brain regions, the prefrontal cortex and the striatum, both of which are known to play critical roles in learning, movement, and thought control. Why it matters: The timing of individual actions, whether we are speaking, driving a car, or playing the piano, require very precise control.

Mechanism For Neuron Self-Preservation Revealed By Researchers

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167976.php

Tsuruta et al. find that a lipid kinase directs a voltage-gated calcium channel's degradation to save neurons from a lethal dose of overexcitement. The study appears in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. An important player in cellular signaling, calcium is also terribly toxic at high levels. Neurons have evolved ways to protect themselves against the calcium influxes that come during periods of intense electrical activity.

Early-Stage Parkinson's Study To Image Pre-Treatment Brain Function

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167912.php

Parkinson's disease, a debilitating movement disorder, is usually controlled by using drugs that compensate for a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Parkinson's patients have a deficit of this important chemical because of degeneration in an area of the brain stem where it is made -- a structure called the substantia nigra.

39th Annual Society For Neuroscience Conference

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167777.php

Neuroscience researchers from the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, are presenting a wide range of research topics at the Society for Neuroscience's 39th annual meeting in Chicago, Oct. 17-21, 2009. The information below is a representation of the neuroscience research Yerkes scientists will be discussing.

MSU Becoming Center Of Excellence For Parkinson's Research

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167698.php

A team of researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Cincinnati have been awarded a $6.2 million Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's disease grant. The grant, from the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health, makes MSU's College of Human Medicine a major player in research of the degenerative disease. Two new MSU researchers, Jack Lipton, Ph.D., and Caryl E. Sortwell, Ph.D.

Parts Of The Genetic Programs That Determine Programmed Cell Death In Plants And Animals Are Actually Evolutionarily Related

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167332.php

Research has previously assumed that animals and plants developed different genetic programs for cell death. Now an international constellation of research teams, including one at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, has shown that parts of the genetic programs that determine programmed cell death in plants and animals are actually evolutionarily related and moreover function in a similar way. The findings were published in Nature Cell Biology.

Dysfunctional Protein Dynamics Behind Neurological Disease?

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167214.php

Researchers at Lund University, Sweden, have taken a snapshot of proteins changing shape, sticking together and creating structures that are believed to trigger deadly processes in the nervous system. The discovery opens the possibility of designing drugs for a devastating neurological disease, ALS.

Rochester-Led Parkinson's Study Pays Off Again, 2 Decades Later

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167173.php

Parkinson disease progresses more slowly in patients who have higher levels of urate, a chemical that at very high level is associated with gout, scientists have found. While it's unknown whether the high levels actually somehow protect patients or simply serve as a marker of protection, the finding supports the idea that patients and doctors may one day be able to better predict the course of the illness.

Phosphorylation Of Alpha-synuclein - A Balancing Act In Parkinson's Disease

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167144.php

Both genetic and pathologic data indicate a role for the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein in Parkinson disease. Previous studies have indicated that phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein at amino acid 129 (Ser129) is a key event in alpha-synuclein-mediated nerve cell toxicity. However, Mel Feany and colleagues, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, have now identified a counterbalancing role in nerve cell protection for phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein amino acid 125 (Tyr125).

Urate In Blood And Spinal Fluid May Predict Slower Decline In Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/167071.php

Higher concentration of urate (an antioxidant) in the blood and spinal fluid of patients with early Parkinson's disease is associated with slower rates of clinical decline, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the December print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Urate is an antioxidant that occurs naturally in the blood as an end product of normal metabolism.

Genes Associated With Onset Age Of Parkinson's Disease Identified By Researchers

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166721.php

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified genes which may influence the onset age of Parkinson's Disease (PD). The findings, which currently appear on-line in BMC Medical Genetics, are the first to identify genes contributing to the variation in onset age and may help identify mechanisms and therapeutic targets capable of delaying symptoms. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder usually occurring late in life.

Gene Therapy Study For Parkinson's Disease Launched By Michigan Hospital

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:00:00 PST
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/166537.php

A Michigan hospital is embarking on a research study for advanced Parkinson's disease using a state-of-the-art treatment called gene transfer. The clinical trial will test whether gene transfer therapy is able to restore better mobility in Parkinson's patients who have lost responsiveness to drug therapy.