BrainBlog

Received my copy of this new book today. Looks great! It was reviewed in Sunday's Washington Post , along with two other new neuroscience books: Read the review here . And, up in March, a book by Eric Kandel. Good times for neuroscience books written with broad appeal! - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From an NIH press release: Study Implicates Potassium Channel Mutations in Neurodegeneration and Mental Retardation For the first time, researchers have linked mutations in a gene that regulates how potassium enters cells to a neurodegenerative disease and to another disorder that causes mental retardation and coordination problems. The findings may lead to new ways of treating a broad range of disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). "This type of gene has never before been linked to nerve cell death," says Stefan Pulst, M.D., of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the new study. The report will appear in the February 26, 2006, advance online publication of Nature Genetics. In the study, the researchers looked for the gene that caused a neurodegenerative movement disord...

Looking forward to reading a new book, The Three-Pound Enigma : The Human Brain and the Quest to Unlock Its Mysteries by Shannon Moffett . You can attend a presentation by the author on the 18th of March 2006 (7 p.m.) at Cover to Cover Booksellers , located at 1307 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. Phone: 415-282-8080. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From an NIH new release: Preliminary Study Shows Creatine and Minocycline May Warrant Further Study In Parkinson’s Disease A National Institutes of Health-sponsored clinical trial with 200 Parkinson's disease patients has shown that creatine and minocycline may warrant further consideration for study in a large trial, according to Karl Kieburtz, M.D., M.P.H., University of Rochester, who spoke today at the World Parkinson Congress on behalf of the trial investigators. Study investigators caution that while the news is encouraging, the results do not demonstrate that these agents are effective in Parkinson's disease. Before these interventions can be recommended as a treatment they must be tested in a larger trial with hundreds of patients. Study findings are available online and will be published in the March 14 issue of Neurology. ...

The Wall Street Journal today has an article on the front page of its Marketplace section about Nintendo's entry to The Game Brain trend: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day . Nintendo's Brain-Training Game Targets Older Players Ginny Parker Woods The Wall Street Journal 23 February 2006. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Described in an NIH press release earlier today: Cognitive and Emotional Health Project . From the website: "Three Institutes, the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), have joined efforts to launch a new trans-NIH initiative, Cognitive and Emotional Health Project: The Healthy Brain. There are now about 45 million Americans over age 60 and 117 million over age 40. Current evidence indicates that a large number of them are at substantial risk for cognitive impairment from many causes as they age. The same is true for emotional disorders. While research into biological mechanisms and environmental and social effects are yielding promising results in both animal and human studies, much remains to be discovered. Advances in understanding the positive and negative changes in cognition and emotion in adulthood, and what can be done to preserve and enhance positive outcom...

From The Washington Post : Preventive Maintenance For the Brain Can Exercise or Mind Games Help? A Look at the Evidence By Alicia Ault Special to The Washington Post Tuesday, February 21, 2006; Page HE01 If it seems you're forgetting more as you grow older, you are. Like most other organs in the body, the brain gets smaller as we age, leading to a decline in memory, decision-making ability and verbal skills. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're on a steep downhill slide toward certain dementia, say experts. Growing evidence suggests there are steps you can take to better the odds of preserving your brainpower and protecting it against disease. [ ... Read the full article ... ] (The article provides a nice overview to several ongoing research studies.) - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

[may not work for all browsers - if not, here is the link .] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From the FDA: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE P06-25 February 16, 2006 Media Inquiries: Susan Cruzan, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA FDA Allows Clinical Studies of Tysabri (natalizumab) for Treatment of MS to Proceed The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reporting that Biogen-IDEC and Elan Corporation announced yesterday that FDA removed the clinical hold on Biogen-IDEC's studies of Tysabri (natalizumab) for patients with multiple sclerosis. This will allow clinical trials to go forward. In February 2005 Biogen-IDEC had announced suspension of marketing and clinical trials after three patients developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a frequently fatal infection of the brain, two following treatment with natalizumab for MS, and one patient being treated for Crohn's Disease. Two of these cases were fatal. The removal of the clinical hold allows patients with MS who were previously treated with the drug under an i...

From an NIH press release : Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Study Launched Nationwide by the National Institutes of Health Dr. Maya Angelou Asks Adults Ages 55 - 90 to Join Study The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) — a project developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — is seeking 800 older adults to participate in a study aimed at identifying biological markers of memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ultimately, scientists hope that brain and biological changes can be detected before memory decline and other symptoms appear, allowing the effectiveness of drugs to be evaluated at the earliest possible time. The $60 million, 5-year ADNI study is the most comprehensive effort to date to identify brain and other biological changes associated with memory decline. The project was begun by the National Instit...

From The New York Times : Panel Recommends Warnings for Ritalin and Other Stimulants By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: February 9, 2006 Filed at 4:13 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal science advisers voted narrowly Thursday to recommend the most serious type of warning labels for Ritalin and other stimulants that are used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The 8-7 vote, with one abstention, by the Food and Drug Administration committee was to recommend adding ''black box'' safety warnings to ADHD drugs. Doctors prescribe the increasingly popular drugs to about 2 million children and 1 million adults a month. The FDA isn't required to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees but typically does. [...continues...] [ ... Read the full article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Birks J. Cholinesterase inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Jan 25; (1): CD005593. BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of the first cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) in 1997, most clinicians and probably most patients would consider the cholinergic drugs, donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine, to be the first line pharmacotherapy for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.The drugs have slightly different pharmacological properties, but they all work by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter associated with memory, by blocking the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The most that these drugs could achieve is to modify the manifestations of Alzheimer's disease. Cochrane reviews of each ChEI for Alzheimer's disease have been completed (Birks 2005, Birks 2005b and Loy 2005). Despite the evidence from the clinical studies and the intervening clinical experience the debate on whether ChEIs are effective continues. O...