BrainBlog

From the FDA on the 25th of October, quoting the press release: FDA approves second brain imaging drug to help evaluate patients for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Vizamyl (flutemetamol F 18 injection), a radioactive diagnostic drug for use with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the brain in adults being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia. Dementia is associated with diminishing brain functions such as memory, judgment, language and complex motor skills. The dementia caused by AD is associated with the accumulation in the brain of an abnormal protein called beta amyloid and damage or death of brain cells. However, beta amyloid can also be found in the brain of patients with other dementias and in elderly people without neurologic disease. Vizamyl works by attaching to beta amyloid and producing a PET image of the brain that is used to evaluate the presence of beta amyloid. A negative Vizamyl s...

From Cardiff University News Centre: New Alzheimer’s risk genes discovered in record study 27 October 2013 "In the largest ever study of its kind, an international collaboration of scientists, jointly led by Cardiff, has uncovered 11 new susceptibility genes linked with Alzheimer’s disease. "This major breakthrough will significantly advance scientists’ knowledge of Alzheimer’s. It throws open new research avenues and enables a better understanding of the disease’s disordered functional processes." Read the full press release here .

The HarvardX edX course "Fundamentals of Clinical Trials" started yesterday. Here is some information about the course [click here] . The content for Week One is quite good and presented well by the course faculty. From the course information page: [snip] "This course will provide an introduction to the scientific, statistical, and ethical aspects of clinical trials research. Topics include the design, implementation, and analysis of trials, including first-in-human studies (dose-finding, safety, proof of concept, and Phase I), Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV studies. All aspects of the development of a study protocol will be addressed, including criteria for the selection of participants, treatments, and endpoints, randomization procedures, sample size determination, data analysis, and study interpretation. The ethical issues that arise at each phase of therapy development will be explored. "This course contains 12 modules. The modules will be released ...

Last week, The Dana Foundation offered online this general overview to Lewy Body Dementia: Lewy Body Dementia: The Under-Recognized but Common Foe By Meera Balasubramaniam and James E. Galvin October 02, 2013 Read the article

The conference website homepage is canadianconferenceondementia.com

One of the number of media reports about today's Amyvid news: Lilly fails to persuade Medicare to pay for Alzheimer's imaging drug September 30, 2013 By Tracy Staton FiercePharma Read article [snippet] "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has handed down its final decision on Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's imaging agent Amyvid. The final answer, after appeals from Lilly and patient groups? No. Medicare won't pay for Amyvid-aided brain scans, not outside of clinical trials." [snippet]

Watch his TED talk here .

From The Washington Post : David H. Hubel, Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist, dies at 87 23 September 2013 Read the article Here is a link to his Nobel Prize lecture: link

At Coursera, Dr. Nancy Hodgson and Dr. Laura N. Gitlin , who is Director of the Center for Innovative Care in Aging at Johns Hopkins University, will offer her MOOC this autumn. Here is a story on the MOOC from The New York Times "The New Old Age" blog: "Online Lessons in Dementia Management"

The author speaks about her new book "The Geography of Memory: A Pilgrimage Through Alzheimer's" The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC 06 September 2013 Listen to the interview

The Brain, within its Groove Runs evenly--and true-- But let a Splinter swerve-- 'Twere easier for You-- To put a Current back-- When Floods have slit the Hills-- And scooped a Turnpike for Themselves-- And trodden out the Mills-- -Emily Dickinson In the world of MOOCs, few courses have had the creativity and success as the course about "Modern and Contemporary American Poetry" by Dr. Al Filreis of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of its wonderful Kelly Writers House. Few courses, in real life or online, have such a dedicated teacher as Al. The course, part of Al's regular teaching at UPenn in its English Department, was first presented in MOOC form this time last year at Coursera. The ten-week course is back, having opened over the weekend to over 30,000 students, myself included (second timer). Week after week, this likely remains the largest single collection of dedicated students reading and discussing the same poets and poems at any one ...

Peter Huttenlocher, Explorer of the Brain, Dies at 82 By WILLIAM YARDLEY The New York Times August 26, 2013 Read here

Information about The ADAMS study: click here for homepage

Visit the website of the Pacific Northwest Udall Center (PANUC) . This is the location for today's Neuropsychology Abstract of the Day.

Cholerton BA, Zabetian CP, Quinn JF, Chung KA, Peterson A, Espay AJ, Revilla FJ, Devoto J, Watson GS, Hu SC, Edwards KL, Montine TJ, & Leverenz JB. (2013). Pacific northwest udall center of excellence clinical consortium: study design and baseline cohort characteristics. Journal of Parkinsons Disease, 3(2), 205-214. doi: 10.3233/JPD-130189. Geriatric Research, Education, & Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA. Background: The substantial proportion of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have or are expected to develop concomitant cognitive impairment emphasizes the need for large, well-characterized participant cohorts to serve as a basis for research into the causes, manifestations, and potential treatments of cognitive decline in those with PD. Objective: To establish a multi-site clinical core tha...

A Multidimensional Approach to Apathy after Traumatic Brain Injury. Neuropsycholology Review 2013 Aug 7; Arnould A, Rochat L, Azouvi P, & Van der Linden M Abstract Apathy is commonly described following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is associated with serious consequences, notably for patients' participation in rehabilitation, family life and later social reintegration. There is strong evidence in the literature of the multidimensional nature of apathy (behavioural, cognitive and emotional), but the processes underlying each dimension are still unclear. The purpose of this article is first, to provide a critical review of the current definitions and instruments used to measure apathy in neurological and psychiatric disorders, and second, to review the prevalence, characteristics, neuroanatomical correlates, relationships with other neurobehavioural disorders and mechanisms of apathy in the TBI population. In this context, we propose a new multidimensional framework that...

Oversight of Clinical Investigations — A Risk-Based Approach to Monitoring (Guidance for Industry) FDA August 2013 Read the document here

Andrew Marr, after the stroke: 'I'm going to be sweeter all round' The TV presenter suffered a severe stroke after a strenuous workout in January. On the eve of his return to our screens he talks of his fight back to health Robert McCrum The Observer Saturday 3 August 2013 Read the article

From the Scientific American website: The Era of Memory Engineering Has Arrived How neuroscientists can call up and change a memory By Jason Castro Tuesday, July 30, 2013 Read the posting

From The Atlantic: Cities : How Memory Alters Our Perception of Place by EMILY BADGER Aug 01, 2013 Read the article