Motor Neurone Disease

Ability of brain to protect itself from damage revealed

The origin of an innate ability the brain has to protect itself from damage that occurs in stroke has been explained for the first time.

Medical research created Feb 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

A treatment for ALS? Neural stem cell transplants slow progression of disease

(Medical Xpress)—Results from a meta-analysis of 11 independent amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research studies are giving hope to the ALS community by showing, for the first time, that the fatal disease ...

Neuroscience created Jan 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New gene mutations linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and nerve cell growth dysfunction

Researchers have linked newly discovered gene mutations to some cases of the progressive fatal neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Shedding light on how ALS destroys ...

Genetics created Jul 15, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

When nerve meets muscle, biglycan seals the deal

A protein that has shown early promise in preventing the loss of muscle function in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, has been found in a new study to be a key player in the process of joining nerves ...

Neuroscience created Feb 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Reinventing drug discovery: Promising drug target for ALS

Using a new stem-cell based drug screening technology with the potential to reinvent and greatly reduce the cost of the way new pharmaceuticals are developed, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Apr 18, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'Strikingly similar' brains of man and fly may aid mental health research

A new study by scientists at King's College London and the University of Arizona (UA) published in Science reveals the deep similarities in how the brain regulates behaviour in arthropods (such as flies ...

Neuroscience created Apr 11, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study offers new approach for spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy is a debilitating neuromuscular disease that in its most severe form is the leading genetic cause of infant death. By experimenting with an ALS drug in two very different animal models, researchers ...

Neuroscience created Apr 09, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Lithium shows no benefit to MND patients

(Medical Xpress)—Results from a clinical trial into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), led by King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry show that lithium carbonate is ineffective at treating the ...

Neuroscience created Mar 19, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Stem cell discovery gives insight into motor neurone disease

A discovery using stem cells from a patient with motor neurone disease could help research into treatments for the condition. The study used a patient's skin cells to create motor neurons - nerve cells that control muscle ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Feb 11, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify quadruplex structure in C9ORF72

(Medical Xpress)—A Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association funded research project at UCL has given new insights into the structure and function of an MND gene called C9ORF72. The work is published in the journal Scientific Re ...

Medical research created Dec 24, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New research discovery provides therapeutic target for ALS

Research led by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that the ability of a protein made by a gene called FUS to bind to RNA is essential to the development ...

Genetics created Dec 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Stay-at-home transcription factor prevents neurodegeneration

A study in The Journal of Cell Biology shows how a transcription factor called STAT3 remains in the axon of nerve cells to help prevent neurodegeneration. The findings could pave the way for future drug therapies to slow ...

Medical research created Oct 29, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Novel mechanisms underlying major childhood neuromuscular disease identified

A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results ...

Medical research created Oct 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study gives clues to causes of motor neurone disease

(Medical Xpress)—Scientists at the University of Bath are one step further to understanding the role of one of the proteins that causes the neurodegenerative disorder, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), ...

Medical research created Oct 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Shared pathway links Lou Gehrig's disease with spinal muscular atrophy

Researchers of motor neuron diseases have long had a hunch that two fatal diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), might somehow be linked. A new study confirms that this link exists.

Medical research created Sep 27, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast


The motor neurone diseases (or motor neuron diseases) (MND) are a group of neurological disorders that selectively affect motor neurones, the cells that control voluntary muscle activity including speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing and general movement of the body. They are generally progressive in nature, and can cause progressive disability and death. The drug riluzole can slow progression slightly; apart from this the medical care is supportive. The condition was first described in full by the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot in 1869.

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