http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A single concussion may cause lasting structural damage to the brain, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-concussion-brain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:17:04 EST news282284216 A revolutionary technology has the ability to detect and diagnose Alzheimer's disease with unprecedented accuracy. The computerized technique known as SNIPE analyzes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to capture patterns of atrophy specific to the disease in brain structures, specifically the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still an inexact science, relying mainly on the patient's symptoms and performance on memory tests. Detecting pre-clinical AD, before symptoms appear, is extremely difficult. So far, the only way to definitively establish the diagnosis is through a post-mortem examination of a patient's brain. However, SNIPE, developed at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, can differentiate Alzheimer's from normal aging with an accuracy of 93%.  The technology has also been used for prognosis - it can predict with 75% accuracy which patients with mild cognitive impairment will remain stable and which will progress to this debilitating disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-technology-unprecedented-ability-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:13:23 EST news279367994 All patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) lose brain cells, which leads to a shrinking, or atrophy, of the brain. But the pattern of gray matter loss is significantly different in men and women, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-gender-based-differences-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:04 EST news273068868 (HealthDay)—In older adults, physical activity is associated with less brain atrophy and white matter lesion (WML) load, according to a study published in the Oct. 23 issue of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-atrophy-white-lesion-elderly.html Health Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:10:02 EST news270313481 An inexpensive, five-minute eye scan can accurately assess the amount of brain damage in people with the debilitating autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis (MS), and offer clues about how quickly the disease is progressing, according to results of two Johns Hopkins studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-quick-cheap-retina-scan-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:14:10 EST news269662441 A research team from Germany has found that optimal benefit and functional improvement for ischemic stroke results when human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCB MNCs) are transplanted into rat stroke models within 72 hours of the stroke. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:6), now freely available on-line. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-therapeutic-window-important-factor-cord.html Medical research Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:01:59 EST news268311707 The medication fingolimod reduced inflammatory lesion activity and reduced brain volume loss in patients with multiple sclerosis who participated in a two-year placebo-controlled clinical trial and were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-fingolimod-therapy-patients-multiple-sclerosis.html Neuroscience Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:00:03 EST news260456972 Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a defect on chromosome four where, within the Huntingtin gene, a CAG repeat occurs too many times. Most individuals begin experiencing symptoms in their 40s or 50s, but studies have shown that significant brain atrophy occurs several years prior to an official HD diagnosis. As a result, the field has sought a preventive treatment that could be administered prior to the development of actual symptoms that might delay the onset of illness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-striatal-brain-volume-huntington-disease.html Neuroscience Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:14:28 EST news254654043 New research by scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests that chronic cocaine abuse accelerates the process of brain ageing. The study, published today 25 April in Molecular Psychiatry, found that age-related loss of grey matter in the brain is greater in people who are dependent on cocaine than in the healthy population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-chronic-cocaine-aging-brain.html Addiction Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:32:49 EST news254471547 A new technique for analyzing brain images offers the possibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the rate of progression and physical path of many degenerative brain diseases, report scientists at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mri-technique-dementias.html Neuroscience Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:24:10 EST news253297401 Brain scans of two strains of mice imbibing significant quantities of alcohol reveal serious shrinkage in some brain regions - but only in mice lacking a particular type of receptor for dopamine, the brain's "reward" chemical. The study, conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and published in the May 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, now online, provides new evidence that these dopamine receptors, known as DRD2, may play a protective role against alcohol-induced brain damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-alcohol-critical-brain-regions-genetically.html Medical research Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:00:09 EST news248541266 Atrophy in the hippocampus, the region of the brain known for memory formation and storage, is evident in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with cognitive impairment, including early decline known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), according to a study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The study is published in the December issue of the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-widespread-brain-atrophy-parkinson-disease.html Neuroscience Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:37:26 EST news242930239 A method of classifying brain atrophy patterns in Alzheimer's disease patients using MRIs can also detect cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers also found that higher baseline Alzheimer's patterns of atrophy predicted long-term cognitive decline in cognitively normal Parkinson's patients. The study is published online in Brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-alzheimer-disease-cognitive-decline-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:40:45 EST news242916033 Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital's Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center have found positive associations between fish oil supplements and cognitive functioning as well as differences in brain structure between users and non-users of fish oil supplements. The findings suggest possible benefits of fish oil supplements on brain health and aging. The results were reported at the recent International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, in Paris, France. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-fish-oil-impact-cognition-brain.html Health Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:26:29 EST news232795564 A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum. The research is published in the August 10, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-alzheimer-disease-symptoms-subtle-people.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:08:07 EST news232214857 The drug laquinimod reduced the number of relapses for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), in a large, long-term Phase III clinical study that will be presented as late-breaking research at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, April 9-16, 2011, in Honolulu. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-oral-drug-ms-significantly-disease.html Neuroscience Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:00:02 EST news221758418