http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. New research reveals that Solanaceae—a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine—may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease. The study appearing today in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, suggests that eating foods that contain even a small amount of nicotine, such as peppers and tomatoes, may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-peppers-parkinson-dietary-nicotine-key.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 09 May 2013 04:25:49 EST news287292338 The central nervous system's mop-up crew, microglia, play an important role in protecting the brain against disease and injury. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now developed a method that makes it possible to follow the behaviour of these support cells at close quarters. Increased knowledge about the specific role of microglia could open the door to new research avenues on several different neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-guardian-cells.html Medical research Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:39:08 EST news286011539 Deep inside your brain, a legion of stem cells lies ready to turn into new brain and nerve cells whenever and wherever you need them most. While they wait, they keep themselves in a state of perpetual readiness – poised to become any type of nerve cell you might need as your cells age or get damaged. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-brain-stem-cell-important.html Neuroscience Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:14:27 EST news284811259 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed new insight into the function of a key protein attributed to impaired learning and memory in Down's syndrome. The findings, published online in Nature Cell Biology, offer further molecular insight into how the reduced level of this key protein termed 'sorting nexin-27' [SNX27] may contribute to learning and memory problems associated with Down's syndrome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-potential-insight-complex-neuropathology-syndrome.html Medical research Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:17:38 EST news284624248 New research, published in Neuron, gives insight into how single mutations in the VCP gene cause a range of neurological conditions including a form of dementia called Inclusion Body Myopathy, Paget's Disease of the Bone and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD), and the motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mutations-vcp-gene-implicated-neurodegenerative.html Neuroscience Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:37:06 EST news282472618 (Medical Xpress)—In a surprise breakthrough, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and their colleagues have found that microglia remove healthy neural progenitor cells (NPCs) through phagocytosis to control neuron production during brain development. This newly discovered mechanism keeps neuron numbers in check, preventing brain overgrowth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-microglia-neuron-production-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:49:44 EST news281180973 (Medical Xpress)—A novel way to image the entire brain's glymphatic pathway, a dynamic process that clears waste and solutes from the brain that otherwise might build-up and contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease, may provide the basis for a new strategy to evaluate disease susceptibility, according to a research paper published online in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Through contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other tools, a Stony Brook University-led research team successfully mapped this brain-wide pathway and identified key anatomical clearance routes of brain waste. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-image-brain-alzheimer-diagnostic.html Neuroscience Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:38:50 EST news281000324 The largest study of epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa to date reveals that programmes to control parasitic diseases and access to better antenatal care could substantially reduce the prevalence of the disease in this region. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-parasites-poor-antenatal-main-epilepsy.html Neuroscience Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:00:02 EST news278789821 Injecting botox into the arm muscles of stroke survivors, with severe spasticity, changes electrical activity in the brain and may assist with longer-term recovery, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-dont-botox-heador.html Neuroscience Tue, 08 Jan 2013 09:06:03 EST news276858351 A first-of-its-kind antidepressant drug discovered by a Northwestern University professor and now tested on adults who have failed other antidepressant therapies has been shown to alleviate symptoms within hours, have good safety and produce positive effects that last for about seven days from a single dose.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-drug-hard-to-treat-depression-brain-receptors.html Medical research Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:50:01 EST news274095217 Levels of the protein appoptosin in the brain skyrocket in Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. Appoptosin is known for helping the body make heme, the molecule that carries iron in the blood. In a study published Oct. 31 in the Journal of Neuroscience, Huaxi Xu, Ph.D. and his group at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute discovered that excess heme leads to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and triggers apoptosis, causing neurons to die. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-neuron-killers-alzheimer-traumatic-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:03:14 EST news271677782 (Medical Xpress)—In many pathologies of the nervous system, there is a common event - cells called microglia are activated from surveillant watchmen into fighters.  Microglia are the immune cells of the nervous system, ingesting and destroying pathogens and damaged nerve cells. Until now little was known about the molecular mechanisms of microglia activation despite this being a critical process in the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-role-microglial-cells-defenders-fighters.html Neuroscience Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:13:08 EST news269590368 (Medical Xpress)—People with degenerative neurological conditions could benefit from research that shows why their brain cells stop communicating properly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-reveal-brain-cells-weakest-links.html Neuroscience Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:13:41 EST news267437610 A team headed by Eduardo Soriano at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has published a study in Nature Communications describing a new family of six genes whose function regulates the movement and position of mitochondria in neurons. Many neurological conditions, including Parkinson's and various types of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, are caused by alterations of genes that control mitochondrial transport, a process that provides the energy required for cell function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-discovery-family-key-mitochondrial-proteins.html Medical research Wed, 09 May 2012 11:21:08 EST news255781179 Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a previously unknown fail-safe (compensatory) pathway that potentially protects the brain and other organs from genetic and environmental threats. The discovery could provide new ways to diminish the negative consequences of genetic mutations and environmental toxins that cause neurological diseases and other maladies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-fail-safe-inherited-disorders.html Medical research Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:06:05 EST news235314350 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a novel iPhone application that may enable persons with Parkinson's disease and certain other neurological conditions to use the ubiquitous devices to collect data on hand and arm tremors and relay the results to medical personnel. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-application-iphone-parkinson-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:28:23 EST news228025639 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered new details of an unusual biological mechanism in the brains of diverse species that not only helps regulate how their brains develop, but also how they function later in life. The discovery could lead to new biomarkers for specific neurological diseases in humans and, possibly, the development of drugs to cure them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-frogs-chickens-people-highly-dual.html Medical research Thu, 19 May 2011 15:10:01 EST news225033617