The National Institutes of Health has awarded $22.5 million to a team of scientists centered at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA to fund the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics (CNP), an interdisciplinary, campuswide effort to understand the biology underlying a variety of mental disorders.
How the gene that has been pegged as a major risk factor for schizophrenia and other mood disorders that affect millions of Americans contributes to these diseases remains unclear.
Mayo Clinic has been a national leader in medical imaging research for decades. Now its expert research team has a new state-of-the-art home. On Sept. 10, 2007, leaders from Mayo Clinic, the Opus Group and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will join in the dedication of the Opus Building, which houses the Mayo Clinic Imaging Research Center.
Migraines are more than a bad headache. As nearly 30 million Americans can attest, the throbbing pain of a migraine can be debilitating, lasting from a few hours to several days. The condition can be aggravated by light, sounds, odors, exercise, even routine physical activities. Nausea, with or without vomiting, may occur.
New evidence from a patient shows that the area of the brain that processes visual inputs can reorganize after an injury caused by stroke. Scientists found that a brain region that had stopped receiving signals from the eyes because of a stroke began responding to signals formerly processed in adjacent brain areas.
Studies with rats have revealed the potential in an entirely new class of antidepressants that take effect after only days of treatment versus the weeks required for current drugs. The researchers said that they hope their findings will spur development of such new antidepressant drugs so that clinical testing can begin quickly.
Nerve growth factor (NGF), as the name says, is an essential peptide factor for the growth and differentiation of neuronal cells. Therefore we can imagine that this growth factor is important for the nervous system including brain.
Sleep-disordered breathing was common when chronic pain patients took prescribed opioids. A direct dose-response relationship was found between central sleep apnea and methadone and benzodiazepines, an association which had not been previously reported.
Efforts to halt underage drinking often focus on peer pressure and the prevention of risky behaviors, but the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is undertaking a new federally funded project to give middle-school children a science-based understanding of what can happen to them if they use alcohol.
Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:PVCT) announced that it has obtained approval to begin Phase 2 clinical testing of Provecta for the treatment of Stage III and IV metastatic melanoma, the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer.