A new type of anti-epilepsy medication that selectively targets proteins in the brain that control excitability may significantly reduce seizure frequency in people whose recurrent seizures have been resistant to even the latest medications, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.
psychology
Brain network reveals disorders
(Medical Xpress) — Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich identify a new method of unerringly detecting the presence of pathophysiological changes in the brain. The new method was developed in order to gain a mechanistic understanding of schizophrenia and other spectrum disorders, which will lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments.
Scientists find possible cause of movement defects in spinal muscular atrophy
(Medical Xpress) — An abnormally low level of a protein in certain nerve cells is linked to movement problems that characterize the deadly childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research in animals suggests.
Therapeutic approach for patients with severe depression
Brain pacemakers have a long-term effect in patients with the most severe depression. This has now been proven by scientists from the Bonn University Medical Center. Eleven patients took part in the study over a period of two to five years. A lasting reduction in symptoms of more than 50 percent was seen in nearly half of the subjects. The results are now being presented in the current edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Study shows why some pain drugs become less effective over time
Researchers at the University of Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital have identified how neural cells like those in our bodies are able to build up resistance to opioid pain drugs within hours. Humans have known about the usefulness of opioids, which are often harvested from poppy plants, for centuries, but we have very little insight into how they lose their effectiveness in the hours, days and weeks following the first dose.