Famous 1848 Case Of A Man Who Survived A Terrible Brain Injury Has Modern Parallel
Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he triggered an explosion that drove the rod through his left cheek and out of the top of his head. As reported at the time, the rod was later found, "smeared with blood and brains...

New Clues On How ApoE4 Affects Alzheimer's Risk
Common variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease, but the gene's role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain...

Obama's Grand Plan To Cure Alzheimer's
Obama's healthcare goals have been controversial at best, and although anti-smoking campaigns and other public health and safety awareness drives have been successful, it's always somewhat dubious when government starts creating grand plans and lofty goals...

Dementia Sufferers More Likely To Die At Home Than In Nursing Homes
A new study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University has found that, at time of death, individuals with dementia are more likely to be living at home than in a nursing home. This contradicts the commonly held view that most individuals with dementia in the United States eventually move to nursing homes and die there...

Changes In Flies Parallel Sundown Syndrome Which May Be Due To High Dopamine Levels
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a mechanism involving the neurotransmitter dopamine that switches fruit fly behavior from being active during the day (diurnal) to nocturnal...

Could A Compound Found In Red Wine And Red Grapes Change The Course Of Alzheimer's Disease?
A national, phase II clinical trial examining the effects of resveratrol on individuals with mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease has begun as more than two dozen academic institutions recruit volunteers in the coming months. R. Scott Turner, M.D., Ph.D., director of Georgetown University Medical Center's Memory Disorders Program, is the lead investigator for the national study...

Genes And Vascular Risk Modify Effects Of Aging On Brain And Cognition
Efforts to understand how the aging process affects the brain and cognition have expanded beyond simply comparing younger and older adults. "Everybody ages differently...

Memory Improved In Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment By Reducing Excess Brain Activity
Research published by Cell Press in the journal Neuron, describes a potential new therapeutic approach for improving memory and modifying disease progression in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The study finds that excess brain activity may be doing more harm than good in some conditions that cause mild cognitive decline and memory impairment...

Patients With Mild Alzheimer's Disease May Respond To Deep Brain Stimulation
A study on a handful of people with suspected mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggests that a device that sends continuous electrical impulses to specific "memory" regions of the brain appears to increase neuronal activity...

Purpose In Life May Protect Against Harmful Changes In The Brain Associated With Alzheimer's Disease
Greater purpose in life may help stave off the harmful effects of plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study, published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, is available online...

Late-Life Depression May Signal Alzheimer's Disease; Lifelong Depression May Increase Risk Of Vascular Dementia
Depressive symptoms that occur in both midlife and late life are associated with an increased risk of developing vascular dementia, while symptoms that occur in late life only are more likely to be early signs of Alzheimer's disease, according to University of California at San Francisco and Kaiser Permanente researchers...

Middle Aged And Elderly With Depression Have Higher Risk Of Dementia
A report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry draws a link between people in mid-life and late-life, suffering from depression and the possibility of them developing dementia. More than five million people in the US alone suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and the health care costs run at a staggering $172 Billion. Deborah E. Barnes, Ph.D., M.P.H...

Memantine Improves Some Alzheimer's Symptoms But Has No Effect On Agitation
A drug prescribed for Alzheimer's disease does not ease clinically significant agitation in patients, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the U.K., U.S. and Norway. This is the first randomized controlled trial designed to assess the effectiveness of the drug (generic name memantine) for significant agitation in Alzheimer's patients...

Advanced Brain Imaging Technology Reveals Early Diagnostic Clues For Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major neurodegenerative disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. New and accurate techniques for early diagnosis are critical. Pravat K. Mandal, PhD, and his colleagues have developed a completely non-invasive brain imaging technique to measure specific brain chemical changes...

Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease In Mice Prevented By Biosynthetic Grape-Derived Compound
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have succeeded in developing a biosynthetic polyphenol that improves cognitive function in mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD)...