Rutgers researcher finds brain connections may reorganize in Parkinson's disease
... Oct. 7, 2002). West and his research team studied rats and produced the first-ever microelectrode functional map of the sensorimotor portion of the basal ganglia in a Parkinsonian brain. They found that clusters of neurons in the basal ganglia that control specific movements became smaller in size when ...Cell transplants look promising for stroke recovery
...ournal of the American Academy of Neurology. The rats treated with an intravenous transplant of adult hu... to function 14 days after the stroke, compared to rats that did not receive transplants after a stroke. "These are smart cells that selectively migrate to ...Making cancer cells susceptible to therapeutic attack
...in cancer cells from four species: hamsters, mice, rats and humans. In all four cases, E1A renders the malignancies susceptible to defender cells of the immune system. "We believe that these observations may reveal a common Achilles heel of many types of cancer cells," Cook said. According to Cook, the go...Marijuana-derived compound targets pain, inflammation
... and stroke. Tests of multiple sclerosis (MS) in rats have shown that the drug relieves muscle stiffness (spasticity) associated with the disease, just as natural marijuana has been shown to have a similar effect. Human studies of the drug's effect on MS are planned. Other evidence suggests the compou...Complex physical learning may compensate for prenatal alcohol exposure, study shows
...n the brains of young rats. In their study, infant rats were exposed to alcohol during a period of brain d...n third trimester of pregnancy. In adulthood, the rats improved their learning skills during a 20-day regimen of complex motor training, and generated new ...Brain tumor therapy needs longer treatment time
...almost identical, even though one was performed on rats and one on human brain cancer cells cultured and grown in the laboratory on silicon chips. The human studies were published in the June 2002 issue of Radiation Research and the rat studies in the November 2001 issue of Cancer Research . As a r...Research helps explain why perception of pleasure decreases with chronic cocaine use
Investigators demonstrated in rats that repeated starting and stopping of cocaine use decreased the brain's reward function and reduced the pleasurable effects of cocaine. This decrease in pleasure-perception was highly correlated with escalation of cocaine intake. The persistence o......Donald already has treated spinal cord injuries in rats with embryonic stem cells; the problem is that most of the stem cells died after transplantation. Sakiyama-Elbert is hopeful that her matrix/tube delivery system will allow 50 to 75 percent survival of the stem cells by providing a more hospitable e...Antioxidant-rich diets improve age-related declines in mental function of rats, USF/VA studies find
...o-authored by USF's M. Claire Cartford, PhD, older rats fed a diet rich in spinach for six weeks showed a ...normal loss of learning that occurs with age. The rats that ate rat chow containing 2 percent freeze-dried spinach learned to associate the sound of a bell...Journal of Rehabilitation R&D releases latest issue
...y bladder after experimental spinal cord injury in rats Examines the effect of neurotrophin-secreting Schwann cell implants on the urinary bladder after spinal cord contusion. Preliminary data suggest that neurotrophin-secreting Schwann cell implants may lead to improved bladder structure after spinal c...Landmark study demonstrates potential for nerve regeneration treatment of stroke
...provement in several types of behavior compared to rats that did not receive Inosine. "These findings are ...When held by the torso and lowered toward a table, rats treated with Inosine after a stroke showed greater ability to place their paws on the table than unt...Sugar on the brain: Study shows sugar dependence in rats
..., who led the study. Hoebel and colleagues studied rats that were induced to binge on sugar and found that...olumbia University. Kissileff agreed that Hoebel's rats offer an important model system, but said he would be cautious about using them to put sugar in the ...Scientists identify brain mechanism that boosts response to alcohol
...of Beta-gamma dimers was confirmed in studies with rats trained to drink alcohol voluntarily. When the animals were accustomed to consuming the human equivalent of about two drinks every two hours, the researchers introduced a chemical into the nucleus accumbens that inhibited Beta-gamma dimer activity. ...Researchers shed light on mechanisms of voluntary alcohol consumption
... researchers examined alcohol-drinking behavior in rats injected with a scavenger molecule designed to reduce the level of beta gamma dimers. The injection reduced both alcohol consumption and alcohol preference in the animals, lending further support to a significant role of beta gamma dimers in voluntar...Cord blood cells improve rats' neurological recovery from brain injury, new study finds
...od improved the neurological and motor function of rats recovering from severe traumatic brain injury, res...were injected intravenously into the tail veins of rats 24 hours after traumatic brain injury. At both 14 and 28 days after treatment, the rats receiving ce...Choose your painkillers with care
...sity of New Jersey gave these newer painkillers to rats their broken bones didn't fully heal. Both drugs, ...50 per cent in humans," says O'Connor. None of the rats treated with rofecoxib managed to heal their bones. In those treated with celecoxib, none managed to...Directed antisense expression moderates feeding and weight gain
...hormone, Shuto and colleagues generated transgenic rats in which an antisense to the GHS-R mRNA is produced specifically in these cells. The resulting transgenic animals are smaller than controls, even at birth, and females show blunted expression of GH. Surprisingly, although males are apparently norma...Peptide promotes new growth in injured spinal cords
...r growth in the damaged spinal cords of laboratory rats and allows them to walk better, according to a stu... drug will work in humans." He said the laboratory rats were administered the peptide for four weeks through a catheter inserted into the spinal canal. A nu......n babies, says Dr. Johnston. Shes studying mother rats to see how they comfort their pups when they experience pain. Dr. Johnston has also been looking at the effects of giving infants sugar during invasive Intensive Care Unit procedures (like the heel stick). The sugar may cause the release of pain su...Atlanta researchers to launch clinical trial of progesterone for treatment of brain injury
...nd in a series of experiments that male and female rats with brain injury develop less brain swelling and recover more completely when they are treated with progesterone shortly following injury. The hormone seems to moderate the inflammation that frequently leads to dangerous brain swelling following hea...