Author Interviews, Parkinson's / 11.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Jeffrey Hausdorff PhD Director of the Center for the Study of Movement, Cognition and Mobility Full Professor in the Sackler School of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience Tel Aviv Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Many people with Parkinson’s disease suffer from a disturbing symptom referred to as “freezing of gait”. When freezing occurs, the person’s feet inexplicably become stuck to the floor and he or she is unable to move forward, despite efforts to walk. Initially, the problem can last just a few seconds and occur very infrequently. As the problem progresses, however, freezing can last many seconds, occurring frequently throughout the day. This can lead to a very frustrating situation that may also be dangerous. People with freezing of gait have an increased risk of falls and reduced health-related quality of life. The behavioral manifestation of freezing of gait is a problem with walking, i.e., it is a “motor” symptom. However, there is also evidence that deficits in specific aspects of cognitive function (i.e., executive function) may also contribute to freezing of gait. The goals of the present work were to use non-invasive brain stimulation to better understand if these cognitive deficits are indeed in the causal chain and if non-invasive brain stimulation that simultaneously targets both motor and cognitive brain areas that are believed to involved with freezing have a better impact on freezing and related symptoms than stimulation that targets only motor brain areas or sham stimulation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Multiple Sclerosis, Ophthalmology, Pharmaceutical Companies / 08.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah A. Morrow MD, MS, FRCPC Associate Professor of Neurology Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences University of Western Ontario (Western) MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Acute demyelinating optic neuritis, which presents with loss of vision and painful eye movements, is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) occurring 50% of persons with MS. High dose (≥ 1g) corticosteroids administered through an IV became the standard of practice after the landmark Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial as IV administration. However, in that study the IV dose of corticosteroids was much higher (1 gram daily) than the oral dose (1 mg/kg). Thus, it is not clear if IV administration is still better if equivalent doses are used orally. Oral administration is much more convenient for patients and less expensive, and previous studies showed that it is preferred by patients. In this study, we asked the following question: are high dose (≥ 1000mg) IV corticosteroids superior to equivalent doses of oral corticosteroids for the acute treatment of optic neuritis? We randomly assigned fifty-five cases of acute optic neuritis to 1000mg IV methylprednisolone or 1250mg oral prednisone daily for three days and compared recovery of their vision over the next 6 months.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Neurological Disorders, University Texas, Zika / 07.03.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Slobodan Paessler, D.V.M., Ph.D. Professor, Department of Pathology; Director, Galveston National Laboratory Preclinical Studies Core; Director, Animal Biosafety Level 3, Institute for Human Infections and Immunity; Member, Center for Biodefense & Emerging Infectious Diseases University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Zika virus infection is associated with various developmental issues for human embryos such as reduced head growth, reduced brain tissue growth, and damage to brain or eyes. We wanted to better understand if some of these birth defects are caused directly by the Zika virus or maybe by the host response to infection. In our study we demonstrate that the Zika virus infection induces autoimmune response against the C1q protein. This protein is a very important immune protein as well as one of the essential proteins for healthy brain development. Attacking the C1q protein upon exposure with the Zika virus could contribute to the development of autoimmune disorders and birth defects.  (more…)
ALS, Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, Technology / 26.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Brandman, MD, PhD Postdoctoral research associate (neuroengineering), Brown University Senior neurosurgical resident Dalhousie University BrainGate Website MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: People with cervical spinal cord injuries, ALS, or brainstem stroke, may lose some or all of their ability to use their arms or hands. In some cases, they may even lose the ability to speak. One approach to restoring neurologic function is by using a brain computer interface (BCI). BCIs record information from the brain, and then translate the recorded brain signals into commands used to control external devices. Our research group and others have shown that intracortical BCIs can provide people with tetraplegia the ability to communicate via a typing interface, to control a robotic limb for self-feeding, and to move their own muscles using functional electrical stimulation. Use of a BCI generally requires the oversight of a trained technician, both for system setup and calibration, before users can begin using the system independently. An open question with intracortical BCIs is how long it takes people to get up and running before they can communicate independently with 2 dimensional cursor control. The goal of this study was to systematically examine this question in three people with paralysis. As part of the ongoing BrainGate2 clinical trial, each study participant (T5, T8, and T10) had tiny (4x4 mm) arrays of electrodes implanted into a part of their brain that coordinates arm control. Each participant used motor imagery – that is, attempted or imagined moving their body – to control a computer cursor in real time. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Neurology, Parkinson's / 25.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rachel Saunders-Pullman, MD, MPH Associate Professor of Neurology Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Chief, Movement Disorders, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Co-Director Clinical/Translational Research and Research Mentoring Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Mount Sinai Beth Israel New York, NY 10003 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: There is a diversity in causes of Parkinson’s Disease (PD), and this may lead to heterogeneity in drug response. While LRRK2 PD due to G2019S mutations may fully mimic idiopathic PD (IPD), cross-sectional study suggests that the course may be slightly milder than IPD. Further, the pathology is heterogeneous with a minority not demonstrating Lewy bodies, and this may also correspond to less severe non-motor features. To better understand the course of PD associated with the G2019S LRRK2 mutation (the most common LRRK2 mutation), we evaluated motor and cognitive progression in individuals enrolled in the LRRK2 Ashkenazi Jewish Consortium. Subjects were recruited from a Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sourasky Medical Center, and from two centers in New York, Columbia University and Mount Sinai Beth Israel. 144 participants were LRRK2 mutation carriers and 401 were not. We utilized all study visits, and constructed linear mixed-effects models to estimate the association between harboring the LRRK2 mutation and rate of change of both motor features- as assessed by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), and cognition, as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA). Models adjusted for sex, site, age, disease duration and (for the motor models) cognitive score. We found a small but significant difference in rate of progression, with LRRK2 PD progressing at 0.69 points/year, and IPD at 1.06 points/year. While the cognitive decline was also less in the LRRK2 PD (-0.10 vs. -0.19 in the IPD, this difference was not statistically different (p=0.08). (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Multiple Sclerosis, Radiology / 04.01.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Netta Levin MD PhD fMRI lab Neurology Department Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center Jerusalem  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, manifesting with episodes of local inflammatory processes, called relapses. The most useful surrogate laboratory test for MS is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in which dissemination of demyelinating lesions in space and time are the hallmark of the disease. However, there is a discrepancy between the lesion load - the number, size, and location of the lesions - and the clinical state of the patients, reflected in their disability. This discrepancy is known as the “clinico-radiological paradox” and suggests that something other than the well-known mechanisms of demyelination, remyelination, and axonal loss may tip the scale of recovery from an acute episode. Global effects of the local damage and compensatory mechanisms were suggested as an explanation to this paradox. In this study, we compared the visual system of patients with clinically isolated syndrome optic neuritis (ON) to patients with clinically isolated episodes in other functional systems, exploring changes, both anatomical and functional, caused to the system following the demyelinating episode. Optic neuritis was deemed a good in vivo model for studying the pathophysiology of tissue damage and repair in MS due to its characteristic clinical manifestation and to the visual pathways’ amenability to investigation using various techniques. To assess anatomical wiring ,i.e the white matter fibers themselves , we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). To assess functional networking as reflected by signal synchronization between distinct brain regions, we used resting state fMRI. (more…)
Author Interviews, Parkinson's / 28.12.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Frances M. Weaver PhD Hines VA Hospital Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare Hines, IL 60141 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Research has shown that deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease (PD) improves motor function and this improvement is sustained. There is also improvement in quality of life after DBS. However, it is not known whether DBS also effects survival. A few studies that have examined survival have had mixed results. In the current study we compared survival for a large cohort of persons with Parkinson’s disease who underwent DBS to a match group of persons with PD who were managed medically. We found a modest improvement in survival for persons with Parkinson’s disease who underwent DBS compared to individuals who did not. (more…)
Author Interviews, Parkinson's, Pharmacology / 14.12.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Youcef Mehellou PhD Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Cardiff University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Over the last decade or two, there has been many reports linking genetic mutations to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Among the proteins that have been found to be mutated in PD is a protein called PINK1. Indeed, PINK1 mutations that disturb its function in cells were found to be causal of PD in humans. Subsequent studies showed that PINK1 is a major player in maintaining healthy neurons. This is because it is one of the components involved in controlling the quality of the mitochondria, an organelle within the cell, and it does this by triggering the disposal of unhealthy mitochondria. Overall, studies into PINK1 indicated that the activation of PINK1 as a plausible strategy for maintaining health neurons and hence slowing down the development and progress of Parkinson’s disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders / 07.12.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Audrey S. Dickey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Neurology, DUMC 2900 Durham, NC  27710 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A drug already used to treat certain forms of cancer may also be an effective therapy for Huntington’s disease, according to a new study in the latest issue of Science Translational Medicine. The same study also increases our understanding of how this drug, and other medications like it, may offer hope for other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson’s disease. Huntington’s disease is a devastating, inevitably fatal disease, with no medications that slow or stop disease progression. In this study, mice with the equivalent of Huntington’s disease became more mobile, recovered from neurodegeneration, and lived longer after being treated with Bexarotene. The same research builds on a 2016 study where Dr. Al La Spada, Dr. Audrey Dickey and colleagues showed that the drug KD3010 is an effective treatment for Huntington’s disease in mice and in human patient neurons made from stem cells. (more…)
Author Interviews, Microbiome, Multiple Sclerosis / 23.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kouichi Ito, PhD Associate Professor Department of Neurology Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS), and breakdown of immune tolerance to CNS proteins has been suggested to initiate CNS autoimmunity. Although the mechanism underlying the breakdown of immune tolerance to CNS proteins is still unknown, gut microbiota has been suggested to be involved in disease initiation and progression. To investigate the etiology of Multiple Sclerosis, we have created humanized transgenic mice expressing MHC class II and T cell receptor genes isolated from an Multiple Sclerosis patient and showed that gut dysbiosis, alteration in intestinal microbial composition, can induce gut leakiness and subsequently trigger the development of neurological deficits through activation of complement C3 and reduction of CBLB and Foxp3 genes. This study suggests that gut dysbiosis is one of the possible etiological factors for Multiple Sclerosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Dermatology, Infections, Mental Health Research, Neurological Disorders, NIH / 23.11.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:   Byron Caughey, Ph.D. Senior Investigator Chief, TSE/prion Biochemistry Section Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases NIH/NIAID Rocky Mountain Laboratories Hamilton, MT      MedicalResearch.com: Would you briefly explain what is meant by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease? Response: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is an incurable—and ultimately fatal—transmissible, neurodegenerative disorder in the family of prion diseases. Prion diseases can be found in many mammalian species and are due to the conversion of normally harmless prion protein molecules into abnormally folded, aggregated and self-propagating clusters and filaments in the brain. The accumulation of these clusters has been associated with tissue damage that often leaves dying neurons and microscopic sponge-like holes in the brain. In the sporadic and genetic forms of CJD this pathogenic process appears to arise spontaneously in the patient. However, the transfer of the prion protein aggregates from a Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease patient into another human or experimental animal can initiate the pathogenic process in the recipient. These infectious forms of prion protein are called prions. Human prion diseases include fatal insomnia; kuru; Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome; and variant, familial and sporadic CJD. Sporadic CJD is the most common human prion disease, affecting about one in one million people annually worldwide. Other prion diseases include scrapie in sheep; chronic wasting disease in deer, elk and moose; and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in cattle. (more…)
Author Interviews, Epilepsy, NEJM, Neurological Disorders, Pediatrics, Surgical Research / 25.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Manjari Tripathi Professor, Epileptology, Neurology Dr. P Sarat Chandra, Chief epilepsy Neurosurgeon AIIMS, New Delhi MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?:
  1. Surgery for drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) is an accepted procedure for children and there have been multiple surgical series and surgical techniques published in literature. However, till date there are no randomized controlled trials (RCT) available to objectively demonstrate the safety and efficacy of surgical therapy in children with DRE. There are till date only 2 randomized trials for adult patients with drug resistant epilepsy (both for mesial temporal sclerosis only, Wiebe S et al, New Eng J Med, 2001 & Engel J et al, JAMA, 2012).
  2. Children constitute a significant proportion of patients undergoing surgical therapy for DRE (close to 50% in tertiary centers). They have unique problems associated due to uncontrolled epilepsy and some of these include epileptic encephalopathy and status epilepticus. In addition, surgery is also associated with problems like hypothermia, issues related to blood loss etc. Thus the senior author (Manjari Tripathi) and her team felt that a RCT would be very important to objectively assess the role of surgery and hence designed this study.
(more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, JAMA, Neurological Disorders, Zika / 17.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emilio Dirlikov, PhD Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer CDC  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In December 2015, Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDH) reported its first confirmed locally acquired case of Zika virus disease. In February 2016, PRDH reported the first person diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) who also had evidence of Zika virus infection. At the time, scientific evidence of the potential association between Zika virus infection and GBS was lacking, and rigorous studies were needed. Through a collaboration between PRDH, CDC, and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), we conducted a case-control study to determine risk factors for GBS during the 2016 Zika virus epidemic. By prospectively enrolling case-patients, we shortened the time to enrollment, increasing the likelihood of detecting Zika virus nucleic acids to confirm Zika virus infection. As a result, we found that an acute Zika virus infection confirmed by laboratory testing is a risk factor for developing Guillain-Barré syndrome. This is the first case-control study to find laboratory evidence showing this given the difficulty of confirming Zika virus infection among people diagnosed with GBS. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Epilepsy / 17.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Samba Reddy, Ph.D., R.Ph., FAAPS, FAAAS, FAES Professor Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics College of Medicine Texas A&M University Health Science Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For the past two decades, D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine, has been searching for answers to catamenial epilepsy, a subset of chronic epilepsy that causes a dramatic increase in seizures during women’s menstrual periods. Although this condition has been documented for millennia, there is currently no effective treatment for catamenial seizures, leaving many women and their families desperate for answers. In this report, the researchers discovers the neuro-code for treating women with menstrual period-linked epilepsy. A unique platform has been created for clinical trials for catamenial seizures with synthetic neurosteroid agents. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Infections, Neurology, Parkinson's / 22.09.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rima McLeod, M.D., F.A.C.P, F.I.D.S.A Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences,Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), and The College, Director, Toxoplasmosis Center, Senior Fellow,Institute of Genomics, Genetics and Systems Biology, Member, Commitees on Immunology, and Molecular Medicine and Pathogenesis, Member Global Health Center, Affiliate CHeSS; Attending Physician, Chicago Medicine, The University of Chicago MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? * One third of humans are infected lifelong with the brain-dwelling, protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. * Approximately fifteen million of these have congenital toxoplasmosis. * The parasite interconverts between slow-growing, encysted bradyzoites and rapid-growing tachyzoites. * In mice, T. gondii creates a chronic intra-neuronal infection and an inflammatory process. * Mice with acute and chronic infection have alterations in neurotransmitters, memory, seizures, and neurobehavior. * Some epidemiologic-serologic studies show associations between seropositivity for T. gondii and human neurologic diseases, for example, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. * Although neurobehavioral disease is associated with seropositivity, causality is unproven. * Serologic studies of humans with diverse genetics are not optimal to detect strong associations or directionality. * Epidemiologic associations also do not reveal parasite-modulated gene networks in human brain that could provide insights into how to cure and prevent resultant diseases. * We need integrative approaches to examine relationships between brain parasitism and other brain diseases, to provide a foundation to identify key pathways and molecules for drug and vaccine design * To address these problems, we considered two central questions: (i) If chronic brain parasitism associates with other neurologic diseases, what are they? And (ii) Which macromolecular networks are modulated by the parasite in human brain that lead to neuropathology which could underpin and facilitate design of treatments? * We hypothesized that a systems approach integrating multiple levels of host parasite interactions might resolve these questions. * To better understand what this parasite does to human brains, we performed a comprehensive systems analysis of the infected brain.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Lancet, Parkinson's / 08.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Dilan Athauda MRCP Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders UCL Institute of Neurology & The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Exenatide is a synthetic version of a naturally occurring protein - exendin-4 - that was originally discovered by Dr John Eng in the early 1990’s in the saliva of the Gila Monster, a venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United states. He and his team were looking for bio-active peptides in insect and lizard venom that could be useful for people with Type 2 diabetes. They discovered that exendin-4 was extremely similar to a human hormone called Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).  In humans, GLP-1 is secreted after you eat a meal to stimulate insulin secretion (and inhibit glucagon production) of which the end result is a lowering of blood sugar. Unfortunately human GLP-1 is rapidly broken down by a circulating enzyme called dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and its effects only last minutes. Importantly, it was discovered that exendin-4 is naturally resistant to the actions of this enzyme, meaning it’s effects on blood sugar control lasts much longer in the body.  These properties made it very attractive to people trying to treat people with Type 2 diabetes and following many successful randomised controlled trials of patients with Type 2 diabetes in 2005, exenatide was approved for use as a treatment.  During this time, work led by Nigel Greig’s group at the NIA showed that first evidence that exendin-4 had neuroprotective properties, and could protect neurons from a variety of stresses and could also improve growth and rescue degenerating cells. Over the next few years, various groups used exendin-4 in a variety of animal toxin models of Parkinson’s disease and showed that exendin-4 could halt the progression of Parkinsonism and prevent cell death in these models through beneficial effects on inflammation, mitochondrial function and cell survival. Based on this encouraging pre-clinical data, Professor Foltynie supervised the first small, “open-label”, human trial of exenatide in patients with Parkinson’s disease.  The team found that patients treated with exenatide for 1 year (in addition to their usual medication) had less decline in their motor symptoms when assessed without their medication compared to the control group (just on their usual medication) and this advantage over the control group was still present 1 year after stopping the exenatide injections.  However, this trial was open-label – patients knew they were getting a (potentially beneficial) experimental therapy and so we couldn’t exclude the fact that placebo effects were explaining some of the results we saw. As a result of the potentially beneficial results seen in this small open label trial we carried out a double-blind, placebo controlled trial. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, Technology / 29.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Howard Jay Chizeck ScD Professor, Electrical Engineering Adjunct Professor, Bioengineering Co-Director UW Biorobotics Laboratory Graduate Program in Neuroscience UW CoMotion Presidential Innovation Fellow Research Thrust Testbed Co-Leader MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Essential Tremor is treated using Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in some patients. Current clinical practice involves Deep Brain Stimulation with an "always on" stimulation. This causes extra battery drain, because stimulation is applied when not needed. Also excessive stimulation is not necessarily a good thing, Our work is aimed at adjusting the stimulation, so that it comes on and turns off only when needed to suppress tremor symptoms. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Neurological Disorders, Stroke / 22.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrea Morotti, M.D. Research Fellow in Neurology Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The CT angiography (CTA) spot sign is a validated marker of Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH) expansion and may identify those subjects more likely to benefit from intensive blood pressure reduction. We observed that less than 20% of ICH patients received a CTA as part of their diagnostic workup in a large, international randomized clinical trial. The performance of the spot sign in predicting ICH growth was suboptimal compared with what was reported in previous studies. Intensive blood pressure reduction did not improve functional outcome in spot sign positive patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Parkinson's / 15.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rajesh Pahwa MD Department of Neurology University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Dyskinesia are one of the major unmet needs in Parkinson Disease patients. At the present time there are no approved medication for dyskinesia, however immediate release amantadine is used in PD patients with dyskinesia. ADS-5102 is a long acting, extended release capsule formulation of amantadine HCl administered once daily at bedtime. This study investigated the safety, efficacy and tolerability of ADS-5102 in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with levodopa-induced dyskinesia. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of Parkinson’s disease patients with levodopa-induced dyskinesia. In total, 126 patients were randomized to placebo or 274 mg ADS-5102 administered orally at bedtime. ADS-5102 was associated with a significant reduction in dyskinesia at 12 weeks compared with placebo, as measured by the mean change in Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (treatment difference, –7.9; P =.0009). OFF time was significantly reduced in ADS-5102 patients compared to placebo (treatment difference -0.9 hours, p=.017). (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders / 06.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bernhard Ross, Ph.D. Rotman Research Institute Baycrest Centre ON, Toronto  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We know from previous research that brain function for hearing is more strongly developed in musicians. The effect of a musician’s long-term training leads to a neuroplastic effect where their brain has more neurons involved in auditory processing. These neurons show stronger activity during listening to sound than in non-musicians and these findings strongly encouraged us to study neuroplasticity of the adult brain. We were interested in understanding why the neuroplastic effects of training and learning are so clearly expressed in professional musicians. The study’s main finding was that actively making sound, by playing a musical instrument, changed brain responses for listening and perception. Most importantly, neuroplastic brain changes occurred very quickly, within one hour of listening and making sound. In contrast, brain changes were observed after days in previous studies that only had participants listening to sounds. Another finding was that brain responses to hearing a sound are different when a person produces the sound themselves compared to listening to a recorded sound or a sound made by another person. This difference demonstrates that brain networks of intention, movement planning, movement execution, and expectation are involved when making a sound. We compared playing a real instrument with pressing a button for hearing a sound and found larger changes in the brain’s response to actively playing a musical instrument than pressing a button to elicit the same sound. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Mental Health Research, Neurological Disorders, NIH / 03.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ronald Cannon, Ph.D. Staff scientist at NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The protein pump, P-glycoprotein, is a major obstacle to the delivery of therapeutic drugs across the blood-brain barrier and into the central nervous system (CNS). During the last 10 years, our laboratory has studied the regulation of P-glycoprotein with the hope of treating CNS diseases. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: Our most recent finding shows that the antidepressant, amitriptyline, suppresses P-glycoprotein pump activity. The discovery is significant because P-glycoprotein restricts most CNS targeted drugs from entering the brain. If fully translatable to human patients, suppression of P-glycoprotein could allow higher levels of CNS therapeutic drugs to reach their intended target. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Karolinski Institute, Parkinson's / 29.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karin Wirdefeldt, MD, PhD Associate professor Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It has been hypothesized that Parkinson's disease may start in the gut and spread to the brain via the vagal nerve. We found that people who had a truncal vagotomy (ie, the nerve trunk fully resected) at least 5 years earlier were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease compared to people without vagotomy or people who had a selective vagotomy (ie, only branches of the nerve resected). (more…)
Author Interviews, Circadian Rhythm, Neurological Disorders, Neurology / 21.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Christine Blume PhD Post-Doctoral Researcher University of Salzburg Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCNS) Laboratory for Sleep, Cognition & Consciousness Research Salzburg MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We are governed by rhythmic processes. Many of these processes follow a circadian pattern, that is, they have a period length of approximately 24 hours and are under tight control of a biological master clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. Given the circadian variation in global states like alertness, it is not surprising that consciousness also varies rhythmically in healthy individuals, it follows the sleep-wake cycle. From a clinical perspective, misalignment of circadian rhythms, which occurs when the sleep-wake schedule is at odds with the light-dark cycle as in the case of night shifts, can cause considerable stress, have detrimental effects on the immune system and impair cognitive abilities. Despite the knowledge that entrained circadian rhythms are important for healthy body and brain functioning, very little is known about circadian rhythms in patients diagnosed with a disorder of consciousness (DOC) following severe brain injuries. We argue that studying circadian rhythms in DOC patients may be especially interesting and important for two reasons. First, the presence or absence of circadian rhythms as well as anomalies in them could be informative about the state of the patient as well as their potential for recovery. Second, this could provide information about time points that best capture remaining cognitive functions thereby minimising the risk of misdiagnoses. Beyond this, examining circadian processes may also provide targets for therapeutic interventions such as light stimulation, which has proven successful in individuals with e.g. circadian sleep disorders. Interestingly, analyses with Lomb-Scargle periodograms revealed significant circadian rhythmicity in all patients (range 23.5-26.3h). We found that especially scores on the arousal subscale of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) were closely linked to the integrity of circadian variations in body temperature. Finally, we piloted whether bright light stimulation could boost circadian rhythmicity and found positive evidence in two out of eight patients. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, PLoS / 18.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hector Zenil Co-director Information Dynamics Lab Unit of Computational Medicine, SciLifeLab Center for Molecular Medicine Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The generation of randomness is known to be related to cognitive abilities. It has also recently been shown that animals can recur to random behaviour to outsmart other animals or overcome certain situations. Our results that humans can best outsmart computers in generating randomness at a certain age (25). The results correspond to what it was suspected, that cognitive abilities peak at an early age before declining and that no other factor was important. We quantified a type of mathematical randomness that is known to be the true type of randomness as opposed to e.g. 'statistical randomness'. Something that is random is difficult to describe in a succinct way. Unlike 'statistical randomness', 'algorithmic randomness' does not only produce something that appears random but also that is very difficult to generate or produce. Conversely, something that may look random for the standard of statistical randomness may not turn out to be truly random. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, PNAS / 17.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zhiyong Zhao, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, MD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Diabetes in early pregnancy can cause neural tube defects in fetus. The defects are a result of failure in neural tube closure, due to excess cell death. The aim of this study was to delineate molecular processes that induce cell death. The main findings of this study are: (1) Hyperglycemia disrupts protein folding. The misfolded proteins, including the ones that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases, form aggregates, indicating similar molecular processes in both fetal neural tube defects and adult neurodegenerative diseases. (2) Protein aggregation leads to formation of a neurodegenerative disease-related cell death inducting mechanism. (more…)
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Nature, Neurological Disorders / 13.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Muhammad Ayub MBBS, MRCPsych, MSc., MD Professor of Psychiatry Chair Division of Developmental Disabilities Department of Psychiatry Queens University Kingston Kingston ON Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Intellectual Disability affects about 1 percent of the population worldwide. Genetics play a major role in its etiology. Better understanding of the genetic causes is a necessary step in development of improved diagnosis and treatment. Recessive inheritance where the affected child inherits a defective copy of a gene from both the parents is an important genetic mechanism for prevalence of the disease in populations where within family marriages are common. These types of marital bonds are common in South Asia and Middle Eastern countries. The families where parents are related are an effective resource to study recessive forms of Intellectual Disability. (more…)
Author Interviews, Neurological Disorders, Stem Cells / 12.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, M.D., Ph.D. Professor and Director Institute for Regenerative Medicine Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine Temple, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We and many others have been trying for many years to develop therapies with adult stem cells that might rescue the brain from the injuries and disease. Recently many of found that small vesicles secreted by adult stem cells have many of the beneficial effects of the cells themselves. The paper shows that a nasal spray of the vesicles can rescue mice from the long-term effects of severe epilepsy. (more…)