Welcome to your daily round-up of everything happening in the world of neurorehabilitation.
Research news
Scientists create mice with traits of Tourette disorder
Scientists at Rutgers University, New Brunswick have bred mice that exhibit some of the same behaviours and brain abnormalities seen in humans with Tourette disorder. The researchers, using a technique known as CRISPR/Cas9 DNA editing that selectively modifies the DNA of living organisms, inserted the same genetic mutations found in humans with Tourette disorder into the corresponding genes in mouse embryos. After the mice were born, the scientists observed their behavior compared with littermates without the gene mutation insertion. The mutations that were inserted were discovered by some members of the same research team who have spent more than a decade focused on investigating genetic factors in Tourette disorder. The researchers said the findings indicate that these mice are a highly useful “model” to study the neurobiology of Tourette disorder and to test new medications.
Long-term outcomes in infants at high risk of cerebral palsy
Results from a new study support the potential to identify cerebral palsy and its severity as early as corrected age 3 to 4 months through early neurodevelopmental assessments, but the role of the tests is limited in identifying cognitive and neurodevelopmental impairments. “This diagnostic study including 116 infants born extremely preterm or preterm with extremely low birth weight or born full term with encephalopathy and received therapeutic hypothermia found that early neurodevelopmental assessments were effective in identifying infants with cerebral palsy and predicting its severity. However, the assessments had limited accuracy in identifying cognitive impairment and its severity, as well as in detecting any neurodevelopmental impairment and its severity.”
New genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease
Researchers from the Research Area on Neurological Diseases, Neuroscience, and Mental Health at the Sant Pau Research Institute, led by Dr Juan Fortea, Director of the Memory Unit of the Neurology Service at the same hospital, have found that over 95% of individuals over 65 years old who have two copies of the APOE4 gene -APOE4 homozygotes- show biological characteristics of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain or biomarkers of this disease in cerebrospinal fluid and PET scans. The study concludes that those individuals homozygous for APOE4 also develop the disease earlier than those with other variants of the APOE gene. These findings suggest that having two copies of the APOE4 gene could represent a new genetic form of Alzheimer’s disease, as explained by Fortea.
Company and financial neuro-rehab news
Improving brain care and enable precision neurology
YPrime has announced the availability of a new report, Insights into CNS Clinical Trials, which provides clinical trial sponsors with data-driven insights on how electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOA) can improve Central Nervous System (CNS) trial efficiency and success. This latest piece of research from YPrime, which has supported nearly 43,000 patients across more than 16,000 sites, presents information on leveraging eCOA for faster drug development, reduced costs associated with lengthy and complex CNS trials, and access to high-quality data for more informed decision-making.
Pushing the boundaries of neuroscience with GE HealthCare’s SIGNA MAGNUS
GE HealthCare today unveiled SIGNA MAGNUS, an FDA 510(k) pending head-only magnetic resonance (MR) scanner designed to explore advancements in neuroscience, which have been restricted by the performance limitations of conventional whole-body MR systems. Neuroscience, particularly in the study of psychiatric diseases and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, has been constrained by technological and biological limitations, leaving many aspects of the brain structure and functionality largely unexplored.
Neurotechnology news
New Scientist reports that Most brain monitors sold to consumers don’t keep your data private. The publication writes that a new report has found data privacy problems with the vast majority of 30 companies that sell neurotechnology devices to consumers, with new US state laws aiming to change that.
