Long-term treatment with gabapentin, a commonly prescribed drug for nerve pain, could help to restore upper limb function after a spinal cord injury, new research in mice suggests. Mice treated with gabapentin regained roughly 60 per cent of forelimb function in a skilled walking test, compared to restoration of approximately 30 per cent of forelimb function in mice that received a placebo. The drug blocks activity of a protein that has a key role in the growth process of axons, the long, slender extensions of nerve cell bodies that transmit messages.

From 14 April, gambling using a credit card will be banned, following reviews of the industry by the government and the Gambling Commission. According research, 22 per cent of problem gamblers use credit cards. Brain injury charity Headway welcomed news of the ban, but called for more to be done to protect brain injury survivors. Last year Headway gave evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Related Harm to explore the links between brain injury and gambling addiction. Behavioural effects of brain injury, such as dis-inhibition, impulsiveness and obsessive behaviour, and cognitive effects, including memory loss and impaired reasoning, can make brain injury survivors more vulnerable to the addictive nature of gambling.

The award, sponsored by Cygnet Health Care, aims to acknowledge, recognise and reward a short film that raises awareness of the benefits of neurorehabilitation following an Acquired Brain Injury. The film can focus on neurorehabilitation in hospital, and/or in the community, and/or in school, and/or in prison or in connection with sport. UKABIF is encouraging entries from individuals with a brain injury, their families or carers, students, the general public, care providers and voluntary organisations, as well the rehabilitation multidisciplinary team, doctors in primary and secondary care, case managers, personal injury lawyers and social care workers.

Researchers have developed a method which they say could turn non-neuronal cells in the brain into neurons, limiting the impact of stroke. Currently, stroke patients are treated by restoring proper blood flow to their neurons. However, these neurons are often dead by the time treatment is given. Replacing dead neurons is therefore an ideal but very difficult strategy to regain loss of brain function. Now, researchers at Okayama University have now developed a method of converting non-neuronal cells in the brain into neurons for this purpose. Ascl1, Sox2, and NeuroD1 are proteins found within neurons. When they are introduced tactically into ordinary cells, the cells start showing neuron-like properties.