Clinicians & therapists

Targeted training of the better arm improved movement and daily function in chronic stroke survivors, a phase II randomised trial has found. After a stroke, damage in the brain can slow and unbalance both arms. The less-impaired arm often looks normal but loses speed and coordination needed for everyday tasks. A total of [...]

A former head of the British military has urged ministers to ease rules so MDMA therapy can be tested for veterans with PTSD. Sir Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff until 2021, said existing regulations mean a single gram of medical-grade MDMA costs about £10,000 compared with a street price of about £40, inflating [...]

A new study shows how the Parkinson's protein alpha-synuclein harms brain cells by disrupting mitochondria. Abnormal clumps of alpha-synuclein can injure neurons. Mitochondria are the cell’s energy producers, and their failure starves cells of power. The work clarifies how these problems connect, pointing to a direct interaction that undermines mitochondrial function. Researchers from [...]

Traumatic brain injury is more common among domestic violence survivors than American football players, new research has found. Survivors of abuse can sustain head trauma more often than those playing the sport, with many experiencing injury from strangulation or blunt force trauma. Desiree Gorbea-Finalet of Disability Rights North Carolina said: "Brain injuries are much more [...]

Facial fractures affect up to 15 per cent of trauma patients and can flag life-threatening brain injuries that might otherwise be missed, new research has revealed. Facial injuries range from soft tissue damage and burns to dental trauma and fractures of the facial skeleton. Such fractures are a known marker for other serious harm, with [...]

Newly discovered blood markers could underpin a Parkinson's blood test that flags the disease years before symptoms appear, researchers said. While there is currently no cure for the degenerative brain condition and no test to diagnose it, early detection is crucial to start treatments that may slow progression. A blood test for these markers could [...]

Electromagnetic therapy combined with physical therapy significantly reduced disability in stroke survivors, preliminary research has found. The therapy, called electromagnetic network-targeted field therapy (ENTF), stimulates specific connections in the brain with electromagnetic pulses. An analysis of two small clinical trials suggests that the treatment is safe and may be effective in reducing overall disability after [...]

MS cognitive problems are more common in older adults, but a new study suggests disability, not age, is the main driver. The research found that while older people with MS had more prevalent and severe cognitive problems, particularly in information-processing speed and memory, age was not directly associated with impairment after adjustments. Instead, greater disability [...]

Hearing loss is linked to a higher risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), a new study of US veterans suggests. The research examined 7,296,051 US veterans who had an audiogram, a hearing test that measures hearing thresholds, between 1 January 1999 and 30 December 2022. People with hearing loss had a higher risk of later developing [...]

A major new study has found that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which applies magnetic energy to the brain, can be a cost-effective treatment option for the NHS in treating moderate and severe forms of depression that have not responded to other treatments. The economic analysis, which is published in BMJ Mental Health, compared TMS to [...]