Research

Risperidone raises stroke risk without exception in patients with dementia, according to researchers who analysed GP records. A study of 165,000 patients diagnosed with dementia after the age of 65 between 2004 and 2023 found stroke risk was increased even in those with no history of heart disease or stroke. Reporting their findings, researchers from [...]

If you’re involved in stroke treatment—whether you’re an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, stroke consultant, or another healthcare professional—you already know the negative impact that stroke can have on patients, and the strain it places on our healthcare system in the NHS and globally. So there’s no need to explain the enormous challenge of meeting the new [...]

Emerging research is exploring the potential of photobiomodulation (PBM) - a light-based therapy targeting the gut-brain axis- as a promising new treatment for Parkinson’s disease. A recently published clinical trial, conducted on 60 participants in Canada, reported clinically significant improvements in multiple Parkinson’s symptoms following treatment with photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy. The results, presented last month at [...]

NR Times explores the latest research developments in the world of neurology and neurorehabilitation.  Scientists reverse Alzheimer’s in mice using nanoparticles Researchers have demonstrated a nanotechnology strategy that reverses Alzheimer’s disease in mice. Unlike traditional nanomedicine, which relies on nanoparticles as carriers for therapeutic molecules, this approach employs nanoparticles that are bioactive in their own [...]

Scientists have identified an enzyme that protects brain cells from Parkinson's disease by regulating how mitochondria — the cell’s energy producers — are recycled and replaced. The protein complex, known as PP2A-B55α, acts as a molecular switch that determines whether cells repair or create mitochondria, maintaining the energy balance vital for neuron survival. Mitochondria are [...]

People with restless leg syndrome may be up to 60 per cent more likely to develop Parkinson's disease, new research suggests. The condition, which affects up to 10 per cent of the population and is more common in women, causes an unpleasant crawling sensation in the legs, usually at night, and an almost irresistible urge [...]

Deep brain stimulation has been shown to ease symptoms and improve quality of life for people with Parkinson's, with benefits lasting five years, a major US study has found. The trial, conducted across 23 movement disorder centres, was the largest prospective long-term study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease. Nearly 200 patients received [...]

Vision therapy helped nearly 90 per cent of young concussion patients see normally after 12 weeks, compared with under 10 per cent who only monitored their symptoms in a recent study. The study enrolled 106 patients aged 11 to 25 with one or more concussions and persistent symptoms lasting one to six months after their [...]

Scientists have developed a molecule that prevents toxic protein clumping in Parkinson's disease, demonstrating its effect in an animal model. Researchers at the University of Bath, working with the Universities of Oxford and Bristol, engineered a peptide fragment that locks alpha-synuclein – a protein that forms toxic clumps in Parkinson's – into its healthy shape, [...]

Scientists have, for the first time, directly visualised and quantified the protein clusters believed to trigger Parkinson’s, marking a major advance in the study of the world’s fastest-growing neurological disease. These tiny clusters, called alpha-synuclein oligomers, have long been considered the likely culprits for Parkinson’s disease to start developing in the brain, but until now, [...]