For decades, the general consensus among neurologists and neuroscientists has been that ALS treatments would only be able to slow down or stop further progression of the disease. Function that had already been lost would probably not be recovered. But now, evidence is emerging that not only is functional improvement possible, it’s happening for some people […]
As a leading researcher of rare diseases that affect children’s brains, Jonathan D. Cooper, PhD, thought little about the gastrointestinal (GI) system. That is, until the parents of children with a condition that Cooper studies urged him to investigate why debilitating digestive issues troubled their kids, who suffer from an incurable and fatal neurodegenerative brain condition […]
The gas xenon, like the other noble, or inert, gases, is known for doing very little. The class of elements, because of its molecular structure, don’t typically interact with many chemicals. But a new mouse study shows one possible use case for xenon — as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The paper, published Wednesday in Science Translational […]
When studying substance use disorders, scientists had thought some of the effects on the brain could stem from use of the substances themselves: People start drinking alcohol in early teens, that alcohol has a neurotoxic effect on the developing brain that begets more alcohol drinking, and a similar dynamic occurs with other substances. But research […]
Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) exhibit riskier driving behaviors than their nondepressed peers, including hard braking, cornering, and unpredictable driving patterns, new research showed. Data for the study came from commercial vehicle data trackers installed in participants’ vehicles. After about a year of follow-up, investigators found that MDD was associated with an increase […]
Linde Jacobs paced back and forth across her bedroom, eyeing the open laptop on the dresser and willing the doctor to appear. Her husband was dropping off their older daughter at school. Their younger daughter was downstairs, occupied by a screen. Linde wanted to be alone when she learned whether she carried the family curse.
People with severe, treatment-resistant depression who received a nerve-stimulating therapy showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms, quality of life and ability to complete everyday tasks after a year, according to the results of a national, multicenter clinical trial led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings are published Dec. 18 in a […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been awarded $7.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate a form of dementia caused by cerebral small vessel disease, the second-leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia are devastating disorders that emerge following the buildup of misfolded proteins in the brain. The newest generation of Alzheimer’s therapeutics targets accumulations of the protein amyloid beta with engineered antibodies, but the results have been underwhelming, with some adverse effects, not to mention using engineered antibodies can be prohibitively expensive.
In a testament to the quality and national competitiveness of biomedical research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the school secured $683 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in federal fiscal year 2024 – a record high for WashU Medicine and an affirmation of its leadership in […]