Viral-induced neurodegenerative disease.

Viral etiology has been postulated in a variety of neurological diseases in humans, including multiple sclerosis. Several experimental animal models of viral-induced neurodegenerative disease provide insight into potential host- and pathogen-dependent mechanisms involved in the disease process. Two such mouse models are the Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection and mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) infection

Imaging Studies of Aging, Neurodegenerative Disease, and Alcoholism.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease, disorders such as alcoholism, and the aging process can lead to impaired cognitive function and dementia. Researchers and clinicians have used noninvasive imaging techniques to determine the structural and physiological alterations in the brain that are associated with these conditions. Analyses of the brains structure have found that shrinkage (atrophy) of the brain tissue is characteristic for all conditions associated with dementia, but that the specific locations of atrophied brain structures vary among different neurodegenerative diseases and alcohol-induced disorders. Similarly, studies analyzing the metabolism in various brain structures have found that, depending on whether dementia was induced by neurodegenerative diseases, alcoholism, or aging, the affected brain structures vary slightly. Based on such studies, researchers and clinicians now can more accurately define different types of dementia and predict their clinical course

Protein Aggregates and Polyglutamine Tracts In Neurodegenerative Disease

The incidence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer\u27s Disease, Parkinson\u27s Disease, Huntington\u27s Disease and other Polyglutamine Diseases is projected to dramatically increase throughout the developed world, and yet the pathology of these diseases remains poorly understood. One pathway that these neurodegenerative diseases share is the accumulation of pathologic proteins which are not only harmful in their soluble form but may go on to form toxic aggregates. In many cases, a consensus has yet to be reached concerning the mechanism for protein aggregation. Therefore, the exploration of the roles of these proteins and their possible mechanisms, along with potential techniques for treatment, are more important than ever

Equine grass sickness : the geochemical connection

A new study uses the British Geological Survey’s geochemical map to investigate whether minerals in the environment are a factor in this predominantly fatal neurodegenerative disease of horse

What research we no longer need in neurodegenerative disease at the end of life : The case of research in dementia

A complete silence. That was what we got back from the European experts who had been energetically discussing research priorities in palliative care in neurodegenerative disease (ND) until a short while ago.1 The chair, an entertaining professor with good manners, must have felt the unease and quickly refocused the group to their task. But, wasn’t this the best question of all day? What research we no longer need? As scientists able to consider different perspectives, shouldn’t we have some idea of what research is, by contrast, no longer necessary? Palliative care research and research with people who have ND and are at the end of their life is, by definition, difficult. Making choices is a sensitive issue, but funds are limited. Therefore, we take a counterpoint to the research agenda recently reported by European Union (EU) Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND),1 and consider whether there are studies we no longer need or are low priority, taking the example of dementiaPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

A comparison of Voxel compression mapping & longitudinal Voxel-Based morphometry

Clinical motivation: Serial brain imaging can reveal patterns of change over time with important clinical implications for neurodegenerative disease [1]. We investigate the performance of four analysis methods, in terms of a comparison of 20 patients with probable AD to 20 age- and sex-matched controls, characterising differences in change from baseline to later scans