News

For ALS, Clues in Different Directions

by Jim Schnabel

BrainWork

Symptoms of the disease follow the deaths of motor neurons, but ALS’s ultimate cause may lie elsewhere

Report on Progress

Artificial Sight

Restoration of Sight through Use of Argus II, a Bioelectronic Retinal Implant

by Mark S. Humayun, M.D., Ph.D.

The development of retinal prostheses to gen­erate artificial vision for blind people is a complex, long-term, expensive, and interdisciplinary undertak­ing. The FDA has approved the first such device and here's how it works. One of our series of Reports on Progress.

Cerebrum - May 2013

Sound the Alarm:
Fraud in Neuroscience

by StePHEN G. Lisberger, Ph.D.

Cerebrum


By all accounts, scientific misconduct over the last decade is on the rise, especially in the area of journal retractions. In neuroscience, our author—both a leading academic and an experienced neuroscience journal editor—believes the field is detecting “only the tip of the fraud iceberg.” His story addresses the nature, detection, and incentives for fraud, and suggests reforms.

Primer

Memory—A Primer

by Carl Sherman

Thanks to a century of memory research, we know a good deal about its operation: what happens in the brain when we store facts, experiences, and skills in memory; what happens when we recall them. One of our series of Primers.

News

To Stave off Alzheimer’s, Stay Hungry?

by Jim Schnabel

Researchers hope that the ‘5:2 diet’ and other eating-restriction techniques can prevent age-related neurodegeneration and extend the working life of the brain.

News

Psychiatry’s Guide Is Out of Touch With Science, Experts Say

by Pam Belluck and Benedict Carey

New York Times

Just weeks before the long-awaited publication of a new edition of the so-called bible of mental disorders, the federal government’s most prominent psychiatric expert has said the book suffers from a scientific “lack of validity.” Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said his goal was to reshape the direction of psychiatric research to focus on biology, genetics and neuroscience so that scientists can define disorders by their causes, rather than their symptoms. [off-site-link]

See also

Webcast

The Law to Neuroscience: Hold Up

Much of what we “know” from neuroscience research is not ready—yet—for use in the courtroom, argued panelists during a forum April 25 in Washington, DC.  A webcast from the Neuroscience and Law series, sponsored by the Dana Foundation, AAAS, The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience, and the International Neuroethics Society.

See also

News

When the Trip Never Ends

by Dirk Hanson

For some people, trying LSD or Ecstasy (MDMA) can leave a legacy of chronic visual hallucinations.

Drugs for the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's Disease
Column

Drugs for the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's Disease

by Guy McKhann, M.D.

Brain in the News

The process of developing effective therapies for Alzheimer's disease must be simplified, or else pharmaceutical companies are likely to take their money elsewhere.

See also

Upcoming Neuroscience Events

Targeting Epigenetic Regulators for Cancer Therapy: This symposium reviews epigenetic regulators in cancer development and progress in designing therapies targeting the epigenome – May 24 at NYAS.

World Science Festival: Brains on Trial: Join a distinguished group of neuroscientists and legal experts who will debate how and if neuroscience should inform our laws and how we treat criminals – June 1 in NYC.

Staying Sharp in Suffolk County: Join the Dana Foundation and AARP for a free discussion and Q&A on the aging brain, memory, and brain health issues. Registration required – June 8.

Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy: New basic science and clinical findings relevant to the pathogenesis, mitigation, cure, and risk stratification of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy will support a discussion of current challenges and future directions for PML treatment – June 19-20 at NYAS.

Accelerating Translational Neurotechnology: Fourth Annual Aspen Brain Forum: Explore innovative models for advancing the translation of novel neurotechnologies, such as neurostimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and neuron replacement therapies, into diagnostic tools and treatments for neurological and psychiatric disease – September 18–20.
NIH National Research Study Recruitment Registry 

The user-friendly site ResearchMatch.org connects people who want to participate in clinical trials with researchers conducting studies in an array of diseases.

The NIH also sponsors the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, which seeks volunteers having the very earliest complaints of memory problems that affect their daily activities. See  a list of locations and how to contact the researchers.  

The Alzheimer's Association hosts a more-general  Find a Clinical Trial page for patients, healthy volunteers, doctors, and others.


Rolling Grant Submission

Clinical Neuroscience Research