Magdalena Kegel,  —

Cognitive impairment may present an obstacle for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using brain-computer interface devices, according to a study published in the Journal of Neural Engineering. The findings underscore the importance of considering disease heterogeneity when designing these potentially beneficial devices for clinical use. The study, “Performance…

Researchers have, for the first time, managed to selectively alter gene expression in brain motor neurons of mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) without affecting other neurons in the motor cortex. The results are a major step forward in efforts to develop gene replacement therapy for ALS. “The brain is…

Biopharmaceutical company Neuralstem presented new and potentially promising results from its clinical investigations of NSI-566 — human spinal cord-derived neural stem cells for the treatment of conditions including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — at the recent Phacilitate Cell & Gene Therapy World conference in Washington, D.C. Karl Johe, the company’s chairman and chief scientific officer, reported that two clinical trials…

A report from the Boston University School of Public Health shows that Gulf War Illness is a result of exposure to pesticides and other toxins used in the Gulf War. The report also notes that in addition to Gulf War Illness, deployed Gulf War veterans suffer higher rates of stroke, brain cancer and…

The U.S. Department of Defense announced that nine researchers are the winners of the 2015 ALS Research Program (ALSRP), which aims to improve treatment and find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by funding preclinical research into the disease. The winners were announced in a press release by the ALS…

Entrepreneur Kevin Gosnell announced the launch of ALS ONE – a partner organization of the ALS Association and ALS Finding a Cure that aims to bring world-leading experts in neurology and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) care together to realize an ambitious goal: finding a new ALS treatment within four years.

The ratio of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) to glutamate is related to disease duration in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a finding that supports the notion of glutamate toxicity as a contributing factor in ALS pathology. Earlier studies have indicated that the neurotransmitter glutamate is involved in ALS. People with sporadic ALS…

A panel of leading amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) researchers recently published a review study, supported by the ALS Association, detailing the state of disease biomarker development and calling for the formation of an ALS Biomarker Consortium to speed up research into more effective disease treatments. The review, titled “ALS biomarkers…

A report in the journal JAMA Neurology revealed positive findings from the first Phase 1/2 clinical trial and the Phase 2 dose escalation study investigating BrainStorm’s NurOwn for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). NurOwn is a stem cell technology employing adult cells isolated from the disease-affected patient, developed…

University of Bern researchers have discovered that the synaptic protein Homer-3 is linked to the death of Purkinje motor neurons in Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), a motor neuron disease that, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is characterized by extensive motor neuron loss. The study, titled “Impaired mTORC1-Dependent Expression of…