New brain-computer interface allows man with ALS to ‘speak’ again

Technology developed by UC Davis Health restores interpersonal communication

16-Aug-2024 - A new brain-computer interface (BCI) developed at UC Davis Health translates brain signals into speech with up to 97% accuracy — the most accurate system of its kind. The researchers implanted sensors in the brain of a man with severely impaired speech due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ...

UMC Utrecht and VectorY Therapeutics collaborate in ALS Biomarker Study

Finding these biomarkers is expected to help diagnose ALS and monitor disease progression and improve the design of future clinical studie

18-Jun-2024 - UMC Utrecht has enrolled its first patient for a new study to identify biomarkers of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The observational investigator-initiated study is led by Professor Dr. Leonard van den Berg and supported by VectorY Therapeutics. VectorY Therapeutics is developing ...

Cracking the Code of Neurodegeneration: New Model Identifies Potential Therapeutic Target

Novel neural cell culture model developed

23-Feb-2024 - Scientists at the University of Zurich have developed an innovative neural cell culture model, shedding light on the intricate mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Their research pinpointed a misbehaving protein as a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral ...

Neuromuscular 2D model for drug research

21-Dec-2023 - In neuromuscular diseases, the interaction between neurons and muscle cells is disrupted. Researchers led by Mina Gouti are now able to simulate this in 2D in a culture dish. The approach is well suited for high-throughput screening in drug research, they write in Nature Communications. Around ...

A Potential New Therapeutic Approach for Curing Neurodegenerative Diseases

Reactivating Damaged Motor Neurons Using Magnetic Fields

14-Jun-2023 - Motor neurons in healthy individuals send signals to the skeletal muscles. ALS, however, is currently an incurable, neurodegenerative disease in which motor neurons are severely damaged and can therefore no longer transmit these signals. An interdisciplinary team at HZDR has proven in cell ...

Cold against ageing and neurodegenerative diseases?

Cold can prevent the pathological aggregation of proteins typical for two aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases

05-Apr-2023 - A lower body temperature is one of the most effective mechanisms to prolong the lifespan of animals. Writing in ‘Nature Aging’, a working group at the University of Cologne’s CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Aging Research has now described precisely how this works. The scientists show that cold ...

Reading out RNA structures in real time

16-Feb-2023 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and Stephen Hawking’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the gradual loss of control over the muscles in the body. It is currently incurable and the cause of the disease is unknown in over 90% of all ...

Decoding cellular zipcodes

Researchers suspect that neurodegenerative diseases occur when messenger RNA goes astray in the neuron

02-Feb-2023 - With a new method, Marina Chekulaeva is able to identify “zipcodes” that assign a destination to mRNAs. She has now presented her method in the journal Nature Neuroscience. In neurodegenerative diseases, the loss of neurons leads to a variety of malfunctions. In Alzheimer’s disease, for example, ...

FundaMental Pharma launches with EUR 10 million in Seed financing to advance a First-in-Class neuroprotectant

"These inhibitors have the potential to revolutionize therapies for currently untreatable neurodegenerative diseases"

21-Nov-2022 - FundaMental Pharma GmbH, a preclinical neuroscience company spun out of Heidelberg University, announces that it has launched with EUR 10 million in seed financing led by BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and Thuja Capital, with participation from other investors, including coparion and High-Tech ...

Research on cell droplets – New hope for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

The Körber European Science Prize 2022 goes to Anthony Hyman

01-Jul-2022 - The Körber European Science Prize 2022, endowed with one million euros, is to be awarded to the British cell biologist Anthony Hyman. In 2009, Hyman and his team – during studies on single-cell embryos of a threadworm – discovered a completely new state of biological matter: proteins can ...