Category Archives: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Functional Ultrasound Advance Could Improve Brain Tumor Removal – Technology Networks

Researchers of CUBE (Center for Ultrasound Brain imaging @ Erasmus Medical Center) have managed to image live cerebral blood flow during awake brain surgery using functional Ultrasound (fUS). This cutting-edge technique could aid neurosurgeons in their effort to remove brain tumors without damaging surrounding functional brain tissue. Additionally, the researchers demonstrate that the technique can also pinpoint the healthy, functional areas in the brain during surgery. Their work was recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.

During tumor removal, it is essential to prevent damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. In brain tumors this might even be more critical, as damage to brain tissue may cause speech deficits, motor problems or worse. Using fUS, as implemented by CUBE, it is now possible to image both the vascular structure of a tumor as well as specific functional brain areas during awake brain surgery. Pieter Kruizinga and Sadaf Soloukey from CUBE: For the first time, we now have access to a technique with which we can image the living brain directly and with an unprecedented level of precision.

Functional Ultrasound (fUS) displays very small changes in blood flow. For tumor tissue, this means that we can see feeding vessels of the tumor in extreme detail, allowing for tumor delineation. For healthy tissue, this technique gives us immediate access to brain activity. During awake brain surgeries we could also ask our patients to perform tasks such as speaking and moving. By identifying exactly those areas where the blood flow follows the pattern of the functional task, we can determine whether or not that brain area is involved. As such, we can image the eloquent areas of the brain and inform the surgeon which brain areas to avoid.

Kruizinga and Soloukey were especially impressed by their language-related measurements: We asked our patients to think about words, which we could then display live in our ultrasound images. This means we can now actually image the thought of language using ultrasound. This observation has an impact that reaches even further than just the neurosurgical domain.

For the future, the CUBE-team has high hopes. Kruizinga and Soloukey: We are now in the middle of finalizing our last technical developments: we aim to make live 3D images in the OR, and compare them to conventional pre-operative MRIs. We are also working towards live and continuous imaging of the brain during the full length of the surgery, to give the neurosurgeon direct feedback on the procedure. The true breakthrough will be when we manage to image the brain without the need for skull removal, as is now still necessary. These types of challenges are especially ones we are good at solving at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.

Reference: Soloukey, S., Vincent, A. J. P. E., Satoer, D. D., Mastik, F., Smits, M., Dirven, C. M. F., Strydis, C., Bosch, J. G., van der Steen, A. F. W., De Zeeuw, C. I., Koekkoek, S. K. E., & Kruizinga, P. (2020). Functional Ultrasound (fUS) During Awake Brain Surgery: The Clinical Potential of Intra-Operative Functional and Vascular Brain Mapping. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01384

This article has been republished from materials provided by Erasmus Medical Center. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Cerevel Therapeutics Initiates Phase 3 Program of Tavapadon for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease | Small Molecules | News Channels -…

DetailsCategory: Small MoleculesPublished on Wednesday, 15 January 2020 09:35Hits: 556

Studies to Enroll Approximately 1,200 Patients to Determine Effectiveness of Tavapadon Across the Full Spectrum of Early- and Late-Stage Parkinsons

BOSTON, MA, USA I January 14, 2020 ICerevel Therapeutics, a company dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases, today announced the initiation of its registration-directed Phase 3 program evaluating tavapadon in patients with Parkinsons disease. The company plans to conduct three 27-week trials designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of fixed doses (TEMPO-1) and flexible doses (TEMPO-2, TEMPO-3) of tavapadon as either monotherapy in patients with early-stage Parkinsons disease or as adjunctive therapy to levodopa in patients with late-stage Parkinsons disease who are experiencing motor fluctuations. A fourth 58-week, open-label, safety extension trial will also be conducted as part of the program.

Parkinsons disease affects approximately 10 million people worldwide, and there remains an important need for better and more effective therapies across the spectrum of this debilitating disease, said Raymond Sanchez, M.D., chief medical officer of Cerevel Therapeutics. We believe tavapadon has the potential to improve outcomes for patients with both early-stage and late-stage Parkinsons. It is our expectation that the innovative design of each of these Phase 3 trials will allow us to demonstrate tavapadons ability to improve patients motor symptoms and functioning. We anticipate data from these trials to be available beginning in the second half of 2022.

The three double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group Phase 3 clinical trials will enroll patients ages 40 to 80 years with either early-stage Parkinsons disease (TEMPO-1, TEMPO-2) or patients with late-stage Parkinsons disease who are experiencing motor fluctuations on levodopa treatment (TEMPO-3). Approximately 1,200 patients will be enrolled across all three trials. The primary endpoint of the TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-2 trials is the change from baseline in the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part II and Part III combined score. The primary endpoint of the TEMPO-3 trial is the change from baseline in total daily on time without troublesome dyskinesias.

In each of the three 27-week trials, participants will be randomized to tavapadon or placebo groups. In the TEMPO-1 trial, study participants will be titrated up to a fixed dose of either 5 mg once daily (QD) or 15 mg QD of tavapadon. In the TEMPO-2 and TEMPO-3 trials, participants will be titrated upward to a dose of between 5 mg and 15 mg QD in a flexible dosing paradigm.

The TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-2 trials have already initiated screening of patients, and the TEMPO-3 trial will begin screening later this year.

About Tavapadon Tavapadon is a potent, orally-bioavailable, selective partial agonist of the dopamine D1 and D5 receptors. This investigational therapeutic is being evaluated for the once-daily symptomatic treatment of Parkinsons disease.

About Parkinsons Disease Approximately 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinsons disease, according to the Parkinsons Foundation. The disease is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (the main source of dopamine) leading to a loss of critical motor and non-motor functions. Symptom severity and disease progression differ between individuals but typically include slowness of movement (bradykinesia), trembling in the extremities (tremors), stiffness (rigidity), cognitive or behavioral abnormalities, sleep disturbances and sensory dysfunction.1 There is no laboratory or blood test for Parkinsons disease, so a diagnosis is made based on clinical observation,2 which may contribute to an underestimation of the incidence of the disease.

About Cerevel Therapeutics Cerevel Therapeutics is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases. The company seeks to unlock the science surrounding new treatment opportunities through understanding the neurocircuitry of neuroscience diseases and associated symptoms. Cerevel Therapeutics has a diversified pipeline comprising five clinical-stage investigational therapies and several preclinical compounds with the potential to treat a range of neuroscience diseases, including Parkinsons, epilepsy, schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Headquartered in Boston, Cerevel Therapeutics is advancing its current research and development programs while exploring new modalities through internal research efforts, external collaborations or potential acquisitions. For more information, visit http://www.cerevel.com.

1 J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008;79:368-376. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2007.131045. 2 Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012;2:a008870.

SOURCE: Cerevel Therapeutics

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Cerevel Therapeutics Initiates Phase 3 Program of Tavapadon for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease | Small Molecules | News Channels -...

Neuroscience

Reason and the art of neuroscience – McGill Tribune

One of the major attractions of academia is the ability to make a career out of learning, where one can pursue a life reminiscent of ancient Greek philosophers or Renaissance polymaths. Of course, following ones research passions depends on funding. Grant applications and email correspondence shape the everyday life of academics, draining time and energy that would be more enjoyably spent pondering lofty ideas.

McGill professors David Ragsdale and Ian Gold took time off from such drudgery on Nov. 19 at the event Synapses and Skepticism to discuss their favourite topics at the intersection of neuroscience and philosophy. The two started their academic careers on parallel paths that eventually converged. Ragsdale, a neuroscientist, studied psychology in his undergrad before happening upon the budding field of neuroscience. Today, he contributes to the field through his work on ion channels, proteins that control the movement of electrical signals in the brain. Gold, a philosopher, tackles the puzzle of delusions and the social determinants of psychosis, how human minds make educated guesses about reality, and how these guesses can go awry.

Research on brain function has yielded insight into philosophical questions. Ragsdale cited a famous neuroscience experiment from 1983 that many lauded as definitive evidence that free will does not exist. The researchers measured participants brain waves using electrodes on their scalps and asked them to press a button whenever they felt inclined to do so. Using a fast-spinning clock in the participants view, they could determine both when the participant felt the conscious intention to press the button, as well as when they actually pressed it.

As expected, the conscious experience of the will to act preceded the act itself. Unexpectedly, though, the brainwave measurements showed a boost in neural activity before the thought arose on a conscious level, indicating that the brain prepared for the action before the participant was even aware of it.

While the implications of this study are still heavily debated, its results suggest that our feeling of agency in making decisions is an illusion produced by the brain, Ragsdale said.

Golds research on delusions sheds light on another basic philosophical conundrum informed by neuroscience: How to determine what is real and what is not. In response to a students question on the relationship between hallucinations and reality, Gold spoke of a now commonly accepted model of the brains role linking sensation to conscious perception.

Rather than simply projecting the raw sensory data coming in, our brains process these inputs and construct an altered picture of the world, Gold said. This model suggests that our brains make these educated guesses about incoming sensory information that enable us to act more efficiently.

Optical illusions, such as the famous grey bar, are an example of this process. An objective eye seeing the bar will determine that the bar is the same shade throughout its length. But our brains, primed to detect contrast, produce an image that gets darker from left to right. This process stems from evolutionary pressures that have pushed our nervous systems to produce a useful, rather than accurate, perception of the world.

After two hours of discussion, the event concluded with many questions still circling. Left with a hefty dose of head-scratchers, everyone got back on with their lives, neurons firing all cylinders.

Optical illusions such as the famous grey bar illustrate how our brains construct an altered picture of the world.

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Reason and the art of neuroscience - McGill Tribune

Neuroscience

ORYZON to Present at the 3rd Neuroscience Innovation Forum in San Francisco – GlobeNewswire

MADRID, Spain and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oryzon Genomics, S.A. (ISIN Code: ES0167733015, ORY), a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging epigenetics to develop therapies in diseases with strong unmet medical need, announces that its management will present recent progress of vafidemstat in central nervous system (CNS) indications at the 3rd Neuroscience Innovation Forum in San Francisco on January 12.

Vafidemstat is in Phase II clinical development in multiple trials. It has demonstrated promise as a safe, well-tolerated and differentiated therapeutic option for treating agitation and aggression, and for treating non-aggressive features of three distinct psychiatric diseases.

Oryzons CEO Dr. Carlos Buesa and CMO Dr. Roger Bullock will make the presentation at the Marines' Memorial Club, a day before the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Oryzons presentation will take place at 13:50 PT in Track E in the Room Commandants. At the same event, Dr. Buesa will also participate in the Advances in Alzheimers & Other Cognitive Disorders Panel discussion at 9:30 am PT.

Oryzon will also take part in the 9th Annual LifeSci Advisors Corporate Access Event from January 13 to January 15, 2020 where Oryzons CEO and other management will hold meetings with pharmaceutical companies, institutional investors, analysts and other members of the biotech community at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel (450 Powell Street).

About OryzonFounded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company considered as the European champion in Epigenetics. Oryzon has one of the strongest portfolios in the field. Oryzons LSD1 program has rendered two compounds, vafidemstat and iadademstat, in clinical trials. In addition, Oryzon has ongoing programs for developing inhibitors against other epigenetic targets. Oryzon has a strong technological platform for biomarker identification and performs biomarker and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurodegenerative diseases. Oryzon has offices in Spain and the United States. For more information, visit http://www.oryzon.com.

About VafidemstatVafidemstat (ORY-2001) is an oral, CNS optimized LSD1 inhibitor. The molecule acts on several levels: it reduces cognitive impairment, including memory loss and neuroinflammation, and at the same time has neuroprotective effects. In animal studies vafidemstat not only restores memory but reduces the exacerbated aggressiveness of SAMP8 mice, a model for accelerated aging and Alzheimers disease (AD), to normal levels and also reduces social avoidance and enhances sociability in murine models. In addition, vafidemstat exhibits fast, strong and durable efficacy in several preclinical models of multiple sclerosis (MS). Oryzon has performed a Phase IIa clinical trial in aggressiveness in patients with different psychiatric disorders (REIMAGINE), with positive preliminary clinical results reported. Additional Phase IIa clinical trials with vafidemstat are ongoing in patients with Mild to Moderate AD (ETHERAL), in aggressiveness in patients with moderate or severe AD (REIMAGINE-AD), and in Relapse-Remitting and Secondary Progressive MS (SATEEN).

About IadademstatIadademstat (ORY-1001) is a small oral molecule, which acts as a highly selective inhibitor of the epigenetic enzyme LSD1 and has a powerful differentiating effect in hematologic cancers (See Maes et al., Cancer Cell 2018 Mar 12; 33 (3): 495-511.e12.doi: 10.1016 / j.ccell.2018.02.002.). A first Phase I/IIa clinical trial with iadademstat in refractory and relapsed acute leukemia patients demonstrated the safety and good tolerability of the drug and preliminary signs of antileukemic activity, including a CRi. Beyond hematological cancers, the inhibition of LSD1 has been proposed as a valid therapeutic approach in some solid tumors such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), medulloblastoma and others. Oryzon is currently conducting two Phase IIa clinical trials of iadademstat in combination; the first one in combination with azacitidine in elderly AML patients (ALICE study) and the second one in combination with platinum/etoposide in second line SCLC patients (CLEPSIDRA study). In both studies, preliminary clinical results have been reported.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This communication contains, or may contain, forward-looking information and statements about Oryzon, including financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, capital expenditures, synergies, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally identified by the words expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates and similar expressions. Although Oryzon believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors and holders of Oryzon shares are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Oryzon that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the documents sent by Oryzon to the Spanish Comisin Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), which are accessible to the public. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and have not been reviewed by the auditors of Oryzon. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributable to Oryzon or any of its members, directors, officers, employees or any persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement above. All forward-looking statements included herein are based on information available to Oryzon on the date hereof. Except as required by applicable law, Oryzon does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Oryzons securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. Any public offering of Oryzons securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus that may be obtained from Oryzon or the selling security holder, as applicable, that will contain detailed information about Oryzon and management, as well as financial statements.

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ORYZON to Present at the 3rd Neuroscience Innovation Forum in San Francisco - GlobeNewswire

Neuroscience

Cerevel Therapeutics Initiates Phase 3 Program of Tavapadon for the Treatment of Parkinsons Disease – Yahoo Finance

Studies to Enroll Approximately 1,200 Patients to Determine Effectiveness of Tavapadon Across the Full Spectrum of Early- and Late-Stage Parkinsons

Cerevel Therapeutics, a company dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases, today announced the initiation of its registration-directed Phase 3 program evaluating tavapadon in patients with Parkinsons disease. The company plans to conduct three 27-week trials designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of fixed doses (TEMPO-1) and flexible doses (TEMPO-2, TEMPO-3) of tavapadon as either monotherapy in patients with early-stage Parkinsons disease or as adjunctive therapy to levodopa in patients with late-stage Parkinsons disease who are experiencing motor fluctuations. A fourth 58-week, open-label, safety extension trial will also be conducted as part of the program.

"Parkinsons disease affects approximately 10 million people worldwide, and there remains an important need for better and more effective therapies across the spectrum of this debilitating disease," said Raymond Sanchez, M.D., chief medical officer of Cerevel Therapeutics. "We believe tavapadon has the potential to improve outcomes for patients with both early-stage and late-stage Parkinsons. It is our expectation that the innovative design of each of these Phase 3 trials will allow us to demonstrate tavapadons ability to improve patients motor symptoms and functioning. We anticipate data from these trials to be available beginning in the second half of 2022."

The three double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group Phase 3 clinical trials will enroll patients ages 40 to 80 years with either early-stage Parkinsons disease (TEMPO-1, TEMPO-2) or patients with late-stage Parkinsons disease who are experiencing motor fluctuations on levodopa treatment (TEMPO-3). Approximately 1,200 patients will be enrolled across all three trials. The primary endpoint of the TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-2 trials is the change from baseline in the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part II and Part III combined score. The primary endpoint of the TEMPO-3 trial is the change from baseline in total daily "on" time without troublesome dyskinesias.

In each of the three 27-week trials, participants will be randomized to tavapadon or placebo groups. In the TEMPO-1 trial, study participants will be titrated up to a fixed dose of either 5 mg once daily (QD) or 15 mg QD of tavapadon. In the TEMPO-2 and TEMPO-3 trials, participants will be titrated upward to a dose of between 5 mg and 15 mg QD in a flexible dosing paradigm.

The TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-2 trials have already initiated screening of patients, and the TEMPO-3 trial will begin screening later this year.

About TavapadonTavapadon is a potent, orally-bioavailable, selective partial agonist of the dopamine D1 and D5 receptors. This investigational therapeutic is being evaluated for the once-daily symptomatic treatment of Parkinsons disease.

About Parkinsons DiseaseApproximately 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinsons disease, according to the Parkinsons Foundation. The disease is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons (the main source of dopamine) leading to a loss of critical motor and non-motor functions. Symptom severity and disease progression differ between individuals but typically include slowness of movement (bradykinesia), trembling in the extremities (tremors), stiffness (rigidity), cognitive or behavioral abnormalities, sleep disturbances and sensory dysfunction.1 There is no laboratory or blood test for Parkinsons disease, so a diagnosis is made based on clinical observation,2 which may contribute to an underestimation of the incidence of the disease.

About Cerevel TherapeuticsCerevel Therapeutics is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases. The company seeks to unlock the science surrounding new treatment opportunities through understanding the neurocircuitry of neuroscience diseases and associated symptoms. Cerevel Therapeutics has a diversified pipeline comprising five clinical-stage investigational therapies and several preclinical compounds with the potential to treat a range of neuroscience diseases, including Parkinsons, epilepsy, schizophrenia and substance use disorder. Headquartered in Boston, Cerevel Therapeutics is advancing its current research and development programs while exploring new modalities through internal research efforts, external collaborations or potential acquisitions. For more information, visit http://www.cerevel.com.

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Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on managements beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about the potential attributes and benefits of our product candidates and the format and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials, including trial initiation and data availability. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, if the forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

1 J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008;79:368-376. doi:10.1136/jnnp.2007.131045.2 Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012;2:a008870.

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Cerevel Therapeutics Initiates Phase 3 Program of Tavapadon for the Treatment of Parkinsons Disease - Yahoo Finance

Neuroscience

Pacific Brain Tumor Center Recruiting Patients with Rare Cancer of the Skull and Spine for Groundbreaking Clinical Trial – PRNewswire

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The approved lung cancer drug pemetrexed is at the center of a new clinical trial at Providence Saint John's Health Center's Pacific Brain Tumor Center for patients diagnosed with chordoma, a rare, slow-growing cancer found in the bones at the base of the skull and the spine that is difficult to treat.

Two chordoma patients who received the drug approved by the FDA for lung cancer only showed promising results with reductions in the sizes of their tumors.

Chordoma is an extremely rare cancer, diagnosed in just one in 1 million people per year, and can affect individuals of all ages. The standard of care is surgery and/or radiation, but tumors tend to recur after treatment and it also can spread or metastasize to other parts in the body. There are currently no approved drugs for the treatment of chordoma, which is why clinical trials that test promising new therapies are important.

Santosh Kesari, M.D., Ph.D., the principal investigator of the trial, is now recruiting chordoma patients who will be administered pemetrexed intravenously every three weeks. Pemetrexed typically is prescribed to lung cancer patients as part of a maintenance plan following initial treatment.

Dr. Kesari, director of neuro-oncology at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, found through molecular profiling there is a certain protein that may be able to predict response to pemetrexed treatment.

"We have discovered a biomarker in chordoma samples that correlated with response in chordoma patients treated with pemetrexed," said Dr. Kesari. "To date, two of two patients treated with pemetrexed had dramatic shrinkages of metastatic chordoma tumors. We are excited to be partnering with Eli Lilly and the Chordoma Foundation to bring this new approach to the clinic."

The Pacific Brain Tumor Center is partnering with the Chordoma Foundation, an advocacy group which, among other services, supports well-justified clinical trials.

"Historically, treatment options for patients with residual, recurrent, or advanced chordoma have been limited and inadequate," said Josh Sommer, co-founder and executive director of the Chordoma Foundation. "The pemetrexed trial is a promising step forward in identifying more effective treatments for chordoma patients."

Eli Lilly and Company, the maker of pemetrexed, is providing the drug and funding for the study. The trial opened in September and will enroll up to 15 patients. Positive results may spur the expansion of the trial beyond the single location in Santa Monica.

"By building upon important clinical observations and applying discoveries from laboratory research, we hope to learn more about a potential new strategy to improve outcomes for patients with chordoma," said Tiffany Juarez, Ph.D., program manager for translational research.

Trial EnrollmentAdults 18 years and older with chordoma are invited to participate.For more information and to enroll into the trial, call the neuro-oncology clinical trials team at 310-829-8265.

About Pacific Brain Tumor CenterThe Pacific Brain Tumor Center is a Center of Excellence at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, with clinics at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica and Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance. The Brain Tumor Center, in partnership with the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center, provides comprehensive care for patients with all types of brain tumors, including benign and malignant brain tumors, skull base tumors and metastatic brain tumors that arise from cancers elsewhere in the body. Physicians at the center are leaders in state-of-the-art procedures to diagnose and treat tumors.

About Providence St. Joseph Health Providence St. Joseph Health is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, 829 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 119,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington with system offices based in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif.

Media contact:Zara Jethani232267@email4pr.com818-209-4070

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Pacific Brain Tumor Center Recruiting Patients with Rare Cancer of the Skull and Spine for Groundbreaking Clinical Trial - PRNewswire

Neuroscience

Cannabis Receptor Linked to Stress Reduction in Mice – Technology Networks

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have published a study suggesting that brain receptors activated by marijuana can be targeted to cut stress. The scientists used a mouse model of stress in their study, where they showed that a molecule that activates the receptors could reduce anxiety-linked connections between two distinct brain areas.

This finding, published today in Neuron, could help explain why some people use marijuana when they're anxious or under stress. It could also mean that pharmacologic treatments that increase levels of this molecule, known as "2-AG," in the brain could regulate anxiety and depressive symptoms in people with stress-related anxiety disorders, potentially avoiding a reliance on medical marijuana or similar treatments.

When mice are exposed to acute stress, a break in an anxiety-producing connection between the amygdala and the frontal cortex caused by 2-AG temporarily disappears, causing the emergence of anxiety-related behaviors.

"The circuit between the amygdala and the frontal cortex has been shown to be stronger in individuals with certain types of anxiety disorders. As people or animals are exposed to stress and get more anxious, these two brain areas glue together, and their activity grows stronger together," said Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, the paper's corresponding author and director of the Division of General Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"We might predict there's a collapse in the endocannabinoid system, which includes 2-AG, in the patients that go on to develop a disorder. But, not everyone develops a psychiatric disorder after trauma exposure, so maybe the people who don't develop a disorder are able to maintain that system in some way. Those are the things we're interested in testing next."

The study also found that signaling between the amygdala and the frontal cortex can be strengthened through genetic manipulations that compromise endogenous cannabinoid signaling in this pathway, causing mice to become anxious even without exposure to stress in some cases. This finding demonstrates that the cannabinoid signaling system that suppresses information flow between these two brain regions is critical for setting the level of anxiety in animals.

"We don't know how or why this cannabinoid signaling system disappears or disintegrates in response to stress, but it results in the strengthening of the connection between these two regions and heightened anxiety behaviors in mice. Understanding what's causing that compromise, what causes the signaling system to return after a few days, and many other questions about the molecular mechanisms by which this is happening are things we're interested in following up on," said Patel, also the James G. Blakemore Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Pharmacology.

David Marcus, Neuroscience graduate student and first author on the paper, and Patel are also interested in how the system reacts to more chronic forms of stress and determining whether there are other environmental exposures that compromise or enhance this system to regulate behavior.

Reference: Marcus, D. J., Bedse, G., Gaulden, A. D., Ryan, J. D., Kondev, V., Winters, N. D., Rosas-Vidal, L. E., Altemus, M., Mackie, K., Lee, F. S., Delpire, E., & Patel, S. (2020). Endocannabinoid Signaling Collapse Mediates Stress-Induced Amygdalo-Cortical Strengthening. Neuron, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.12.024

This article has been republished from materials issued by Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Cannabis Receptor Linked to Stress Reduction in Mice - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

Wushu club in its element with TV-inspired demo – OSU – The Lantern

Natalie Lucas, a third-year in neuroscience, performing a martial arts demonstration. Credit: Aaron Lien| Lantern Reporter

An Ohio State kung fu club proved that Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to draw crowds, finding its largest audience yet with a themed panel showcasing traditional martial arts at Ohayocon.

Students from the Dragon Phoenix Wushu team performed in front of roughly 1,000 people in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom during the 20th-annual Ohayocon anime convention Saturday. The performance featured live demonstrations of martial arts styles and techniques that inspired the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Directly translated, wushu just means the Chinese martial arts, but you probably know it as kung fu, Natalie Lucas, a third-year in neuroscience and wushu club vice president, said during the panel.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American-made animated series that draws heavily from Chinese martial arts and imagery, with an art style similar to Japanese anime. The show follows the titular Avatar, Aang, the only person capable of controlling water, earth, fire and air, as he tries to bring peace across the four nations of the world. Each of the elements is controlled using a different form of kung fu, which were each demonstrated in the performance.

The panel began with a performance set to the shows opening theme song. Then, club members took turns demonstrating their wushu and weapon skills while educating the audience on the traditional martial art. Featured weapons included spears, fans and straight swords.

Lucas said this was her first time organizing and hosting a panel for the con, but she has been attending Ohayocon since age 12. She said watching Avatar: The Last Airbender when she was 13 initially inspired her to pursue martial arts, and the idea for the panel came from wanting to merge two of her interests.

After spending three years learning Northern Shaolin kung fu before coming to Ohio State, Lucas said she found that the wushu club was the only kung fu club the university offered. She said she has been in the club since her first year.

We were all really nervous when people started filing in, but in the end, this is a performative martial art, and were here because we love putting on a show for people, Lucas said. After the panel, Lucas walked the con floor cosplaying Suki, a fan-wielding character from the show.

Thomas Bozzi, a third-year in aerospace engineering, performing a martial arts demonstration. Credit: Aaron Lien| Lantern Reporter

Thomas Bozzi, a third-year in aerospace engineering and the clubs president, said that compared with other performances, nearly every club member was able to participate in some way at Ohayocon. He added that he was happy to see so many members getting involved.

This is definitely the largest crowd weve had, by far, Bozzi said. Hopefully we can come back next year.

Bozzi said that when coming to Ohio State and looking for clubs to join, he wanted to try a new martial art that is performance-based instead of ones that are more practical.

I have a lot of fun. I really enjoy going on stage, I really enjoy performing, and then I also just enjoy martial arts, Bozzi said.

Lucas said wushu has kept her sane as she faces stress from her STEM major. She said many of her closest friends at the university are on the team, and she always has the club to center herself and exercise both her body and mind.

Wushu, to me, it means community. It means activity, exercise, family, Lucas said. Its comfort.

Dragon Phoenix Wushu meets from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the RPAC Multipurpose Room 3.

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Wushu club in its element with TV-inspired demo - OSU - The Lantern

Neuroscience

Biocept Announces Validation and Availability of its Liquid Biopsy Platform for the Detection of Actionable Cancer Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid -…

Biocept's patented Target Selector technology enables new specimen type--cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)--to identify biomarkers that can aid physicians in making treatment decisions

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC), a leading commercial provider of liquid biopsy tests designed to provide physicians with clinically actionable information to improve the outcomes of patients diagnosed with cancer, announces thatits Target Selector assays are now available to physicians in order to evaluate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of their patients for the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and biomarkers for patients with breast or lung cancer suspected of brain or central nervous system (CNS) metastases. The presence of tumor cells in CSF may be an indicator of brain metastases, which occurs when cancer has spread into the CNS. Up to 30% and 36% of patients diagnosed with breast and lung cancer, respectively, will develop brain metastases.

Biocept Logo (PRNewsFoto/Biocept, Inc.)

"Testing the CSF for cancer biomarkers in patients suspected to have brain metastases can be important, as the rapid confirmation and characterization of CNS involvement enables appropriate treatment selection in a timely manner," stated Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, Chair and Professor, Department of Translational Neurosciences and Neurotherapeutics, Director of Neuro-oncology at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute and John Wayne Cancer Institute."Liquid biopsy tests offer the ability to analyze an additional specimen type, beyond blood, to help physicians identify biomarkers and hence inform clinical decision making."

"We are very pleased to make our Target Selector platform available for testing CSF, as a more rapid identification of molecular alterations in brain metastases can aid physicians in choosing the best treatment options for their patients with breast or lung cancer," said Michael W. Nall, Biocept's President and CEO. "Among the significant capabilities of our technology is its versatility, which enables applications in a variety of clinical situations and for use with multiple types of biofluids."

About CSF Testing

A medical procedure known as a spinal tap or lumbar puncture is typically done to collect CSF when cancer patients present with CNS symptoms, for example confusion or dementia. Over 200,000 of these procedures are performed annually in the U.S. Biocept'sTarget Selector testing provides an alternative and potentially more accurate means compared to cytology to evaluate CSF. For more information about Biocept's Target Selector testing, please contact Biocept Customer Services at 888.332.7729.

About Biocept

Biocept, Inc. is a molecular diagnostics company with commercialized assays for lung, breast, gastric, colorectal and prostate cancers, and melanoma. The Company uses its proprietary liquid biopsy technology to provide physicians with information for treating and monitoring patients diagnosed with cancer. The Company's patented Target Selector liquid biopsy technology platform captures and analyzes tumor-associated molecular markers in both CTCs and in plasma (ctDNA). With thousands of tests performed, the platform has demonstrated the ability to identify cancer mutations and alterations to inform physicians about a patient's disease and therapeutic options. For additional information, please visitwww.biocept.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. To the extent that statements in this release are not strictly historical, including without limitation statements as to our ability to improve the outcomes of patients diagnosed with cancer and the potential clinical utilityof our proprietary technology platform as applied to CSF, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous risk factors as set forth in our Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. The effects of such risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this release. We do not plan to update any such forward-looking statements and expressly disclaim any duty to update the information contained in this press release except as required by law. Readers are advised to review our filings with the SEC, which can be accessed over the Internet at the SEC's website located at http://www.sec.gov/.

Contacts

Investors:LHA Investor RelationsJody CainJcain@lhai.com310-691-7100

Media:CORE IRJules Abrahamjulesa@coreir.com917-885-7378

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SOURCE Biocept, Inc.

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Biocept Announces Validation and Availability of its Liquid Biopsy Platform for the Detection of Actionable Cancer Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid -...

Neuroscience

Testing hearing by looking at the eyes – Medical News Today

New research introduces an innovative hearing test that may help people who are unable to respond, such as babies or people who have had a stroke. The new test relies on measuring the dilation of an individual's pupils.

Traditional ways of testing a person's hearing include tuning fork tests, speaker distance examination, and pure-tone threshold tests. These tests involve reflexes, such as raising the hand or pressing a button on hearing a particular sound. From this, the specialist can determine how well a person can hear varying pitches and levels.

However, these methods require a response from the person who is having the hearing test. But how can experts assess the hearing of people who are unable to respond, such as adults with stroke, young people with developmental problems, or babies?

A team of researchers led by Avinash Singh Bala from the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon in Eugene came up with an alternative way of testing someone's hearing that does not require a direct response from them.

Bala and his colleagues started from the observation that barn owls dilate their pupils when they discern sounds. The researchers discovered this in their previous work, which they conducted almost two decades ago.

So, in this new study, the team hypothesized that the same would be true in humans.

The results of their experiments appear in the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.

To test their hypothesis, the scientists used eye-tracking technology to examine the pupils of 31 adults, with an average age of 24 years old, who had no hearing loss.

The experimenters used an infrared video camera to monitor the participants' pupils as they were taking a standard hearing test. The test involved them pressing a button if they heard noises at the frequency of 1, 2, 4, and 8 kilohertz (kHz), respectively.

During the test, the participants also had to gaze at a computer screen.

A dot appeared on the screen, followed by tones at random delays, which prevented the participants from predicting when they would hear the sound.

"In this project, we randomized the timing of the tone's pulsing in relation to the dots, which also helped us avoid the expectation of a tone within a pattern," explains study co-author Terry T. Takahashi, a professor of biology and member of the Institute of Neuroscience.

When the participants saw the dot turning into a question mark on the screen, they had to indicate if they had heard the sound or not.

The researchers tracked the participants' pupil size for at least 1 second before the sound and 2 seconds after. The scientists excluded pupil dilation that can occur as a result of the cognitive effort that goes into pressing the button on demand.

The dilation of the participants' pupils matched their push-button response. Specifically, pupils started to dilate at about 0.25 of a second after the sound.

The fact that the pupil dilation was so quick enabled the researchers "to see and establish causality."

"What we found was that pupil dilation was as sensitive as the button-press method," Bala explains.

He continues: "We had presented early data analyses at conferences, and there was a lot of resistance to the idea that by using an involuntary response we could get results as good as button-press data."

"This study is a proof of concept that this is possible," he concludes.

"The first time we tested a human subject's pupil response was in 1999. We knew it could work, but we had to optimize the approach for capturing the detection of the quietest sounds."

Takahashi comments on the relevance and usefulness of the findings, saying, "A pupil dilation test is not as useful in adults who can communicate with the tester."

"The utility of the method is in testing people who can't tell us whether they heard a sound for example, babies."

Terry T. Takahashi

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Testing hearing by looking at the eyes - Medical News Today