Month July 2017

Improved method for cannula fixation for long-term intracerebral brain infusion

“Improved method for cannula fixation for long-term intracerebral brain infusion” has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. This work was supported in part by JPND through the NeuroGEM project, selected in the 2013 cross-disease analysis call, and the…

Motor Neuron Disease Discovery Offers New Insights into Potential Treatment Targets

By studying cells from patients with motor neuron disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers have revealed a detailed picture of how motor neurons — nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control our muscles and…

Sigma 1 receptor activation modifies intracellular calcium exchange in ALS model

“Sigma 1 receptor activation modifies intracellular calcium exchange in the G93AhSOD1 ALS model” has been published in the journal Neuroscience. This work was supported in part by JPND through the SOPHIA project, selected in the 2011 Biomarkers call.

Basis of ‘leaky’ brain blood vessels in Huntington’s Disease identified

By using induced pluripotent stem cells to create endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the brain for the first time for a neurodegenerative disease, researchers have learned why Huntington’s disease patients have defects in the blood-brain barrier that contribute…

Polygenic Risk Score Analysis of Pathologically Confirmed Alzheimer’s Disease

“Polygenic Risk Score Analysis of Pathologically Confirmed Alzheimer’s Disease” has been published in the journal Annals of Neurology. This work was supported in part by JPND through the PERADES project, selected in the 2012 Risk Factors call.

Making brain implants smaller could prolong their lifespan

Many diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, can be treated with electrical stimulation from an electrode implanted in the brain. However, the electrodes can produce scarring, which diminishes their effectiveness and can necessitate additional surgeries to replace them. Now, in a study…

α-Synuclein transfer between neurons and astrocytes indicates that astrocytes play a role in degradation rather than in spreading

“α-Synuclein transfer between neurons and astrocytes indicates that astrocytes play a role in degradation rather than in spreading” has been published in Acta Neuropathologica. This work was supported in part by JPND through the NeuTARGETS project, selected in the 2013…

Spread of tau protein measured in brains of Alzheimer’s patients

In a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers have measured how deposits of the pathological protein tau spread through the brain over the course of Alzheimer’s disease. Their results show that the size of the deposit and the speed…

KMT2A and KMT2B Mediate Memory Function by Affecting Distinct Genomic Regions

“KMT2A and KMT2B Mediate Memory Function by Affecting Distinct Genomic Regions” has been published in Cell Reports. This work was supported in part by JPND through the RiMod-FTD project, selected in the 2012 Risk Factors call.

What is survival among patients with Parkinson’s, Dementia with Lewy bodies?

A new article published in JAMA Neurology compares survival rates among patients with synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia and multiple system atrophy with parkinsonism, with individuals in the general population. The population-based study included…

Prospective study of individuals at risk for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, type 2, type 3 and type 6 (SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6)

The aim of RISCA is to answer the following questions: What is the incidence of disease manifestation in mutation carriers? Which clinical signs precede the onset of manifest ataxia in SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6? What are the prevalence and…

Million Women Study

The Million Women Study is the largest study of women’s health in the world. In 1996-2001, a quarter of UK women then aged 50-64 years (1.3 million women) joined the study. The aim of the study is to provide reliable…

The Gazel Cohort

The original GAZEL cohort was composed of 20,625 employees of the French national gas and electricity companies (15,011 male employees then aged 40 to 50 years and 5,614 women between 35 and 50 years old) at its inception in 1989.…

The EUROSCA Natural History Study

The key goal of EUROSCA-NHS is to determine and compare the rate of disease progression in SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6. To this end, a newly developed and validated ataxia scale (Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia, SARA)…

Constances Cohort

The CONSTANCES general-purpose cohort is intended to serve as an epidemiological research infrastructure accessible to the epidemiologic research community with a focus on chronic diseases and aging. CONSTANCES is designed as a randomly selected representative sample of French adults aged…

Trajectoires epidemiologiques en population

In 2009, when it was launched, the Tempo cohort consisted of 1,103 people between the ages of 22 and 35 who had participated in a study on children and adolescents’ health between 1991 and 1999: “Les Enfants de Gazel”. In…

Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (Sydney MAS) began in 2005 to examine the clinical characteristics and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and related syndromes, and to determine the rate of change in cognitive function over time. Non-demented community-dwelling…

Singapore Health 2012

Disease follow-up for all the cohorts is conducted by active follow-up every 5 years and linkage to national disease and death registries. The Singapore Health study is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey with the aim to estimate the prevalence of:…

Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort Studies is an epidemiological and longitudinal research program which aims to promote health and well-being of the population. The prospective data collected from the Northern Finland forms a unique resource, allowing to study the emergence…

The InveCe.Ab (Brain Ageing in Abbiategrasso) Study

InveCe.Ab (Invecchiamento Cerebrale ad Abbiategrasso) is a longitudinal, population-based study of disorders of brain ageing involving the assessment and long-term monitoring of the physical conditions and cognitive status. The target population comprises all Abbiategrasso residents born between 1935 and 1939,…

Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

The CLSA will collect information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, lifestyle and economic aspects of people’s lives across Canada. These factors will be studied to understand how, individually and in combination, they have an impact in both maintaining…

The Airwave Health Monitoring Study

The Airwave Health Monitoring Study was established to evaluate possible health risks associated with the use of TETRA, a digital communication system used by the police forces and other emergency services in Great Britain since 2001. It is a long-term…

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is a prospective cohort with more than 521,000 study participants enrolled from 23 centres in 10 western European countries. Detailed information on diet, lifestyle characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and medical history was…

The European Male Ageing Study

This is the largest multi-centre study of ageing in men in the world and intends to identify the nature and frequency of some of the symptoms of ageing in men, the relationships between these symptoms to hormonal changes and other…

The 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study

Initially, the study focus was on perinatal, infant, and early childhood morbidity and mortality. We were particularly interested in breastfeeding patterns and nutritional status, as well as social and environmental factors. Deaths of cohort members were identified by regular visits…

TRACK-HD and TrackOn-HD

TRACK-HD was a prospective observational biomarker study in participants with premanifest and early Huntington’s disease (HD). Track-HD assessed longitudinal data collected at baseline, 12 months, 24 and 36 months at sites in Leiden (Netherlands), London (UK), Paris (France), and Vancouver…

Southall and Brent Revisited

The Southall And Brent Revisited Study (SABRE) is the largest tri-ethnic population-based cohort in the UK, involving nearly 5000 European, Indian Asian and African Caribbean men and women. It investigates the causes of diabetes and disorders of the heart and…

The Norwegian ParkWest Study

The Norwegian ParkWest study is a prospective population-based longitudinal cohort study of patients with incident Parkinson’s Disease in Western and Southern Norway, with a total base population of more than 1 million inhabitants. The initial cohort comprised of 212 newly-diagnosed…

Caerphilly Prospective Study

The initial aims were to examine the importance of lipids, haemostatic factors, and hormones such as testosterone, cortisol and insulin (Lichtenstein et al 1987) in the development of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Subsequently, other hypotheses were included with a specific…

Million Women Study

The role of de novo mutations in the development of ALS

“The role of de novo mutations in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis” has been published in Human Mutation. This work was supported in part by JPND through the STRENGTH project, selected in the 2012 Risk Factors call, and the…

A diagnostic test for ALS

In a new paper, researchers have demonstrated that measuring neurofilaments provides reliable confirmation of an ALS diagnosis. Neurofilaments are structural proteins in the cytoskeleton, which are present in high concentrations in motor neurons. It has long been known that the…

Detection, risk factors, and functional consequences of cerebral microinfarcts

“Detection, risk factors, and functional consequences of cerebral microinfarcts” has been published in The Lancet Neurology. This work was supported in part by JPND through the HARNESS project, selected in the 2016 Brain Imaging Working Groups call.

Genetic modifier for Huntington’s disease progression identified

A research team has developed a novel measure of disease progression for Huntington’s disease (HD), enabling them to identify a genetic modifier associated with how rapidly the disease progresses. The study was published in Lancet Neurology. HD is a fatal…

Contribution to Alzheimer’s risk of rare variants in TREM2, SORL1 and ABCA7

“Contribution to Alzheimer’s disease risk of rare variants in TREM2, SORL1 and ABCA7 in 1,779 cases and 1,273 controls” will be published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging. This work was supported in part by JPND through the PERADES project,…

Parkinson’s is partly an autoimmune disease, study finds

Researchers have found the first direct evidence that autoimmunity—in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues—plays a role in Parkinson’s disease, the neurodegenerative movement disorder. The findings raise the possibility that the death of neurons in Parkinson’s could…

Brain’s immune cells linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia

Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain’s front lines of immune defense—cells called microglia—unique. In the process, they discovered further evidence that microglia may play roles in a variety of neurodegenerative and psychiatric…

Coming soon: JPND Global Cohort Portal

Introducing the first global database of cohorts for neurodegenerative diseases To promote the use and connection of cohort studies, the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) has developed a new online gateway to longitudinal cohorts suitable for neurodegenerative disease…

Neuronal Targets That Restore Movement in Model of Parkinson’s Disease Discovered

Researchers have identified two groups of neurons that can be turned on and off to alleviate the movement-related symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The activation of these cells in the basal ganglia relieves symptoms much longer than current therapies, like deep…

Physico-Pathologic Mechanisms in Neurodegeneration: Misfolded Protein-Plasma Membrane Interactions

“Physico-Pathologic Mechanisms Involved in Neurodegeneration: Misfolded Protein-Plasma Membrane Interactions” has been published in the journal Neuron. This work was supported in part by JPND through the NeuTARGETS project, selected in the 2013 Cross-Disease Analysis call, and through the SYNACTION project,…

Alzheimer’s disease likely not caused by low body mass index

A new large-scale genetic study found that low body mass index (BMI) is likely not a causal risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, as earlier research had suggested, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.…

Prospective clinical and DaT-SPECT imaging in premotor LRRK2 G2019S-associated Parkinson disease

“Prospective clinical and DaT-SPECT imaging in premotor LRRK2 G2019S-associated Parkinson disease” has been published in the journal Neurology. This work was supported in part by JPND through the DEMTEST project, selected in the 2011 Biomarkers call.

Stem Cell Transplants May Advance ALS Treatment By Repairing Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports shows that bone marrow stem cell transplants helped improve motor functions and nervous system conditions in mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by repairing damage to the blood-spinal cord barrier. The…

Extracellular vesicles: Novel promising delivery systems for therapy of brain diseases

“Extracellular vesicles: Novel promising delivery systems for therapy of brain diseases” has been published in the Journal of Controlled Release. This work was supported in part by JPND through the ModelPolyQ project, selected in the 2015 JPco-fuND call.

Dementia-related brain changes observed before memory or thinking problems are noticeable

Scientists have discovered a potential brain imaging predictor for dementia, which illustrates that changes to the brain’s structure may occur years prior to a diagnosis, even before individuals notice their own memory problems. The study, published in the Neurobiology of…

Does participation in the Meeting Centre Support Programme change the stigma experienced by people with dementia?

“Does participation in the Meeting Centre Support Programme change the stigma experienced by people with dementia?” has been published in the journal European Psychiatry. This work was supported by JPND through the MEETINGDEM project, selected in the 2012 Healthcare Evaluation…

Protein that regulates brain cell connections could be new target for treating Alzheimer’s

In experiments with a protein called Ephexin5 that appears to be elevated in the brain cells of Alzheimer’s disease patients and mouse models of the disease, researchers show that removing it prevents animals from developing Alzheimer’s characteristic memory losses. In…

Neurofilament markers for ALS correlate with extent of upper and lower motor neuron disease

“Neurofilament markers for ALS correlate with extent of upper and lower motor neuron disease” has been published in the journal Neurology. This work was supported in part by JPND through the STRENGTH and RiMod-FTD projects, selected in the 2012 Risk…

New Gene Identified in ALS

For the first time, a variant in UBQLN4 gene has been associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) – a progressive disease resulting in the loss of nerve cells that control muscle movement, which eventually…

Scientists identify the structure of tau filaments from Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers have, for the first time, revealed the atomic structures of one of the two types of the abnormal filaments which lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding the structures of these filaments will be key in developing drugs to prevent their…