Department of Neurology

In laboratory experiments, a chemical compound found in the shell of the cashew nut promotes the repair of myelin, a team from Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported Aug. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

With the aid of an $18.2 million, five-year grant renewal from the National Institute on Aging, the Vanderbilt Memory and Aging Project (VMAP) will advance interdisciplinary research into abnormal brain aging and cognitive decline in older adults, with continuing emphasis on the role of blood flow changes in the heart and brain.

A pair of ultra-thin electrodes surgically implanted deep into the brain might slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease, according to five-year outcomes from a 30-patient randomized clinical trial conducted by investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

A single mutation in one gene can impair inhibitory signaling in the brain and cause multiple types of seizures and behavioral abnormalities.

For outstanding contributions to research in behavioral neurology, Ryan Darby, MD, assistant professor of Neurology, has won the 2020 Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) involves distinctive wasting away of certain brain regions, such that medical imaging of these regions can distinguish the disease from other subtypes of dementia.

Spasticity — a consequence of stroke and other disorders of the central nervous system — may be underdiagnosed and undertreated in nursing home residents.