Obese children tend to have an exceptionally responsive sweet tooth—and it shows up as a visible signal in their brains.

Genetic research from John Hopkins and the University of Alabama Birmingham are providing a road map of inflammation linked to autism thanks to a fleet of tissue samples from 72 autistic and healthy brains. Analyses of these tissues showed microglial cells in perpetual hyperdrive, which translates into neuro-inflammation.

A readily available antibiotic drug therapy that happens to promote the expression of a certain neurotransmitter receptor could one day be a means of combatting frontotemporal dementia (FTD), officials from the University of Alabama Birmingham announced Dec. 3.

It’s well established that smoking affects the male brain one way and the female brain another. New research at Yale using movies produced by PET shows some of the key differences in action.

A drug in the same realm as Viagra could treat and perhaps even prevent certain kinds of dementia. Powerful drugs used as a vascular therapy for diabetic patients also may be put to the task, officials from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and the Alzheimer’s Society UK announced yesterday.

Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) announced today that it has reached the planned enrollment of 1,200 patients in the PROSPECT Phase 3 clinical study of its targeted active immunotherapy candidate, PROSTVAC®, in the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Patients were enrolled at 214 sites in 15 countries.

One of the biggest challenges in medicine today is getting effective diagnostic and therapeutic drugs through the regulatory process unscathed. Judit Rius, the U.S. manager and legal policy adviser for Doctors Without Borders has words of wisdom to share about how to improve FDA reviews and incentives for the development of treatments for much needed drugs, including those for neglected tropical diseases.

Dual human and preclinical PET scans shine a light on treatments for tuberculosis (TB) and aid in drug discovery and selection, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. University officials announced on Dec. 3 the results of a pivotal study noting that quantitative PET was earmarked for future clinical trials.