Globally, 45 million people are affected by degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease. These devastating conditions, where nerve cells in the brain die (degenerate) can cause severe mental and physical health issues.

What causes the cells to die in the first place?

New research at the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (PIND) is looking into the causes of cell death including the genetic factors linked to these disorders. Research at PIND is using gene therapy to target and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s which have these genetic links. Learn more about this research from PIND which has produced some promising early results and how they are looking to translate in to a human clinical trial.

Could new technologies provide an answer?

Technology has had a significant impact on healthcare and research from, advances in medical devices, diagnostics and in healthcare delivery like telemedicine – but could technology help to generate new brain cells?

As part of IBRO TV, WebsEdge/Health interviews Ryoichiro Kageyama from Kyoto University, about his exciting new research that uses a new blue light technology to stimulate neural stem cells to create new nerve cells (neurons) in the brain.

Ryoichiro Kageyama who was presenting his work at the International Brain Research Organization’s World Congress, also discusses in the film below, how this new technology can have a major impact on treating neurodegenerative diseases.

Research is helping us to get closer to unlocking the brain and understand how it functions with these diseases. This is crucial to providing better treatments, slow the progression or potentially be able to reverse the effects of neurodegeneration. PIND has already demonstrated the need for many disciplines to work together and in the case of Ryoichiro Kageyama, the crossover of disciplines is providing new techniques and solutions to treat these diseases.

The two films featured above were produced by WebsEdge/Health as part of IBRO TV for the International Brain Research Organisation’s (IBRO) World Congress. To learn more about some of the current brain research happening around the world, please visit IBRO TV here.

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