Sydney — Post-mortem examinations have found a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head in two elite Australian rugby league players, the first cases found in the sport, researchers said on Thursday.

The researchers said the players both had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been widely diagnosed among former US National Football League (NFL) players but is little studied elsewhere.

The Sydney-based study said the condition, once known as ‘punch drunk syndrome’ occurred when repeated brain trauma led to a long-term decline in cognitive function.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, MD, conducted their investigation in a new mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

The new model replicates a number of early and late signs and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, including some that are not movement-related.

Individuals that are experiencing frequent migraines, may soon receive access to a new class of medications.

A pair of large studies showed that two drugs have the ability to reduce the frequency of the migraine attacks, without any side effects. The researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that the drugs offer the first ever migraine treatment that is aimed at the disorder itself, instead of the symptoms.

Current migraine treatments consist of drugs that are designed to treat epilepsy, depression and high blood pressure. Peter Goadsby, an author of one of the studies in question and a professor at King’s College in London says that they give the patients a choice between antidepressants that will make them sleepy, and a beta blocker, which will make them feel tired.

Research from Johns Hopkins Medicine has revealed some cases of schizophrenia can be associated with abnormal protein buildup in the brain similar to that seen in cases of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. It’s hoped the discovery will lead to better diagnostic strategies identifying specific types of schizophrenia.