Neuroimaging News and Research

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Neuroimaging helps improve quality of life for brain tumor patients

A new neuroimaging study at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University aims to ensure the highest quality of life for patients by assessing their cognitive skills before, during, and after brain tumour surgery. This is done by mapping the important functional brain areas surrounding the tumour in order to decrease the risks during surgery.

21 Apr 2008

New insights on early Parkinson's provided by advanced MRI

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain affecting movement, speech, mood, behavior, thinking and sensation for which there is no known cause or cure.

17 Apr 2008

Smell impairment can precede the development of Parkinson's disease in men

Impaired sense of smell occurs in the earliest stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) and there is mounting evidence that it may precede motor symptoms by several years, although no large-scale studies had confirmed this.

24 Mar 2008

Possible brain basis for parental instinct

Why do we almost instinctively treat babies as special, protecting them and enabling them to survive? Darwin originally pointed out that there is something about infants which prompts adults to respond to and care for them which allows our species to survive.

28 Feb 2008

Neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) may help those with autism

Research on autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) shows that neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) can remediate anomalies in brain activation, leading to symptom reduction and functional improvement.

27 Feb 2008

Computers are able to diagnose Alzheimer's disease faster and more accurately than experts

According to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, there are over 700,000 people currently living in the UK with dementia, of which Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative disease, is the most common form.

21 Feb 2008

Poor recognition of 'self' found in high functioning people with autism

Contrary to popular notions, people at the high end of the autism spectrum disorder continuum suffer most from an inability to model "self" rather than impaired ability to respond to others, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appear in the journal Neuron.

7 Feb 2008

Overweight people may not know when they've had enough

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have found new clues to why some people overeat and gain weight while others don't.

10 Jan 2008

Researchers establish risk factors for Parkinson's disease

Doctors know an impaired sense of smell is an early indicator of Parkinson's Disease.

8 Jan 2008

New method to study extrasensory perception

Psychologists at Harvard University have developed a new method to study extrasensory perception that, they argue, can resolve the century-old debate over its existence.

4 Jan 2008

Brain abnormalities found underlying borderline personality disorder

Using new approaches, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City has gained a view of activity in key brain areas associated with a core difficulty in patients with borderline personality disorder -- shedding new light on this serious psychiatric condition.

20 Dec 2007

A new brain imaging study identifies 'brain signature' for cigarette cravings

A new brain imaging study by researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania shows that cigarette cravings in smokers who are deprived of nicotine are linked with increased activation in specific regions of the brain.

20 Dec 2007

Different areas of the brain respond to belief, disbelief and uncertainty

The human mind is a prolific generator of beliefs about the world. The capacity of our minds to believe or disbelieve linguistic propositions is a powerful force for controlling both behavior and emotion, but the basis of this process in the brain is not yet understood.

13 Dec 2007

Belief, disbelief and uncertainty activate distinct regions of the brain

The capacity of the human mind to believe or disbelieve a statement is a powerful force for controlling both behavior and emotion, but the basis of these states in the brain is not yet understood.

10 Dec 2007

Brain systems become less coordinated with age, even in the absence of disease

Some brain systems become less coordinated with age even in the absence of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from Harvard University.

5 Dec 2007

Children with bipolar disorder respond differently to facial expressions

Children with bipolar disorder respond differently to facial expressions than children without psychiatric disorders, according to a new study led by a Bradley Hospital researcher.

27 Nov 2007

Brain's left hemisphere picks up peripheral noise

Our brain is very good at picking up speech even in a noisy room, an adaptation essential for holding a conversation at a cocktail party, and now we are beginning to understand the neural interactions that underlie this ability.

16 Nov 2007

From successful aging to severe dementia

A recently published special issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease contains the contributions from experts in the field of aging, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, who attended the "Fourth Annual Meeting on Brain aging and Dementia - From successful aging to severe dementia”, Held in Perugia in October 2006 under the auspices of the Italian Psychogeriatric Association, a member of the International Psychogeriatric Association, the meeting celebrates the centenary of Alzheimer's first description of the disease.

16 Nov 2007

Human decision-making linked to an individuals' need to maintain a homeostatic balance

A researcher at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine suggests that psychiatrists may need to approach the treatment of psychiatric patients from a new direction - by understanding that such individuals' behavior and decision-making are based on an attempt to reach an inner equilibrium.

25 Oct 2007

Familial multiple sclerosis appears more severe than non-familial

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a large group of patients with multiple sclerosis has provided the first evidence that those with a history of MS in their families show more severe brain damage than patients who have no close relatives with the disease.

15 Oct 2007