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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

HealthSouth plans to construct 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Georgia

HealthSouth Corporation announced today that it plans to build a 50-bed comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Newnan, Ga. [More]
Lund University researchers deactivate mutated huntingtin protein in the brains of mice

Lund University researchers deactivate mutated huntingtin protein in the brains of mice

Researchers at Lund University have succeeded in preventing very early symptoms of Huntington's disease, depression and anxiety, by deactivating the mutated huntingtin protein in the brains of mice. [More]
FDA clears Omeros' OMS824 IND for treatment of Huntington's disease

FDA clears Omeros' OMS824 IND for treatment of Huntington's disease

Omeros Corporation today announced that its Investigational New Drug Application to evaluate OMS824 in Huntington's disease has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [More]

American Heart Association: Costs to treat stroke may increase to $183.13 billion in 2030

Costs to treat stroke are projected to more than double and the number of people having strokes may increase 20 percent by 2030, according to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. [More]
Long-term depression linked with life-threatening chronic disease, earlier death

Long-term depression linked with life-threatening chronic disease, earlier death

The first symptoms of major depression may be behavioral, but the common mental illness is based in biology — and not limited to the brain. In recent years some studies have linked major, long-term depression with life-threatening chronic disease and with earlier death, even after lifestyle risk factors have been taken into account. [More]
The Immortality Project awards $2.3M to study near-death experiences, beliefs in afterlife

The Immortality Project awards $2.3M to study near-death experiences, beliefs in afterlife

Phenomena related to near-death experiences, immortality in virtual reality, and genes that prevent a species of freshwater hydra from aging are among the first research proposals funded by The Immortality Project at the University of California, Riverside. [More]
Unhealthy food choices: The cause of current global obesity epidemic

Unhealthy food choices: The cause of current global obesity epidemic

Research presented today shows that high-fructose corn syrup can cause behavioural reactions in rats similar to those produced by drugs of abuse such as cocaine. These results, presented by addiction expert Francesco Leri, Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Guelph, suggest food addiction could explain, at least partly, the current global obesity epidemic. [More]
Research finds number of links between dental health and overall health

Research finds number of links between dental health and overall health

If the eyes are the windows to your soul, then your mouth is the gateway to your overall health. Research has found a surprising number of links between the state of your dental health and your overall health. [More]
IMRIS receives US patent for SYMBIS Surgical System

IMRIS receives US patent for SYMBIS Surgical System

IMRIS Inc. today announced the allowance of a US patent defining the foundational technologies for its SYMBIS Surgical System - a minimally invasive and MRI-compatible microsurgical robot system. [More]

Study sheds light on the phenomenon of general anesthesia

A study from the June issue of Anesthesiology found feedback from the front region of the brain is a crucial building block for consciousness and that its disruption is associated with unconsciousness when the anesthetics ketamine, propofol or sevoflurane are administered. [More]
Merck releases statement on FDA's Advisory Committee meeting about suvorexant

Merck releases statement on FDA's Advisory Committee meeting about suvorexant

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today provided the following statement after the conclusion of the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about suvorexant, Merck's investigational medicine to treat insomnia. [More]
Cognoptix' SAPPHIRE II eye test identifies Alzheimer's disease patients via Ab signature in the eyes

Cognoptix' SAPPHIRE II eye test identifies Alzheimer's disease patients via Ab signature in the eyes

Cognoptix, an emerging medical device company, announced today that its SAPPHIRE II eye test identified Alzheimer's disease patients via a beta amyloid ("Ab") signature in their eyes in a 10-subject proof-of-concept clinical trial. [More]

NIH-funded study raises hope for recovery of some adult patients with brain disorder

Scientists have reversed behavioral and brain abnormalities in adult mice that resemble some features of schizophrenia by restoring normal expression to a suspect gene that is over-expressed in humans with the illness. [More]

Physicists demonstrate effect of cold atmospheric plasma, chemo therapy on brain tumour cells

For the first time, physicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), biologists and physicians demonstrated the synergistic effect of cold atmospheric plasma - a partly ionized gas - and chemo therapy on aggressive brain tumour cells. [More]
Study: Sleep disturbance may contribute to depression risk by impairing emotion regulation

Study: Sleep disturbance may contribute to depression risk by impairing emotion regulation

A new study provides neurobiological evidence for dysfunction in the neural circuitry underlying emotion regulation in people with insomnia, which may have implications for the risk relationship between insomnia and depression. [More]
Research findings reveal promising new anti-addiction drug

Research findings reveal promising new anti-addiction drug

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have unraveled the molecular foundations of cocaine's effects on the brain, and identified a compound that blocks cravings for the drug in cocaine-addicted mice. [More]

Neuroscientist receives Karl Spencer Lashley Award from APS for pioneering work on neuroscience of vision

The American Philosophical Society (APS) has awarded New York University neuroscientist J. Anthony Movshon its 2013 Karl Spencer Lashley Award in recognition of his "pioneering work on the neuroscience of vision." [More]
Physicians face medical challenges in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients

Physicians face medical challenges in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients

Physicians at Monash University and The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia describe the logistic, medical, and societal challenges faced in treating spine trauma in morbidly obese patients. [More]

Children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to grow up aggressive, antisocial

Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial, according to Linda Pagani and Caroline Fitzpatrick of the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine hospital. [More]
Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College wins AWSM Award for Excellence

Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College wins AWSM Award for Excellence

Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University, is the winner of a prestigious award from a group of female scientists from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research dedicated to celebrating outstanding women in science and medicine. [More]