Brain News and Research

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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.

Calphotin essential in keeping cellular calcium concentration low

All living cells keep their cellular calcium concentration at a very low level. Since a small increase in calcium can affect many critical cellular functions (an elevated calcium concentration over an extended period can induce cell death), powerful cellular mechanisms ensure that calcium concentration quickly returns to its low level.

4 Jan 2013

Scientists discover process by which mda-9/syntenin contributes to melanoma metastasis

After recently announcing success in eliminating melanoma metastasis in laboratory experiments, scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have made another important discovery in understanding the process by which the gene mda-9/syntenin contributes to metastasis in melanoma (the spread of skin cancer) and possibly a variety of other cancers.

4 Jan 2013

New technique can precisely add or delete genes in living cells

Researchers at MIT, the Broad Institute and Rockefeller University have developed a new technique for precisely altering the genomes of living cells by adding or deleting genes.

4 Jan 2013

The Joint Commission, AHA/ASA recognize HUP with Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) has been recognized by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) as meeting The Joint Commission's standards for Disease-Specific Care Comprehensive Stroke Center Certification, becoming the first center in Philadelphia and among a select few hospitals in the United States to be named as part of an elite group of providers focused on complex stroke care.

4 Jan 2013

DRD4 7R allele can contribute to longevity

A variant of a gene associated with active personality traits in humans seems to also be involved with living a longer life, UC Irvine and other researchers have found.

4 Jan 2013

MRI could serve as lumbar puncture proxy

Structural brain patterns on magnetic resonance imaging predict cerebrospinal fluid biomarker levels in patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration, preliminary research suggests.

3 Jan 2013

Hippocampal size linked to illness severity, functioning in schizophrenia

Results from an Italian study show that greater hippocampal deflation is associated with increased illness severity and poorer social functioning in patients with schizophrenia.

3 Jan 2013

Itch-specific nerve cells in skin discovered by John Hopkins scientists

Johns Hopkins researchers have uncovered strong evidence that mice have a specific set of nerve cells that signal itch but not pain, a finding that may settle a decades-long debate about these sensations, and, if confirmed in humans, help in developing treatments for chronic itch, including itch caused by life-saving medications.

3 Jan 2013

Wiley announces publication of ‘Having Success with NSF: A Practical Guide’

Wiley is pleased to announce the publication of a practical how-to guide to apply and re-apply to the National Science Foundation (NSF), written by authors with successful grant histories and NSF "insider" knowledge.

3 Jan 2013

Electroconvulsive therapy releases opiate-like substances

Researchers used electricity on certain regions in the brain of a patient with chronic, severe facial pain to release an opiate-like substance that's considered one of the body's most powerful painkillers.

3 Jan 2013

Johns Hopkins scientists uncover itch-specific nerve cells in skin

3 Jan 2013

Prenatal brain development may be important influence on psychiatric risk later in life

Some brain changes that are found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and autism can also be seen in the brain scans of newborns.

3 Jan 2013

TFP5 molecule restores memory in mice with Alzheimer's

A new ray of hope has broken through the clouded outcomes associated with Alzheimer's disease. A new research report published in January 2013 print issue of the FASEB Journal by scientists from the National Institutes of Health shows that when a molecule called TFP5 is injected into mice with disease that is the equivalent of human Alzheimer's, symptoms are reversed and memory is restored-without obvious toxic side effects.

3 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans reject their own market-based ideas; Analyzing entitlement spending; Access to after-hours care reduces ER visits

It's harder and harder for politicians on the right to think straight about health care. Conservatives once genuinely interested in finding market-based ways for the government to expand health insurance coverage have, since the rise of Obamacare, made choices that are dysfunctional, even from their own perspective. Start with the decision of the vast majority of Republican governors to refuse to set up the state insurance exchanges required under the law.

2 Jan 2013

Circulating endothelial cells hit the mark in primary central nervous system vasculitis

Circulating endothelial cells may be a promising, non-invasive means of diagnosing and monitoring primary central nervous system vasculitis, researchers report.

2 Jan 2013

Babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb

Babies only hours old are able to differentiate between sounds from their native language and a foreign language, scientists have discovered. The study indicates that babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb, earlier than previously thought.

2 Jan 2013

Abnormally narrow retinal arteries linked to increased risk for glaucoma

A new study finds that certain changes in blood vessels in the eye's retina can be an early warning that a person is at increased risk for glaucoma, an eye disease that slowly robs people of their peripheral vision.

2 Jan 2013

Nation-wide campaign to address myths and attitudes about dementia

Imagine a close friend tells you she has dementia. Would you avoid her for fear of being embarrassed by what she might say or do? According to a recent poll by Alzheimer's Disease International, 40 per cent of people with dementia reported they had been avoided or treated differently after diagnosis. It's no surprise, then, that one in four respondents cited stigma as a reason to conceal their diagnosis.

2 Jan 2013

Fructose linked to food-seeking behavior and food intake

In a study examining possible factors regarding the associations between fructose consumption and weight gain, brain magnetic resonance imaging of study participants indicated that ingestion of glucose but not fructose reduced cerebral blood flow and activity in brain regions that regulate appetite, and ingestion of glucose but not fructose produced increased ratings of satiety and fullness, according to a preliminary study published in the January 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Jan 2013

New insights into devastating second impact syndrome

Physicians at Indiana University School of Medicine and the Northwest Radiology Network (Indianapolis, Indiana) report the case of a 17-year-old high school football player with second impact syndrome (SIS). A rare and devastating traumatic brain injury, SIS occurs when a person, most often a teenager, sustains a second head injury before recovery from an earlier head injury is complete.

2 Jan 2013