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]
Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
[More]
Many brain researchers cannot see the forest for the trees. When they use electrodes to record the activity patterns of individual neurons, the patterns often appear chaotic and difficult to interpret. "But when you zoom out from looking at individual cells, and observe a large number of neurons instead, their global activity is very informative," says Mattia Rigotti, a scientist at Columbia University and New York University who is supported by the SNSF and the Janggen-Pöhn-Stiftung.
[More]
While Huntington's disease (HD) is currently incurable, the HD research community anticipates that new disease-modifying therapies in development may slow or minimize disease progression. The success of HD research depends upon the identification of reliable and sensitive biomarkers to track disease and evaluate therapies, and these biomarkers may eventually be used as outcome measures in clinical trials. Biomarkers could be especially helpful to monitor changes during the time prior to diagnosis and appearance of overt symptomatology.
[More]
Researchers from King's College London have for the first time used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth.
[More]
An exploration of electronic "screen time" and sleep on mood, memory and learning was given the top Addiction Science Award at the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair - the world's largest science competition for high school students.
[More]
Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques aimed at mental and neurological conditions include transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression, and transcranial direct current (electrical) stimulation, shown to improve memory.
[More]
When the brain's primary "learning center" is damaged, complex new neural circuits arise to compensate for the lost function, say life scientists from UCLA and Australia who have pinpointed the regions of the brain involved in creating those alternate pathways - often far from the damaged site.
[More]
In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioral decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making remains a mystery.
[More]
Nearly 1 in 10 stroke patients suffer chronic and debilitating pain, typically described as sharp, stabbing or burning. It's called central poststroke pain syndrome (CPSP). It was first described more than 100 years ago, and it is treatable with medications and magnetic or electrical stimulation of the brain.
[More]
How does San Francisco Giants slugger Pablo Sandoval swat a 95 mph fastball, or tennis icon Venus Williams see the oncoming ball, let alone return her sister Serena's 120 mph serves? For the first time, vision scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have pinpointed how the brain tracks fast-moving objects.
[More]
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Duke University have identified genetic mutations that appear to underlie a rare but devastating syndrome combining reproductive failure with cerebellar ataxia - a lack of muscle coordination - and dementia.
[More]
Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have discovered how the predominant class of Alzheimer's pharmaceuticals might sharpen the brain's performance.
[More]
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective acute treatment for severe major depression. However, even with newer forms of ECT, there remains a significant risk of adverse cognitive effects, particularly memory problems.
[More]
NeuroSigma, Inc., a California-based medical device company, today announced that it has received a Class 2 medical device license for its Monarch eTNS (external trigeminal nerve stimulation) System from Health Canada.
[More]
During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process.
[More]
Cumulative genetic risk for schizophrenia has been linked to impaired prefrontal brain activity, in findings that support an additive genetic risk model for a polygenic phenotype.
[More]
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at University of the Pennsylvania have shown that an area of the brain that initiates behavioral changes had greater activation in smokers who watched anti-smoking ads with strong arguments versus those with weaker ones, and irrespective of flashy elements, like bright and rapidly changing scenes, loud sounds and unexpected scenario twists.
[More]
A specific region of the brain is in play when children consider their identity and social status as they transition into adolescence -- that often-turbulent time of reaching puberty and entering middle school, says a University of Oregon psychologist.
[More]
Scientific progress in Huntington's disease (HD) relies upon the availability of appropriate animal models that enable insights into the disease's genetics and/or pathophysiology.
[More]