Cortex News and Research

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Diabetes and poor diet can trigger Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, warns BUAP researcher

For several years a researcher was dedicated to feed rodents in his laboratory with a high caloric content and glucose concentrations, which caused them diabetes, and by scientifically assessing what occurred in animals he observed that "diabetes and poor diet is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's or Parkinson's," warns Samuel Treviño Mora from the Meritorious University of Puebla in Mexico.

28 May 2015

Study shows how people's expectation of pain affects the experience of pain

Picture yourself in a medical office, anxiously awaiting your annual flu shot. The nurse casually states, "This won't hurt a bit." But when the needle pierces your skin it hurts, and it hurts a lot. Your expectations have been violated, and not in a good way.

28 May 2015

Canadian researchers shed light on molecular dynamics of chronic pain

Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is a major cause of disability, causing more disability than cancer and heart disease. Canadian researchers, including Michael Salter at SickKids are shedding light on the molecular dynamics of chronic pain. They have uncovered a critical role for a class of cells present in the brain and spinal cord, called microglia, in pain.

27 May 2015

Oscillations could play role in resetting sensitivity of neurons after eye movements

Scientists measuring brain activity have found that in many regions, such as the sensory or motor cortex, activity sometimes oscillates at different frequencies, forming wave-like patterns. Despite the fact that such oscillations are frequently observed, and present in many brain regions, their functional role remains unclear.

26 May 2015

Echolocators use echoes to detect multiple properties of objects through visual areas of the brain

Certain blind individuals have the ability to use echoes from tongue or finger clicks to recognize objects in the distance, and some use echolocation as a replacement for vision. Research done by Dr. Mel Goodale, from the University of Western Ontario, in Canada, and colleagues around the world, is showing that echolocation in blind individuals is a full form of sensory substitution, and that blind echolocation experts recruit regions of the brain normally associated with visual perception when making echo-based assessments of objects.

25 May 2015

Just think about it: Giving natural movement to a patient with quadriplegia

Paralysis is often the result of nerve damage that prevents commands from the brain being relayed to muscle to cause movement...

22 May 2015

Emotion regulation distinguishes unipolar and bipolar depression

Patients with bipolar disorder regulate their emotions differently from those with major depressive disorder in both depressed and remitted states, a study shows.

21 May 2015

Magstim Announces FDA (510k) Clearance of rTMS (repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy System

Magstim is the pioneer of TMS technology, having built a reputation for developing leading medical devices in the research field for over 25 years. ..

From Magstim 21 May 2015

Omega-3 fatty acids improve cognitive flexibility in older adults at risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease

A study of older adults at risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease found that those who consumed more omega-3 fatty acids did better than their peers on tests of cognitive flexibility -- the ability to efficiently switch between tasks -- and had a bigger anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region known to contribute to cognitive flexibility.

20 May 2015

Magstim Rapid2 Therapy System receives FDA clearance for treatment of drug resistant MDD

The Magstim Company Ltd, an innovative and award winning Wales-based medical device manufacturer, has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its Magstim Rapid2 Therapy System for the treatment of drug resistant Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in the United States. The clearance enables Magstim to significantly increase access to cutting-edge Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) technology for patients and clinicians.

From Magstim 20 May 2015

UC Irvine study shows youthful vigor can be restored to adult brains

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. The same can be said of the adult brain. Its connections are hard to change, while in children, novel experiences rapidly mold new connections during critical periods of brain development.

19 May 2015

Vagus nerve stimulation effective in inhibiting cortical spreading depression

A poster presentation at the International Headache Congress in Valencia, Spain reports that VNS inhibits cortical spreading depression (CSD), which is known to be the cause of migraine aura and a trigger for headache.

15 May 2015

Allen Institute makes progress in brain research with launch of Allen Cell Types Database

The Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today that it is taking the first major scientific step to create a searchable standards database for the brain with the launch of the Allen Cell Types Database. This first release includes information on the location, electrical activity and shape of more than 240 neurons.

14 May 2015

Dopamine-producing neurons affect crucial brain functions

Nerve cells that produce dopamine for the purpose of transmitting signals to other cells affect numerous crucial brain functions.

14 May 2015

Growth of neuronal and vascular networks is controlled by same signaling molecules

Neurons and blood vessels often traverse the body side by side, a fact observed as early as the 16th century by the Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius. Only over the last ten years, however, researchers have discovered that the growth of neuronal and vascular networks is controlled by the same molecules.

14 May 2015

Brain protein plays key role in controlling binge drinking

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that a brain protein has a key role in controlling binge drinking in animal models. They found that deleting the gene for this protein in mice ramped up alcohol consumption and prevented the brain from signaling the rewarding properties of alcohol.

12 May 2015

Malfunction of brain architecture can prompt neuron to make 'early-career' switch

Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered that the role of neurons -- which are responsible for specific tasks in the brain -- is much more flexible than previously believed.

12 May 2015

Researchers record moment-by-moment fluctuations in brain signals

Researchers studying how the brain makes decisions have, for the first time, recorded the moment-by-moment fluctuations in brain signals that occur when a monkey making free choices has a change of mind.

6 May 2015

Researchers reconstruct 3D models of neuronal networks for studying cortex organization

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Germany), VU University Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (USA) succeed in reconstructing the neuronal networks that interconnect the elementary units of sensory cortex - cortical columns.

6 May 2015

Common electric brain stimulation has significant detrimental effect on IQ scores

Using a weak electric current in an attempt to boost brainpower or treat conditions has become popular among scientists and do-it-yourselfers, but a new University of North Carolina School of Medicine study shows that using the most common form of electric brain stimulation had a statistically significant detrimental effect on IQ scores.

6 May 2015

Cortex News and Research

Diabetes and poor diet can trigger Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, warns BUAP researcher

Study shows how people's expectation of pain affects the experience of pain

Canadian researchers shed light on molecular dynamics of chronic pain

Oscillations could play role in resetting sensitivity of neurons after eye movements

Echolocators use echoes to detect multiple properties of objects through visual areas of the brain

Just think about it: Giving natural movement to a patient with quadriplegia

Emotion regulation distinguishes unipolar and bipolar depression

Magstim Announces FDA (510k) Clearance of rTMS (repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy System

Omega-3 fatty acids improve cognitive flexibility in older adults at risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease

Magstim Rapid2 Therapy System receives FDA clearance for treatment of drug resistant MDD

UC Irvine study shows youthful vigor can be restored to adult brains

Vagus nerve stimulation effective in inhibiting cortical spreading depression

Allen Institute makes progress in brain research with launch of Allen Cell Types Database

Dopamine-producing neurons affect crucial brain functions

Growth of neuronal and vascular networks is controlled by same signaling molecules

Brain protein plays key role in controlling binge drinking

Malfunction of brain architecture can prompt neuron to make 'early-career' switch

Researchers record moment-by-moment fluctuations in brain signals

Researchers reconstruct 3D models of neuronal networks for studying cortex organization

Common electric brain stimulation has significant detrimental effect on IQ scores

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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