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Study examines capabilities, limits of fMRI brain scans for detecting memories

Study examines capabilities, limits of fMRI brain scans for detecting memories

Brain scans are increasingly able to reveal whether or not you believe you remember some person or event in your life. In a new study presented at a cognitive neuroscience meeting today, researchers used fMRI brain scans to detect whether a person recognized scenes from their own lives, as captured in some 45,000 images by digital cameras. [More]
Working-memory training can improve range of skills, new study reveals

Working-memory training can improve range of skills, new study reveals

A brain-training task that increases the number of items an individual can remember over a short period of time may boost performance in other problem-solving tasks by enhancing communication between different brain areas. [More]
Brains of different people respond in same way to music, Stanford study says

Brains of different people respond in same way to music, Stanford study says

Do the brains of different people listening to the same piece of music actually respond in the same way? An imaging study by Stanford University School of Medicine scientists says the answer is yes, which may in part explain why music plays such a big role in our social existence. [More]
Further research needed into therapeutic potential of rTMS for focal hand dystonia

Further research needed into therapeutic potential of rTMS for focal hand dystonia

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is being increasingly explored as a therapeutic tool for movement disorders associated with deficient inhibition throughout the central nervous system. This includes treatment of focal hand dystonia (FHD), characterized by involuntary movement of the fingers either curling into the palm or extending outward. [More]
People who practice sport have better cognitive performance, researchers say

People who practice sport have better cognitive performance, researchers say

New scientific evidence seems to confirm the famous Roman saying "Mens sana in corpore sano". Researchers from the University of Granada have demonstrated that people who normally practice sport have a better cognitive performance than those with bad physical health. [More]
Physicians stimulate patients' medial forebrain bundles to reduce major depression

Physicians stimulate patients' medial forebrain bundles to reduce major depression

Researchers from the Bonn University Hospital implanted pacemaker electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle in the brains of patients suffering from major depression with amazing results: In six out of seven patients, symptoms improved both considerably and rapidly. [More]

Study provides detail on cellular-level effects of anesthetics on developing brain in newborn mouse

Exposure to the anesthetic agent isoflurane increases "programmed cell death" of specific types of cells in the newborn mouse brain, reports a study in the April issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society. [More]

Terumo CVS signs agreement to distribute Nonin's EQUANOX Model 7600 Regional Oximetry System

Terumo Cardiovascular Systems today announced that it has entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with Nonin Medical, Inc., a leader in noninvasive medical monitoring. [More]

Study: Altering brain activity with laser light eliminates addictive behavior in rats

By stimulating one part of the brain with laser light, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UC San Francisco (UCSF) have shown that they can wipe away addictive behavior in rats - or conversely turn non-addicted rats into compulsive cocaine seekers. [More]

Study shows relationship between cocaine-induced brain deficits in prefrontal cortex and cocaine-seeking

Could drug addiction treatment of the future be as simple as an on/off switch in the brain? A study in rats has found that stimulating a key part of the brain reduces compulsive cocaine-seeking and suggests the possibility of changing addictive behavior generally. [More]
New report addresses presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders

New report addresses presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders

A report from the University of Freiburg that is published in one of the last issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics address the presence of cerebral abnormalities in eating disorders. [More]
Low anterior cingulate activity linked to repeat offenses

Low anterior cingulate activity linked to repeat offenses

A new study conducted by The Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M., shows that neuroimaging data can predict the likelihood of whether a criminal will reoffend following release from prison. [More]

Migraines are related to brain abnormalities, new study suggests

A new study suggests that migraines are related to brain abnormalities present at birth and others that develop over time. [More]
Atrophy of thalamus is important predictor of clinically definite MS, study shows

Atrophy of thalamus is important predictor of clinically definite MS, study shows

A growing body of research by multiple sclerosis investigators at the University at Buffalo and international partners is providing powerful new evidence that the brain's gray matter reflects important changes in the disease that could allow clinicians to diagnose earlier and to better monitor and predict how the disease will progress. [More]

Two genes associated with rare autism-related disorders linked to general forms of autism: Study

A new study finds that two genes individually associated with rare autism-related disorders are also jointly linked to more general forms of autism. The finding suggests a new genetic pathway to investigate in general autism research. [More]
Dysfunction of Calcium channel in neurons of cerebellum causes different motor diseases

Dysfunction of Calcium channel in neurons of cerebellum causes different motor diseases

A dysfunction of a certain Calcium channel, the so called P/Q-type channel, in neurons of the cerebellum is sufficient to cause different motor diseases as well as a special type of epilepsy. [More]
Study reveals how adolescent brain matures as they sleep

Study reveals how adolescent brain matures as they sleep

New study conducted by monitoring the brain waves of sleeping adolescents has found that remarkable changes occur in the brain as it prunes away neuronal connections and makes the major transition from childhood to adulthood. [More]

MBL study of dragonfly prey detection wins 2012 Cozzarelli Prize for scientific excellence and originality

Paloma T. Gonzalez-Bellido, a postdoctoral scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory and her colleagues have been awarded a 2012 Cozzarelli Prize by the editorial board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [More]
Scientists develop pig brain model to study human brain development

Scientists develop pig brain model to study human brain development

A mutual curiosity about patterns of growth and development in pig brains has brought two University of Illinois research groups together. Animal scientists Rod Johnson and Ryan Dilger have developed a model of the pig brain that they plan to use to answer important questions about human brain development. [More]

Researchers show inhibiting brain's filter can boost performance for tasks

The brain's prefrontal cortex is thought to be the seat of cognitive control, working as a kind of filter that keeps irrelevant thoughts, perceptions and memories from interfering with a task at hand. [More]