Neuroimaging News and Research

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Riluzole appears to have significant antiobsessional, antidepressant, and antianxiety properties

A medication used to ease symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, also is helpful in treating people with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a pilot study at Yale School of Medicine.

31 Jul 2005

Sleep helps memory

A good night's sleep triggers changes in the brain that help to improve memory, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

28 Jun 2005

Danger of mixing mobile phones and motoring

The reason talking on a cell phone makes drivers less safe may be that the brain can't simultaneously give full attention to both the visual task of driving and the auditory task of listening, a study by a Johns Hopkins University psychologist suggests.

21 Jun 2005

Brain surgery for epilepsy means patients still free of fits 30 years later

A study has shown that thirty years after undergoing temporal lobectomy for epilepsy, half of patients are still free from seizures.

15 Jun 2005

Evidence of cross-activation in brain regions of people who see letters and numbers in colors

Synesthesia, a condition characterized by one sensory experience generating another – so that shapes have tastes, for instance – is estimated to affect between 1 in 200 to 1 in 2,000 people. The most common form involves seeing specific letters or numbers (graphemes) in specific colors.

23 Mar 2005

Extremely shy children have distinct facial expressions

Children who appear to have higher levels of shyness, or a particular gene, appear to have a different pattern of processing the signals of interpersonal hostility, according to a study in the January issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Jan 2005

Ethical challenges ahead for neuroscience and society

Are we ready for a future where brain scans invade our private thoughts? Will we have to alter our brains chemically to keep competitive at our jobs? Could science determine that "souls" do not exist, and, if so, what does that mean for how we think of ourselves as human beings?

20 Dec 2004

Prenatal alcohol exposure has effects far beyond fetal alcohol syndrome

Numerous studies have documented IQ deficits in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Little research, however, has found IQ deficits in children with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), who generally exhibit less severe neurobehavioral deficits than children with FAS.

14 Nov 2004

Scientists are trying to determine what goes on inside the brain when it sees a face

Ever catch a glimpse of someone but can't quite fit a name to go with the face? While it's something that happens to everyone, for older people especially, difficulty in retrieving names is a common frustration.

28 Oct 2004

Neuroimaging initiative to track early signs of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers are looking for ways to spot early warning signs in the brain of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

22 Oct 2004

Scientists can now explain why the brain prefers one brand of soft drink to another

A study involving 67 people showed no preference for either Coca-Cola® (Coke®) or Pepsi® when the drinks were administered anonymously, according to results published in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Neuron.

13 Oct 2004

Brain imaging study shows brain differences between autistic boys with language impairment and those with normal language development

The study, published October 11, 2004, in the advance online issue of the Annals of Neurology, found that a language center of the brain -- Broca's area -- is apparently normal in autistic boys who have normal language capabilities.

11 Oct 2004

Findings point to the hippocampus as critical to the process of recollection

For millennia, the process of memory and remembering has intrigued scholars and scientists. In 350 B.C., Aristotle, in his seminal treatise on the subject, described it as having two forms: familiarity and recollection. Of these, he considered recollection to be a purely human condition.

8 Sep 2004

Organ transplant recipients infected with West Nile virus develop more severe neurological illness

West Nile virus is an infection which in the last three years has had a significant impact in the United States. The virus is spread from birds to humans via mosquito bites. Symptoms include headache, fever and disorientation, and the disease can cause serious illness in a small percentage of infected people.

18 Aug 2004

Premature babies grow up to have a portion of the brain smaller than normal

Kids on a playground can be hard to tell apart. But those who were born significantly preterm may be struggling with a hidden handicap that sets them apart from their peers: specific areas of the brain that are smaller than normal, even years later.

9 Aug 2004

MRI may be better than polygraph for revealing lies

A new study involving people telling lies while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides early indications that understanding the brain basis of deception may lead to a better lie detection method than polygraph tests.

9 Aug 2004

Understanding the face of autism

A multidisciplinary group of researchers, affiliated with HMRI and based at the University of Newcastle, are conducting a groundbreaking study which aims to identify whether the difficulties with social interaction often experienced by individuals with autism are related to a difficulty in interpreting the emotional content of faces.

23 Jul 2004