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.

People recovering from alcohol use disorder struggle to recognize angry facial expressions

People in early-stage recovery from alcohol use disorder can struggle to recognize facial expressions of emotion ─particularly anger ─according to a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

13 Aug 2019

Engineers develop tissue model that mimics beta-amyloid's effects on blood-brain barrier

Beta-amyloid plaques, the protein aggregates that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, disrupt many brain functions and can kill neurons.

13 Aug 2019

Alzheimer's disease attacks brain regions responsible for wakefulness

Researchers and caregivers have noted that excessive daytime napping can develop long before the memory problems associated with Alzheimer's disease begin to unfold.

13 Aug 2019

UCI study highlights health hazards of hookah usage

Hookah waterpipe use has grown in popularity in recent years – 1 in 5 college students in the U.S. and Europe have tried it – but the practice could be more dangerous than other forms of smoking, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, published recently in Aerosol Science and Technology.

13 Aug 2019

Older adults are less distracted by negative information, study shows

A new study shows that compared to younger adults, older adults are less distracted by negative information -- even in the earliest stages of attention.

12 Aug 2019

Novel robotic neck brace could improve quality of life for ALS patients

A novel neck brace, which supports the neck during its natural motion, was designed by Columbia engineers.

12 Aug 2019

Researchers find new target for disease of the heart's smallest blood vessels

When we race walk, for example, part of our healthy heart muscle may want a little more blood and oxygen, so our tiniest blood vessels send a message upstream to the larger vessels to send more.

12 Aug 2019

Nerve-releasing surgery relieves chronic migraine headaches for some patients

Clarksville resident Hope Dyer remembers the day she looked out a window, saw it was raining and immediately began crying. She realized it was the first time in more than two decades that a drop in barometric pressure before a storm hadn't triggered a debilitating migraine.

12 Aug 2019

Psychiatric symptoms may indicate the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of São Paulo have shown that the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s brain pathology are tightly linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances.

12 Aug 2019

Excessive daytime sleeping could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s

Excessive daytime napping often develops long before the memory problems associated with Alzheimer's disease occur. Now, researchers may have found the striking new biological explanation for this phenomenon.

12 Aug 2019

Assessing blood flow is key to early detection, treatment for patients with critical limb ischemia

Non-invasive techniques and devices for assessing blood flow and other diagnostic considerations for people with critical limb ischemia are addressed in a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

12 Aug 2019

Antibody may help the immune system fight sepsis-related fungal infections

An antibody that blocks the "programmed cell death" pathway may help the immune system fight off sepsis-related fungal infections, according to animal studies reported in SHOCK: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, Official Journal of the Shock Society.

12 Aug 2019

Study reveals surprising discoveries about poorly understood glioblastoma

Glioblastoma, a cancer that arises in the brain's supporting glial cells, is one of the worst diagnoses a child can receive. The grade IV, highly malignant tumor aggressively infiltrates healthy brain tissue, and most children die of the disease within one to two years of diagnosis, similar to adults.

12 Aug 2019

Novel dual approach can be a promising way to enhance cardiac repair

As a medical emergency caused by severe cardiovascular diseases, myocardial infarction (MI) can inflict permanent and life-threatening damage to the heart.

12 Aug 2019

Decoding abnormal touch sensitivity in autism spectrum disorders

The inability to tolerate light touch is a telltale feature of autism and one of the disorder's many perplexing symptoms. It has defied treatment, and its precise origins have remained somewhat of a mystery.

12 Aug 2019

New study looks at health effects of eating marijuana

Researchers have conducted a study in which mice voluntarily ate a dough containing THC, the primary psychoactive component in marijuana.

10 Aug 2019

Regular, moderate exercise appears to prevent development of physical signs of Alzheimer's

Moderate exercise is not only good for memory as people age, it also appears to help prevent the development of physical signs of Alzheimer's, known as biomarkers, in those who are at risk for the disease, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

10 Aug 2019

Rhythms in gene expression are highly disrupted in the brains of people with schizophrenia

Rhythms in gene expression in the brain are highly disrupted in people with schizophrenia, according to a new University of Pittsburgh-led study.

10 Aug 2019

Depression symptoms together with AD pathology could trigger changes in memory and thinking

Increasingly, Alzheimer's disease research has focused on the preclinical stage, when people have biological evidence of AD but no or minimal symptoms, and when interventions might have the potential to prevent future decline of older adults.

10 Aug 2019

New soft neural implant can be wirelessly controlled using a smartphone

Researchers have developed a soft neural implant that can be wirelessly controlled using a smartphone. It is the first wireless neural device capable of indefinitely delivering multiple drugs and multiple color lights, which neuroscientists believe can speed up efforts to uncover brain diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, addiction, depression, and pain.

9 Aug 2019