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.

MUSC researchers uncover a new cause for laryngeal symptoms

While a sudden coughing fit is a protective reflex to clear the airway, chronic cough can be caused by multiple factors that must be investigated to determine treatment. Cough is just one of several laryngeal symptoms including hoarseness and dysphoric breathing that can become debilitating.

4 Jan 2019

Mediterranean diet is the best diet there is

Diets come and go and have their time in the trending list. The U.S. News and World Report has however confirmed that the healthiest diet at present is the Mediterranean diet.

3 Jan 2019

New medications provide better treatment for alcohol use disorders, chronic pain, mood disorders

Helping people with addictions has become a research passion for Purdue University's Richard van Rijn, who is leading a team to make drug discoveries to support millions around the world dealing with alcohol use disorders, chronic pain and mood disorders.

3 Jan 2019

Alterations in brain networks contribute to cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders

Psychiatric disorders share common alterations of functional connectivity between three core brain networks involved in cognition, according to a meta-analysis published in Biological Psychiatry.

3 Jan 2019

Senescent cells in the brain shown to cause obesity-related anxiety

Researchers have shown that obesity increases the level of semi-dormant senescent cells in the brain, which give rise to anxiety-like behaviors.

3 Jan 2019

AI could predict Alzheimer's disease six years prior to diagnosis

Researchers have used PET scans to train a machine-learning, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to detect early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

3 Jan 2019

Study provides new insight into generation of new neurons in adulthood

Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in collaboration with research groups in Finland, Canada, and Slovenia, have discovered a novel and unexpected function of nestin, the best known marker of neural stem cells.

3 Jan 2019

Alzheimer’s Disease: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future

An interview with Dr. Lloyd Tran, discussing the major barriers to Alzheimer’s research and development over the past 40 years.

From Alzheimer International Society 3 Jan 2019

Researchers evaluate digital medicine tool to treat children with autism and co-occurring ADHD

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia evaluated a digital medicine tool designed as an investigational treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder.

3 Jan 2019

Meta-analysis of adults with autism shows large impairments in key cognitive domains

The first comprehensive, systematic review and meta-analysis of adults with autism shows that despite having an intact IQ, these adults have medium to large impairments in four key social- and non-social cognitive domains: theory of mind, emotion perception and knowledge, processing speed, and verbal learning and memory.

3 Jan 2019

Study: Mice lacking PARL protein display specific problems in the nervous system reminiscent of Leigh syndrome

Leuven researchers led by professor Bart De Strooper (VIB-KU Leuven) have identified a new role for PARL, a protein that has been linked to Parkinson's disease.

3 Jan 2019

New wireless and battery-free implant to control targeted neuron groups

University of Arizona biomedical engineering professor Philipp Gutruf is first author on the paper Fully implantable, optoelectronic systems for battery-free, multimodal operation in neuroscience research, published in Nature Electronics.

3 Jan 2019

Researchers identify genes that drive male-female brain differences, trigger initiation of puberty

Researchers have identified a group of genes that induces differences in the developing brains of male and female roundworms and triggers the initiation of puberty, a genetic pathway that may have the same function in controlling the timing of sual maturation in humans.

3 Jan 2019

Hyperactive immune system implicated in aging brain disorders

In a study of fruit flies, NIH scientists suggested that the body's immune system may play a critical role in the damage caused by aging brain disorders. The results are based on experiments in which the researchers altered the activity of Cdk5, a gene that preclinical studies have suggested is important for early brain development and may be involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

2 Jan 2019

Study identifies possible new strategies to treat silent seizures in children

As early as 3 months of age, infants with a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome start having convulsive seizures, during which their arms and legs jerk repeatedly. As they become toddlers, another type of seizure begins to appear.

2 Jan 2019

Molecular signatures reveal why women are more likely to die from glioblastoma

Scientists have discovered molecular signatures that reveal why women are more likely to develop and die from the brain cancer, glioblastoma.

2 Jan 2019

Risk of depression, anxiety found to be higher among adults with cerebral palsy

Adults with cerebral palsy have a higher risk of developing depression and anxiety than their peers without the condition, a new study in the journal JAMA Neurology reports.

2 Jan 2019

Neuroscientists decipher how brain circuits optimize themselves

Human beings, like other animals, possess an enormous learning capacity that allows for the apprehension of new sensory information to master new skills or to adapt to an ever-changing environment.

2 Jan 2019

New editorial proposes changes to improve minority representation in clinical trials

In an editorial published in CNS Spectrums, Jay Avasarala, MD, PhD, takes the research community to task for its lack of minority representation in Phase III clinical trials for drugs to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

2 Jan 2019

Salk scientists show how brain cells filter information in groups

When we perceive the world around us, certain objects appear to be more noticeable than others, depending on what we do. For example, when we view a forest-covered mountain from a distance, the forest looks like a large green carpet. But as we get closer, we start noticing the individual trees, and the forest fades to the background.

2 Jan 2019