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.

Patients with stage IV disease now living a median 6.8 years after ALK+ NSCLC diagnosis

According to the National Cancer Institute, patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between the years 1995 and 2001 had 15 percent chance of being alive 5 years later. For patients with stage IV disease, describing cancer that has spread to distant sites beyond the original tumor, that statistic drops to 2 percent.

2 Jan 2019

Free health check up ignored by more than half of the population says NHS

The NHS England provided a free health check up to the population over forty years of age and has noted that more than half of them did not take the health check-ups that could detect and treat dementias and other conditions.

1 Jan 2019

Pacemaker in the brain could help patients with epilepsy and Parkinsons

Engineers and researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed a neurostimulator that can act as a pacemaker within the human brain.

1 Jan 2019

Sound can affect perception of touch in mice

Our eyes, ears and skin are responsible for different senses. Moreover, our brain assigns these senses to different regions: the visual cortex, auditory cortex and somatosensory cortex. However, it is clear that there are anatomical connections between these different cortices such that brain activation to one sense can influence brain activation to another

30 Dec 2018

Genetically diverse mouse models improves usability for precision medicine for Alzheimer's

Incorporating genetic diversity into a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease resulted in greater overlap with the genetic, molecular and clinical features of this pervasive human disease, according to a study funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health.

28 Dec 2018

New study describes various gene therapy strategies for treating Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor deficits majorly caused by the loss of dopaminergic cells in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta as well as the destruction of nigrostriatal pathway.

28 Dec 2018

Scientists move one step closer towards treatment for low-grade gliomas with SYNODOS

Treatment for low-grade gliomas in patients living with neurofibromatosis type 1 are now one step closer thanks to recent research discoveries initiated and funded by the Children's Tumor Foundation.

28 Dec 2018

Study suggests dopamine release in the brain occurs twice per meal

We know a good meal can stimulate the release of the feel-good hormone dopamine, and now a study in humans from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Germany suggests that dopamine release in the brain occurs at two different times: at the time the food is first ingested and another once the food reaches the stomach.

28 Dec 2018

Researchers discover key mechanism in the brain that enables us to rapidly focus attention

University of Queensland researchers have discovered a key mechanism in the brain that may underlie our ability to rapidly focus attention.

28 Dec 2018

Gently stroking babies could provide effective pain relief before medical procedures

Researchers found that gently stroking a baby seems to reduce activity in the infant brain associated with painful experiences. Their results, appearing December 17 in the journal Current Biology, suggest that lightly brushing an infant at a certain speed--of approximately 3 centimeters per second--could provide effective pain relief before clinically necessary medical procedures.

27 Dec 2018

Himalayan marmot genome offers clues to high-altitude adaptation

Himalayan marmots can survive at altitudes up to 5,000 meters in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Pakistan and on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, where many of them face extreme cold, little oxygen, and few other resources.

27 Dec 2018

Research findings expand understanding of how memory works

Two Veterans Affairs researchers have explored how memory is tied to the hippocampus, with findings that will expand scientists' understanding of how memory works.

27 Dec 2018

Scientists suggest need for new approach to confront side effects of common anti-cancer therapy

Results of a new study by neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Toronto suggest that a new treatment approach is needed - and how this may be possible - to address adverse effects of aromatase inhibitors, drugs commonly prescribed to both men and women to prevent recurrence of estrogen-positive breast cancer.

27 Dec 2018

Neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease may actually not be a bad thing, shows study

For the first time, scientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal, have shown that neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease may actually not be a bad thing - on the contrary, it may be the result of a cell quality control mechanism trying to protect the brain from the accumulation of malfunctioning neurons.

27 Dec 2018

Study finds risk factors linked to REM sleep behavior disorder

Taking antidepressants for depression, having post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety diagnosed by a doctor are risk factors for a disruptive and sometimes violent sleep disorder called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, according to a study published in the December 26, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Dec 2018

New study reveals twist in how intoxication happens

As New Year's Eve approaches, many people will experience the familiar buzz that comes from imbibing a favorite cocktail or glass of wine.

27 Dec 2018

New method of cancer stem cells activation to destroy tumors

This risky method of anti-cancer therapy was suggested by scientists of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU). Their review of mechanisms for molecular activation of stem cells of gliomas (most widely-spread brain tumors) was approved for publishing in the Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience journal.

26 Dec 2018

New mechanism may explain neurons shrinking in Huntington's disease

A hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's is the progressive death of nerve cells in the brain. The cells don't die quickly, though. They first start to disconnect from each other because their neurites -- long finger-like extensions that make connections all through the brain -- become smaller.

25 Dec 2018

Brain activity found to be predictive of pain-related fear

Researchers applied a machine learning technique that could potentially translate patterns of activity in fear-processing brain regions into scores on questionnaires used to assess a patient's fear of pain. This neuroscientific approach, reported in eNeuro, may help reconcile self-reported emotions and their neural underpinnings.

25 Dec 2018

Neuroimaging study explores how socioeconomic status shapes developing brains

The relationship between socioeconomic status and brain anatomy is mostly stable from childhood to early adulthood, according to a longitudinal neuroimaging study of more than 600 healthy young people published in JNeurosci.

25 Dec 2018

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Patients with stage IV disease now living a median 6.8 years after ALK+ NSCLC diagnosis

Free health check up ignored by more than half of the population says NHS

Pacemaker in the brain could help patients with epilepsy and Parkinsons

Sound can affect perception of touch in mice

Genetically diverse mouse models improves usability for precision medicine for Alzheimer's

New study describes various gene therapy strategies for treating Parkinson's disease

Scientists move one step closer towards treatment for low-grade gliomas with SYNODOS

Study suggests dopamine release in the brain occurs twice per meal

Researchers discover key mechanism in the brain that enables us to rapidly focus attention

Gently stroking babies could provide effective pain relief before medical procedures

Himalayan marmot genome offers clues to high-altitude adaptation

Research findings expand understanding of how memory works

Scientists suggest need for new approach to confront side effects of common anti-cancer therapy

Neuronal cell death in Alzheimer's disease may actually not be a bad thing, shows study

Study finds risk factors linked to REM sleep behavior disorder

New study reveals twist in how intoxication happens

New method of cancer stem cells activation to destroy tumors

New mechanism may explain neurons shrinking in Huntington's disease

Brain activity found to be predictive of pain-related fear

Neuroimaging study explores how socioeconomic status shapes developing brains

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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