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Meditation may increase gray matter

Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers - people have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what can one do to build a bigger brain?

12 May 2009

Magnetization Transfer Imaging shows structural changes in Tourette's syndrome

Magnetization Transfer Imaging, MTI, has been used to visualize previously unknown alterations in the cerebral architecture of patients with Tourette's syndrome.

12 May 2009

Smoking makes it harder for brain blood flow to recover from long-term heavy drinking

Alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) can damage the brain, particularly the frontal and parietal cortices, although this damage is at least partially reversible with sustained abstinence from alcohol. Chronic smoking is extremely common among individuals with AUDs.

12 May 2009

New device for patients too sick for open-heart surgery

An innovative device that acts like a belt to reshape an enlarged, leaky heart valve is providing a minimally invasive treatment option for patients who are too sick for open-heart surgery.

7 May 2009

MRI research may lead to new methods for diagnosing ADHD and other mental health disorders

Oregon Health & Science University researchers, along with scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, are uncovering new information about the mind by studying the brain while it is at rest. It is believed this research will one day provide new tools for diagnosing mental health disorders and monitoring the progress of treatments.

7 May 2009

eZono launches innovation for faster adoption of ultrasound-guided anesthesia

Widespread adoption of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia has been hampered by complex technology and high training barriers. At the Deutscher Anasthesiecongress in Leipzig eZono AG unveils the eZono 3000, a novel ultrasound imaging solution that lowers these hurdles.

7 May 2009

Research shows right from the beginning babies are active learners

A new study from Northwestern University shows what many mothers already know: their babies are a lot smarter than others may realize.

6 May 2009

CT scans increase cancer risk estimates in multiply-imaged emergency department patients

Physicians should review a patient's CT imaging history and cumulative radiation dose when considering whether to perform another CT exam, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.

5 May 2009

Potential molecular target for new schizophrenia treatments

A study on schizophrenia has implicated machinery that maintains the flow of potassium in cells and revealed a potential molecular target for new treatments. Expression of a previously unknown form of a key such potassium channel was found to be 2.5 fold higher than normal in the brain memory hub of people with the chronic mental illness and linked to a hotspot of genetic variation.

5 May 2009

Toddlers with autism more likely to have an enlarged amygdala

Toddlers with autism appear more likely to have an enlarged amygdala, a brain area associated with numerous functions, including the processing of faces and emotion, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

4 May 2009

Tiny gold particles home in on tumors

It has long been known that heat is an effective weapon against tumor cells. However, it's difficult to heat patients' tumors without damaging nearby tissues.

4 May 2009

New early detection studies of lung cancer in non-smokers launched

Government and private sector cancer scientists today launched a research partnership to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The research studies are designed to create a better understanding of the biology of lung cancer and to develop a test to detect early-stage lung cancer in lifetime nonsmokers.

4 May 2009

Research uncovers possible basis of memories for different smells

Ben W. Strowbridge, Ph.D, associate professor of Neuroscience and Physiology/Biophysics, and Yuan Gao, a Ph.D. student in the neurosciences program at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, are the first to discover a form of synaptic memory in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell.

3 May 2009

CDH10 gene found to play a critical role in prenatal risk of autism

UCLA scientists, in partnership with 30 research institutions across the country, have identified a new gene variant that is highly common in autistic children.

30 Apr 2009

Discovery of gene region that may account for as many as 15 percent of autism cases

A research team has connected more of the intricate pieces of the autism puzzle, with two studies that identify genes with important contributions to the disorder.

30 Apr 2009

Amount of breast water could be linked to the risk of breast cancer

A unique mother-daughter study that used magnetic resonance to measure breast density in younger women shows that percent of breast water could be linked to the risk of breast cancer in middle age and older.

29 Apr 2009

Glutamate identified as predictor of disease progression in multiple sclerosis

UCSF researchers have identified a correlation between higher levels of glutamate, which occurs naturally in the brain as a byproduct of metabolism, and greater disease burden in multiple sclerosis patients.

29 Apr 2009

Brain processes written words as unique 'objects,' GUMC neuroscientists say

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that an area known to be important for reading in the left visual cortex contains neurons that are specialized to process written words as whole word units.

29 Apr 2009

A glimpse at vision: First impressions count

Human beings far outpace computers in their ability to recognize faces and other objects, handling with ease variations in size, color, orientation, lighting conditions and other factors.

29 Apr 2009

AUA counters mainstream recommendations with new best practice statement on PSA testing

The American Urological Association (AUA) today issued new clinical guidance - which directly contrasts recent recommendations issued by other major groups - about prostate cancer screening, asserting that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test should be offered to well-informed, men aged 40 years or older who have a life expectancy of at least 10 years.

27 Apr 2009