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.

Adding, removing water from a stem cell can determine its role as bone or fat

Adding or removing water from a stem cell can change the destiny of the cell, researchers have discovered in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

27 Sep 2017

Research reveals curious pattern of autism recurrence based on gender

Having one child with autism is a well-known risk factor for having another one with the same disorder, but whether and how a sibling's gender influences this risk has remained largely unknown.

26 Sep 2017

SBP researcher awarded $10.8 million grant to pursue development of new drug for substance abuse

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute is pleased to announce the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health has awarded Nicholas Cosford, Ph.D., a three-year, $10.8 million grant to pursue the preclinical development of a new class of medicine to treat substance use disorders.

26 Sep 2017

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease

A KAIST research team has identified a new mechanism that causes the hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease, namely tremors, rigidity, and loss of voluntary movement.

26 Sep 2017

Lactation hormone also helps establish nurturing link between mother and baby

The same hormone that stimulates milk production for lactation, also acts in the brain to help establish the nurturing link between mother and baby, researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have revealed for the first time.

26 Sep 2017

Positive mood on the day of flu jab can increase its protective effect, research finds

New research by a team of health experts at the University of Nottingham has found evidence that being in a positive mood on the day of your flu jab can increase its protective effect.

26 Sep 2017

Study: Gene linked to schizophrenia risk controls early neurodevelopment

A gene associated with the risk of schizophrenia regulates critical components of early brain development, according to a new study led by researchers from Penn State University.

26 Sep 2017

New pig model for stroke could accelerate drug discovery process

It is well-known in the medical field that the pig brain shares certain physiological and anatomical similarities with the human brain. So similar are the two that researchers at the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center have developed the first U.S. pig model for stroke treatments, which will provide essential preclinical data and speed the drug discovery process.

26 Sep 2017

Breakthrough research offers new insight into function of the brain's anterior cingulate cortex

After four years of lab testing and complex neuro-decoding, a research team led by UNLV psychology professor James Hyman has struck a major breakthrough that could open the floodgates for research into the anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC, and how human brains learn.

26 Sep 2017

Vaccine to prevent Lyme disease on the cards

Lyme disease is an infection that spreads with the bites of an infected tick. For the past four years, a vaccine to protect dogs from this disease has been available. Now, vaccinating humans against this disease has also become a possibility.

26 Sep 2017

Nerve stimulation therapy revives a 35-year-old man in vegetative state – sparks hope

A 20-year-old man from France fifteen years back met with a car accident and suffered damage to his brain putting him is a vegetative state or a state where from he never regained consciousness. Now he is 35 years and an experimental low-intensity nerve stimulation method has been found to stir him into a “minimally conscious state”.

26 Sep 2017

Rutgers scientists use genetic engineering technique to create brain cells for studying Tourette’s

Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick used a genetic engineering technique for the first time to create brain cells from the blood cells of individuals in a three-generation family with Tourette syndrome to help determine what causes the disease.

25 Sep 2017

Long-lasting effects of traumatic childhood experiences may be due to impaired neural connections

Researchers from the McGill Group for Suicide Studies, based at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University’s Department of Psychiatry, have just published research in the American Journal of Psychiatry that suggests that the long-lasting effects of traumatic childhood experiences, like severe abuse, may be due to an impaired structure and functioning of cells in the anterior cingulate cortex.

25 Sep 2017

Study identifies novel molecular interactions that explain cognitive defects in Parkinson's disease

A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, from Nature publishing group, describes the identification of a novel molecular pathway that can constitute a therapeutic target for cognitive defects in Parkinson's disease.

25 Sep 2017

Mother's diet during pregnancy could affect brain reward circuitry of children

Researchers in France found that rats who ate a junk food diet during pregnancy had heavier pups that strongly preferred the taste of fat straight after weaning. While a balanced diet in childhood seemed to reduce the pups' desire for fat, they nevertheless showed altered brain reward circuitry into adulthood.

25 Sep 2017

Organ donation up by more than half in Ontario since Canada introduced new policy

Since Canada introduced a new organ donation policy in 2006 called “circulatory determination of death” (DCD), Ontario has seen a 57% increase in donation, according to a new study.

25 Sep 2017

Brain shapes normal body patterning much earlier than previously thought

The brain plays an active and essential role much earlier than previously thought, according to new research from Tufts University scientists which shows that long before movement or other behaviors occur, the brain of an embryonic frog influences muscle and nerve development and protects the embryo from agents that cause developmental defects.

25 Sep 2017

Study shows that the brain uses supramodality to estimate confidence in different senses

A series of experiments at EPFL provide conclusive evidence that the brain uses a single mechanism (supramodality) to estimate confidence in different senses such as audition, touch, or vision. The study is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

25 Sep 2017

UCI study improves understanding of brain's navigational system

The ability to successfully navigate in the environment is essential both for animals searching for food or escaping predators, as well as for human urban dwellers. It is something we take for granted, but under the hood, it is supported by still incompletely understood brain networks that continuously calculate our position in the environment.

22 Sep 2017

Research provides new insights on the border between conscious and unconscious perception

Whether or not we consciously perceive the stimuli projected onto our retina is decided in our brain. A recent study by the University of Bonn shows how some signals dissipate along the processing path to conscious perception.

22 Sep 2017

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Adding, removing water from a stem cell can determine its role as bone or fat

Research reveals curious pattern of autism recurrence based on gender

SBP researcher awarded $10.8 million grant to pursue development of new drug for substance abuse

Researchers identify new mechanism that causes hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Lactation hormone also helps establish nurturing link between mother and baby

Positive mood on the day of flu jab can increase its protective effect, research finds

Study: Gene linked to schizophrenia risk controls early neurodevelopment

New pig model for stroke could accelerate drug discovery process

Breakthrough research offers new insight into function of the brain's anterior cingulate cortex

Vaccine to prevent Lyme disease on the cards

Nerve stimulation therapy revives a 35-year-old man in vegetative state – sparks hope

Rutgers scientists use genetic engineering technique to create brain cells for studying Tourette’s

Long-lasting effects of traumatic childhood experiences may be due to impaired neural connections

Study identifies novel molecular interactions that explain cognitive defects in Parkinson's disease

Mother's diet during pregnancy could affect brain reward circuitry of children

Organ donation up by more than half in Ontario since Canada introduced new policy

Brain shapes normal body patterning much earlier than previously thought

Study shows that the brain uses supramodality to estimate confidence in different senses

UCI study improves understanding of brain's navigational system

Research provides new insights on the border between conscious and unconscious perception

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