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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.

Repeated exposure to anesthesia early in life impairs visual recognition memory

Repeated exposure to a common anesthesia drug early in life results in visual recognition memory impairment, which emerges after the first year of life and may persist long-term, according to a study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online May 31 in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

31 May 2017

Brain's immune cells may play roles in neurodegenerative, psychiatric illnesses

Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain's front lines of immune defense--cells called microglia--unique.

31 May 2017

TSRI professor receives $2 million grant to study neurofibromatosis type I

Assistant Professor Seth Tomchik of the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has received $2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

31 May 2017

Collaborative effort to develop rare disease patient registries

The Orphan Disease Center in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will collaborate with Pulse Infoframe Inc., a medical informatics company, to develop rare disease patient registries aimed at enabling international collaboration to better understand these diseases, as well as accelerate and improve clinical studies to develop new therapies.

31 May 2017

Cognitive tests can detect early Alzheimer's in people without symptoms, study suggests

Long before symptoms of Alzheimer's disease become apparent to patients and their families, biological changes are occurring within the brain. Amyloid plaques, which are clusters of protein fragments, along with tangles of protein known as tau, form in the brain and grow in number, eventually getting in the way of the brain's ability to function.

31 May 2017

Brain changes after stroke may lead to increased preference for alcohol, research suggests

Brain changes after stroke may lead to increase in alcohol-seeking behavior, at least in animal models, according to research published Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports.

31 May 2017

Internet withdrawal causes physiological changes in digitally-dependent people

Scientists and clinicians from Swansea and Milan have found that some people who use the internet a lot experience significant physiological changes such as increased heart rate and blood pressure when they finish using the internet.

31 May 2017

WBD-SC launches new practical guidelines for effective treatment of bedwetting

The World Bedwetting Day Steering Committee has launched simplified practical guidelines to help healthcare professionals understand how best to treat bedwetting.

31 May 2017

BabyLux aims to reduce risk of brain lesions in extremely preterm babies

For the first time, two advanced biophotonic technologies – near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy (TRS) and diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) – have been combined and the already tested prototypes were extended to the level of demonstrators.

31 May 2017

Oxytocin treatment may help overcome drug addiction, study suggests

Many people have suggested that addiction hijacks the body's natural drives in the service of compulsive drug use.

31 May 2017

Scientists could be one step closer to developing vaccines against viruses

Scientists could be one step closer to developing vaccines against viruses such as Zika, West Nile or HIV, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

31 May 2017

New study reveals how brain's opioids modulate responses towards other people's pain

A new Finnish research reveals how brain's opioids modulate responses towards other people's pain.

31 May 2017

Phthalate exposure linked to depressed thyroid function in young girls

Early childhood exposures to specific phthalates were associated with depressed thyroid function in girls at age 3, according to scientists at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Phthalates, a class of chemicals thought to disrupt the endocrine system, are widely used in consumer products from plastic toys to household building materials to shampoos.

30 May 2017

Investigational compound inhibits cancer-specific mutations in mice

Many malignancies develop as a result of genetic alterations in individual cells. These gene mutations often cause altered proteins that give new, growth-promoting properties to the cell.

30 May 2017

Research findings may pave way for miracle drug to treat narcolepsy

Narcolepsy, a serious sleep disorder in which patients often fall asleep uncontrollably, has been incurable because no effective therapeutic agents are available to date. Recent findings by Japanese scientists in the sleep institute may shed light on this challenging problem.

30 May 2017

A new Zika threat hovers as summer’s mosquitoes get bzzzzy

Zika, the mosquito-borne virus that triggered public health alarm bells last summer, has receded from the spotlight. But, experts say, expect the virus to pose a renewed threat this year.

30 May 2017

New research recasts timeline for development of the brain's vision-processing center

The visual cortex, the human brain's vision-processing center that was previously thought to mature and stabilize in the first few years of life, actually continues to develop until sometime in the late 30s or early 40s, a McMaster neuroscientist and her colleagues have found.

30 May 2017

Visual cortex of the brain develops gradually throughout life, study reveals

A study of post-mortem brain tissue reveals the human primary visual cortex (V1) develops gradually throughout life.

30 May 2017

Rat study shows impact of early exposure to high-fat diet on the dopamine system in adulthood

Exposure to high-fat diet from childhood may increase the sensitivity of the dopamine system later in adulthood, according to a study in male rats published in eNeuro. The research describes potential mechanisms that, if translated to humans, may drive people to seek foods that contribute to obesity.

30 May 2017

Troubles with normal dreaming may be early warning sign for neurological conditions

Dr. John Peever at the University of Toronto has been working to answer one of humanity's greatest questions: how do we dream? He has found a certain area of the brain is responsible for this phenomenon and that troubles with normal dreaming may be an early warning sign for ailments such as Parkinson's Disease.

30 May 2017