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.

Stress hormone has major effect on perception and perceptual learning

Stress is part of our everyday lives - while some thrive on it, it makes others sick. But what does stress do to our senses? When we train them, we can sharpen our senses thereby improve our perceptual performance.

11 Jan 2017

Childhood obesity starts in the womb?

There is incontrovertible evidence that some harmful drugs and toxins can affect lifelong health. For example, if women take certain drugs in pregnancy, such as thalidomide, there are well documented effects on lifelong health. These have obvious and dramatic effects on the child...

11 Jan 2017

Folic acid supplements can reduce risk of having pregnancy affected by neural tube defects

Despite the mandatory addition of folic acid to enriched grain products in the United States, many women still do not consume adequate amounts of this important vitamin, according to an editorial written by Laura E. Mitchell, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

11 Jan 2017

Hormonal fluctuations make women more sensitive to addictive properties of cocaine, study reveals

Hormonal fluctuations women undergo make them particularly sensitive, compared to men, to the addictive properties of cocaine, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published January 10 in the journal Nature Communications.

11 Jan 2017

Study strengthens therapeutic potential for niacin-based diet in treatment of Parkinson's disease

People with certain forms of early-onset Parkinson's disease may benefit from boosting the amount of niacin in their diet, according to new research from the University of Leicester.

11 Jan 2017

Protein aggregation may trigger inflammatory response linked to neurodegenerative diseases

A recent review article published online in The FASEB Journal points to the "trigger" for the inflammatory response, caused by the immune system, that precedes Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions.

11 Jan 2017

Scientist receives $2.7 million DoD grant for research on veterans with chronic TBI

A researcher from the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the Department of Defense under the Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program.

11 Jan 2017

Scientists identify molecular pathway in the brain that may help find better treatments for dementia

Rutgers University scientists have discovered a molecular pathway in the brain that may help provide answers to long-term memory problems in the elderly and aid researchers in identifying drug-based therapies to prevent dementia.

11 Jan 2017

Antibiotics targeting brain’s inflammatory response may exacerbate cognitive deficits in children

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of disability and death in infants and children in the United States, with more than half a million affected annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

11 Jan 2017

Mayo Clinic scientists identify key molecule that helps protect the central nervous system against sepsis

No effective therapy exists today for sepsis, an inflammatory storm that afflicts about 3 million Americans a year - killing up to half.

10 Jan 2017

Sedentary older adults likely to develop dementia as those with genetic risk factors, research finds

Sedentary older adults with no genetic risk factors for dementia may be just as likely to develop the disease as those who are genetically predisposed, according to a major study which followed more than 1,600 Canadians over five years.

10 Jan 2017

BMI status of older adults influences benefits accrued from memory training, study finds

In the first study to compare the results of cognitive training by body mass index (BMI) category, scientists from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research found that memory training provided only one-third the benefit to older adults with obesity than the benefit it provided to older adults without obesity.

10 Jan 2017

Study reveals how migration increases person's risk of developing schizophrenia

A new study could explain how migrating to another country increases a person's risk of developing schizophrenia, by altering brain chemistry.

10 Jan 2017

Cocaine addicts make riskier decisions than healthy people after losing potential reward

People addicted to cocaine make riskier decisions than healthy people after losing a potential reward, according to a study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

10 Jan 2017

EMBL scientists trace neural connections that control instinctive behaviours

From fighting the urge to hit someone to resisting the temptation to run off stage instead of giving that public speech, we are often confronted with situations where we have to curb our instincts.

10 Jan 2017

Alcohol strengthens emotional memories linked to fearful experiences, study shows

Experiments in mice by researchers at Johns Hopkins suggest that if the goal is to ease or extinguish fearful emotional memories like those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol may make things worse, not better.

10 Jan 2017

NCCN publishes new easy-to-understand patient education resources focused on brain cancer

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients and NCCN Quick Guide sheets for Brain Cancer - Gliomas—the first in a series of patient education resources focused on Brain Cancer.

10 Jan 2017

SLU expert suggests viewing exercise as daily contribution that offers cumulative health benefits

Have you already faltered on your New Year's resolution to exercise regularly in 2017? Joined a gym, but only worked out two days so far? New workout gear still neatly folded with tags attached? Don't give up your admirable ambition just yet. Instead, consider a new attitude to refocus your approach toward your exercise goal.

10 Jan 2017

Cell powerhouses may be good therapeutic target for brain injury

Cell powerhouses are typically long and lean, but with brain injury such as stroke or trauma, they can quickly become bloated and dysfunctional, say scientists who documented the phenomena in real time for the first time in a living brain.

10 Jan 2017

NIH highlights key tips and facts about glaucoma

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. The National Eye Institute, part of NIH, is highlighting key facts about this blinding disease, important tips for prevention and treatment, and research updates you may not know about.

10 Jan 2017

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Stress hormone has major effect on perception and perceptual learning

Childhood obesity starts in the womb?

Folic acid supplements can reduce risk of having pregnancy affected by neural tube defects

Hormonal fluctuations make women more sensitive to addictive properties of cocaine, study reveals

Study strengthens therapeutic potential for niacin-based diet in treatment of Parkinson's disease

Protein aggregation may trigger inflammatory response linked to neurodegenerative diseases

Scientist receives $2.7 million DoD grant for research on veterans with chronic TBI

Scientists identify molecular pathway in the brain that may help find better treatments for dementia

Antibiotics targeting brain’s inflammatory response may exacerbate cognitive deficits in children

Mayo Clinic scientists identify key molecule that helps protect the central nervous system against sepsis

Sedentary older adults likely to develop dementia as those with genetic risk factors, research finds

BMI status of older adults influences benefits accrued from memory training, study finds

Study reveals how migration increases person's risk of developing schizophrenia

Cocaine addicts make riskier decisions than healthy people after losing potential reward

EMBL scientists trace neural connections that control instinctive behaviours

Alcohol strengthens emotional memories linked to fearful experiences, study shows

NCCN publishes new easy-to-understand patient education resources focused on brain cancer

SLU expert suggests viewing exercise as daily contribution that offers cumulative health benefits

Cell powerhouses may be good therapeutic target for brain injury

NIH highlights key tips and facts about glaucoma

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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