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.

Alzheimer's disease impairs visual face perception beyond causing memory problems

A recent study has demonstrated that, beyond causing memory problems, Alzheimer's disease also impairs visual face perception. This finding may help families better understand their loved one's inevitable difficulties and lead to new avenues to postpone this painful aspect of the disease, such as the recognition of particular facial traits or voice recognition.

11 Apr 2016

New U of T study shows that acetaminophen could impede error-detection in the brain

It's been known for more than a century that acetaminophen is an effective painkiller, but according to a new U of T study it could also be impeding error-detection in the brain.

11 Apr 2016

Rockefeller scientists study molecular mechanism that causes linker cell death in worms

Some cells are meant to live, and some are meant to die. The linker cell of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm that is a favored model organism for biologists, is among those destined for termination.

11 Apr 2016

How can deep learning impact healthcare?

“Genomic medicine really needs deep learning,” these were the words of keynote speaker Brendan Frey, CEO Deep Genomics at RE-WORK’s Deep Learning in Healthcare Summit 2016.

8 Apr 2016

Epileptologists develop mobile sensor that can detect seizures

For epilepsy patients and attending physicians, it has been a challenge to correctly assess the frequency and severity of epileptic seizures without inpatient recording equipment. A consortium coordinated by the epileptologists of the University Hospital Bonn is now developing a mobile sensor that can detect seizures.

7 Apr 2016

Radiation therapy plus PCV chemotherapy improves survival of low-grade glioma patients

Patients with a low-grade type of brain tumor called glioma who received radiation therapy plus a chemotherapy regimen, including procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine (PCV), experienced a longer progression-free survival and overall survival than patients who received radiation therapy alone, according to the results of the clinical trial, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 9802 published in the April 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

7 Apr 2016

Adolescents like to share high-calorie, low-nutrient food items in social media

A new study from the University of Gothenburg show that adolescents like to present foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients in social media

7 Apr 2016

Physical, mental training may improve health of young schizophrenia patients

In as little as a few months, antipsychotic medications can tame the delusions and hallucinations that characterize schizophrenia. But the medications do little to reverse the less familiar brain-based problems that accompany the illness.

7 Apr 2016

Taking epilepsy drug during pregnancy may not increase risk of birth defects

Babies born to pregnant women taking the epilepsy drug lamotrigine may not be at an increased risk of birth defects, such as cleft lip, cleft palate or clubfoot, according to a study published in the April 6, 2016, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

7 Apr 2016

Scientists detect FFR signals from previously unknown part of the brain

Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University have made an important discovery about the human auditory system and how to study it, findings that could lead to better testing and diagnosis of hearing-related disorders.

7 Apr 2016

Salk scientists identify specific cellular switches that clear dying, dead neurons

By adolescence, your brain already contains most of the neurons that you'll have for the rest of your life. But a few regions continue to grow new nerve cells--and require the services of cellular sentinels, specialized immune cells that keep the brain safe by getting rid of dead or dysfunctional cells.

7 Apr 2016

Compound from unique blue-green algae could be key to next anti-cancer drug

Could a slippery glob of algae hold the key to the next anti-cancer drug? According to new research into a compound produced by a unique community of blue-green algae, the answer could be yes.

7 Apr 2016

Researchers develop innovative method for gene transfer

Researchers have developed a new and highly efficient method for gene transfer. The technique, which involves culturing and transfecting cells with genetic material on an array of carbon nanotubes, appears to overcome the limitations of other gene editing technologies.

7 Apr 2016

New immune-suppressing therapy leads to longer survival for cross-species heart transplant

A new immune-suppressing therapy has led to the longest survival yet for a cross-species heart transplant, according to new research conducted in part by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

7 Apr 2016

Researchers develop mouse model for testing vaccines, therapeutics to battle Zika virus

A research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has established a mouse model for testing of vaccines and therapeutics to battle Zika virus.

6 Apr 2016

Parkinson's disease medications could lead to impulse control disorders

Drugs commonly prescribed to treat Parkinson's disease have been linked to impulse control disorders such as pathological gambling, compulsive buying, hypersexuality and binge eating in some patients, report neurologists from Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

6 Apr 2016

New technologies can improve memory, learning in cognitive deficit patients

People are using brain-machine interfaces to restore motor function in ways never before possible - through limb prosthetics and exoskletons. But technologies to repair and improve cognition have been more elusive. That is rapidly changing with new tools - from fully implantable brain devices to neuron-eavesdropping grids atop the brain - to directly probe the mind.

6 Apr 2016

3-D replica of teen’s skull helps surgeons remove rare, aggressive tumor

What started as a stuffy-nose and mild cold symptoms for 15-year-old Parker Turchan led to a far more serious diagnosis: a rare type of tumor in his nose and sinuses that extended through his skull near his brain.

6 Apr 2016

Cognitive neuroscientists testing potential benefits of brain training tools

The draw is huge: Play video games and get smarter. For the past decade, various groups have claimed that their cognitive training programs do everything from staving off neurodegenerative disease to enhancing education and improving daily functioning. Absent from many of these claims has been neuroscientific evidence. Cognitive neuroscientists are now rigorously testing the potential benefits of such "brain training" tools.

6 Apr 2016

Study explores two new antibodies believed to cause myasthenia gravis

A study of patients from across the nation with myasthenia gravis is helping determine the incidence of two new antibodies believed to cause the disease, and whether these patients need different treatment strategies.

6 Apr 2016