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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.

Astrocytes implicated in preclinical AD

Astrocytes are activated in the brains of people with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease long before symptoms appear and even before amyloidosis begins, a study shows.

12 Feb 2016

People with sleep apnea have low levels of GABA and high levels of glutamate

One in 15 adults has moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, a disorder in which a person's breathing is frequently interrupted during sleep -- as many as 30 times per hour.

12 Feb 2016

TSRI scientists receive $1.7 million NIH grant to find new target for treating Huntington's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have won nearly $1.7 million from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to investigate the mechanisms that contribute to Huntington's disease, a fatal inherited disease that some have described as having ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's--at the same time.

12 Feb 2016

Tick genome study sheds light on occurrences of Lyme disease

After a decade-long research effort the genome of the deer tick has been sequenced by an international team of scientists, including researchers from the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.

12 Feb 2016

Research summit to explore gender differences of female brain injuries

PINKconcussions and Georgetown University Medical Center, with support for the NCAA Sports Science Institute and US Lacrosse, are hosting the first summit to explore gender differences of female brain injuries including symptoms, treatment and recovery to develop a better model of care.

12 Feb 2016

Animal study shows link between oxygen-sensing neurons and fat-burning circuit

A new study in animal models, led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is the first to show that oxygen sensing in the brain has a role in metabolism and sensing an organism's internal state.

12 Feb 2016

Poor physical fitness in middle age linked to smaller brain size 20 years later

Poor physical fitness in middle age may be linked to a smaller brain size 20 years later, according to a study published in the February 10, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

12 Feb 2016

Modulation of opioid system may improve effectiveness of drugs for treatment-resistant depression

A clinical trial of an experimental drug for treatment-resistant major depression finds that modulation of the endogenous opioid system may improve the effectiveness of drugs that target the action of serotonin and related monoamine neurotransmitters.

12 Feb 2016

TAU research highlights neuroprotective potential of protein-protectant drug candidate SKIP

Activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP), essential for brain formation, is frequently mutated in children on the autism spectrum. In older men and women, ADNP expression in the blood is correlated with cognition and further altered in Alzheimer's disease.

11 Feb 2016

David Calligaris wins ABC Best Paper Award

David Calligaris is the winner of this year's ABC Best Paper Award, presented by the Springer journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. In a paper published in ABC, lead author Calligaris and his colleagues describe a novel system using mass spectrometry as an intraoperative tool. Their method opens new possibilities to detect additional tumour markers which are useful in diagnosing brain and breast tumours during surgery.

11 Feb 2016

GEMS project to explore events leading to MS in at-risk individuals

A team of investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has launched a study of individuals at risk for multiple sclerosis (MS). By focusing on first-degree family members of MS patients, the research team seeks to better understand the sequence of events that leads some people to develop the disease.

11 Feb 2016

West Cancer Center introduces promising new treatment method for brain cancer patients

Brain Cancer patients in the Mid-South now have a promising new treatment method at West Cancer Center. Optune™, a portable device using low intensity electric fields to inhibit cancer cell replication causing death of cancer cells, is the first FDA-approved therapy in more than a decade to show a significant extension in overall survival rates for newly diagnosed adult Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) patients.

11 Feb 2016

Zika: an update

Since the Zika outbreak in Brazil early last year, the virus has spread to 20 countries across the Americas. As of February 3rd, 35 cases of Zika have been reported in the U.S., all of which have been associated with international travel.

11 Feb 2016

Penn investigators explore new treatment option for cocaine dependence

In the ongoing fight against drug addiction, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine have discovered a unique application for an FDA-approved drug currently used for obese patients and type 2 diabetics: treatment for cocaine dependence.

11 Feb 2016

Study provides new insight into how drug addicts' brains wired differently

A study out today provides new insight into how the brains of drug addicts may be wired differently. The findings, which appear in the journal Psychopharmacology, show that while drug users have very strong motivation to seek out "rewards," they exhibit an impaired ability to adjust their behavior and are less fulfilled once they have achieved what they desire.

11 Feb 2016

Starting marijuana at younger age may hinder brain development

The age at which an adolescent begins using marijuana may affect typical brain development, according to researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas. In a paper recently published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, scientists describe how marijuana use, and the age at which use is initiated, may adversely alter brain structures that underlie higher order thinking.

11 Feb 2016

Researchers devise lipid-based diets to relieve symptoms of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer´s disease (AD) is the most common disease underlying memory problems and dementia in the elderly. One of the invariable pathologies in AD is degeneration of cholinergic synapses in brain cortex and hippocampus.

11 Feb 2016

Computerized cognitive rehabilitation can improve outcomes in brain injury survivors

For the first time, researchers have shown that computerized cognitive rehabilitation (a program to help brain-injured or otherwise cognitively impaired individuals to restore normal functioning) can improve attention and executive functioning in brain injury survivors including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke.

11 Feb 2016

UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, UMMS President and CEO Robert Chrencik named recipients of 'Speaker's Medallion'

The Maryland House of Delegates and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, has announced that University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA and University of Maryland Medical System President and CEO Robert Chrencik, MBA, are recipients of the "Speaker's Medallion," the highest honor given to the public by the leader of the Maryland House of Delegates.

11 Feb 2016

Dementia incidence highest in African Americans, lowest in Asian Americans

The first study to look at dementia risk in a population representing the diversity of the United States finds dementia incidence to be highest in African Americans and lowest in Asian Americans. The rate of occurrence of dementia in African Americans was found to be 65 percent higher than Asian Americans.

10 Feb 2016