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.

Neurodata Without Borders provides common format for brain data

An alliance of brain researchers and funders has announced a common data format to facilitate the free and open exchange of complex information about the brain--information that scientists can then use to accelerate progress in understanding the brain and developing new treatments for brain disorders.

23 Nov 2015

Brain analysis provides new insight on where happiness happens

Exercising, meditating, scouring self-help books... we go out of our way to be happy, but do we really know what happiness is? Wataru Sato and his team at Kyoto University have found an answer from a neurological perspective. Overall happiness, according to their study, is a combination of happy emotions and satisfaction of life coming together in the precuneus, a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes active when experiencing consciousness.

23 Nov 2015

Direct funduscopy exams performed infrequently, finds Loyola study

For more than 150 years, physicians have examined patients' eyes with a lighted, hand-held instrument called an ophthalmoscope.

22 Nov 2015

Prenatal exposure to marijuana improves kids' visual ability

Children exposed to marijuana in the womb show a significant improvement in their ability to track moving objects at age four, according to new vision research. But researchers are warning that the results do not mean marijuana has a benefical effect on foetal development.

22 Nov 2015

Brain imaging reveals distinctive aspects of high-inflammation depression

About one third of people with depression have high levels of inflammation markers in their blood. New research indicates that persistent inflammation affects the brain in ways that are connected with stubborn symptoms of depression, such as anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure.

21 Nov 2015

Atypical antipsychotic shows bipolar I depression efficacy

The atypical antipsychotic cariprazine may be effective for the treatment of bipolar I depression, phase II study findings show.

20 Nov 2015

Protein aggregates as harmful as neurodegenerative-disease-related proteins, shows study

Scientists at the forefront of cutting-edge research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s have shown that the mere presence of protein aggregates may be as important as their form and identity in inducing cell death in brain tissue.

20 Nov 2015

Study reveals key steps to improve care for pregnant mothers, prevent stillbirths

A new study launched today (Thursday 19 November) has revealed key steps for hospitals to improve care for pregnant mums and babies.

20 Nov 2015

Interaction between two brain proteins has substantial effect on memory formation

In a new study that could have implications for future drug discovery efforts for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that the interaction between a pair of brain proteins has a substantial and previously unrecognized effect on memory formation.

20 Nov 2015

Study suggests new approaches to fighting diseases using the power of illusion

Magic tricks work because they take advantage of the brain's sensory assumptions, tricking audiences into seeing phantoms or overlooking sleights of hand. Now a team of UC San Francisco researchers has discovered that even brainless single-celled yeast have sensory biases that can be hacked by a carefully engineered illusion, a finding that could be used to develop new approaches to fighting diseases such as cancer.

20 Nov 2015

TSRI researchers awarded $1.6 million grant to advance preclinical studies of potential heroin vaccine

Now researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded a prestigious Translational Avant-Garde Award, which supports the development of medications for substance abuse disorders, from the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Drug Abuse.

20 Nov 2015

Rockefeller University researchers discover molecule that helps guide axons during CNS development

During embryonic development, billions of neurons nimbly reposition themselves within the brain and spinal cord, and connect branches to form the neural circuits that ultimately control our movements, perception, and memory. Scientists have long sought to understand the driving forces in this meticulously choreographed dance, in which each cell seems to know precisely where to be to at any given time, and with what other cells it must link.

20 Nov 2015

New nanocarriers may effectively deliver therapeutic drug to GBM tumors

Glioblastoma multiforme, a cancer of the brain also known as "octopus tumors" because of the manner in which the cancer cells extend their tendrils into surrounding tissue, is virtually inoperable, resistant to therapies, and always fatal, usually within 15 months of onset.

20 Nov 2015

Exercise can impact cortical thickness in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Older adults that improved their fitness through a moderate intensity exercise program increased the thickness of their brain's cortex, the outer layer of the brain that typically atrophies with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

20 Nov 2015

Scientists identify way to sensitize drug-resistant glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy

Scientists from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and clinicians from Carilion Clinic have discovered how to sensitize drug-resistant human glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy.

20 Nov 2015

Brains of ASD individuals adapt to visual patterns during implicit learning

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have discovered a crucial difference in the way learning occurs in the brains of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

19 Nov 2015

UF Health investigators make new discovery about Huntington's disease

University of Florida Health researchers have made a new discovery about Huntington's disease, showing that the gene that causes the fatal disorder makes an unexpected "cocktail" of mutant proteins that accumulate in the brain.

19 Nov 2015

Lilly, Merck expand oncology clinical trial collaboration

Eli Lilly and Company and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the extension of an existing collaboration to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of Lilly's ALIMTA (pemetrexed for injection) and Merck's KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in a pivotal Phase III study in first-line nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

19 Nov 2015

Identifying new mechanism for aspirin in cancer prevention

Aspirin has been shown to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer and possibly other cancers. However, the risk of side effects, including in some cases severe gastrointestinal bleeding, makes it necessary to better understand the mechanisms by which aspirin acts at low doses before recommending it more generally as a preventative, says Cornelia Ulrich, PhD, Senior Director of Population Sciences at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City.

19 Nov 2015

New technological solution improves physical health, vitality and brain fitness of seniors

A new technological solution developed by researchers from the University of Notre Dame is aimed at enhancing the physical health, vitality and brain fitness of seniors residing in independent living communities.

19 Nov 2015

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Neurodata Without Borders provides common format for brain data

Brain analysis provides new insight on where happiness happens

Direct funduscopy exams performed infrequently, finds Loyola study

Prenatal exposure to marijuana improves kids' visual ability

Brain imaging reveals distinctive aspects of high-inflammation depression

Atypical antipsychotic shows bipolar I depression efficacy

Protein aggregates as harmful as neurodegenerative-disease-related proteins, shows study

Study reveals key steps to improve care for pregnant mothers, prevent stillbirths

Interaction between two brain proteins has substantial effect on memory formation

Study suggests new approaches to fighting diseases using the power of illusion

TSRI researchers awarded $1.6 million grant to advance preclinical studies of potential heroin vaccine

Rockefeller University researchers discover molecule that helps guide axons during CNS development

New nanocarriers may effectively deliver therapeutic drug to GBM tumors

Exercise can impact cortical thickness in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

Scientists identify way to sensitize drug-resistant glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy

Brains of ASD individuals adapt to visual patterns during implicit learning

UF Health investigators make new discovery about Huntington's disease

Lilly, Merck expand oncology clinical trial collaboration

Identifying new mechanism for aspirin in cancer prevention

New technological solution improves physical health, vitality and brain fitness of seniors

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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