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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.

Researchers develop simple visual test to identify individuals' level of executive cognitive abilities

University of Georgia researchers have developed a simple technique to measure an individual's visual processing speed--the speed at which an individual can comprehend visual information--in order to identify whether or not they may have cognitive issues.

19 Nov 2015

Testosterone cause of sex differences in the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests

Men are twice as likely as women to develop Parkinson's disease, a nervous system disorder characterized by tremors and difficulty moving. New research to be presented at Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases: Physiology and Gender suggests that the difference in risk may be due to the presence of the male sex hormone testosterone.

19 Nov 2015

Scientists, chefs explore ways to help people with neurologically-related taste impairments enjoy food again

Two women, seated at a table, told their stories in quiet tones. A group of chefs, some standing, others seated, leaned forward eagerly, clearly interested in what these two women had to say. They peppered the women with questions: did food taste better cold or hot? Was texture an issue? Did a glass of wine before dinner help or hurt the flavor experience? The women have taken chemotherapy for their cancer. One of them -- Gina Mullin -- will be taking chemotherapy every three weeks for the rest of her life. Both of them tell heartbreaking stories about a side effect of chemotherapy that gets swept under the rug: food tastes terrible.

19 Nov 2015

NIH-led collaboration details research strategy to address brain disorders

Infants are starved of oxygen during difficult births. Children's cognitive function is permanently damaged due to malnutrition or exposure to infections or toxins. Adults suffer from crippling depression or dementia. The breadth and complexity of these and other brain and nervous system disorders make them some of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat, especially in the developing world, where there are few resources.

19 Nov 2015

Sound deprivation causes irreversible damage to the inner ear

Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

19 Nov 2015

Dartmouth study reveals the brain's visual pathways

A Dartmouth study reveals how the brain understands motion and still objects to help us navigate our complex visual world.

19 Nov 2015

IMB scientists unravel complex regulatory mechanism involved in brain development

Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Mainz have unraveled a complex regulatory mechanism that explains how a single gene can drive the formation of brain cells. The research, published in The EMBO Journal, is an important step towards a better understanding of how the brain develops. It also harbors potential for regenerative medicine.

19 Nov 2015

Clinical study shows new Ebola vaccine stimulates strong immune responses in adults

A clinical trial of a new Ebola vaccine (ChAd3-EBO-Z) that resulted from an unprecedented global consortium assembled at the behest of the World Health Organization has found that it is well tolerated and stimulates strong immune responses in adults in Mali, West Africa and in the US, according to a study published in the latest issue of the journal Lancet Infectious Disease.

19 Nov 2015

HIV+ individuals show deficits in cognitive functioning

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have found in a small study that although a group of HIV+ older individuals scored "cognitively normal" in standard neuropsychology testing, a scan of their brains tells a different story.

19 Nov 2015

College courses may increase cognitive capacity, reduce debilitating effects of dementia for older adults

Older adults who take college courses may increase their cognitive capacity and possibly reduce their risk for developing Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

19 Nov 2015

Barefoot activities can improve balance and posture, prevent common injuries

As your cold-weather footwear makes the seasonal migration from the back of your closet to replace summer's flip flops and bare feet, don't underestimate the benefits of padding around naked from the ankles down.

18 Nov 2015

IU researchers discover hormonal mechanism that links short winter days with increased aggression in females

Indiana University researchers have discovered a hormonal mechanism in hamsters that connects short winter days with increased aggression in females, and that it differs from the mechanism that controls this same response in males.

18 Nov 2015

Scientists succeed in promoting regeneration of injured neurons in zebrafish by the use of light

The nervous system is built to last a lifetime, but diverse diseases or environmental insults can overpower the capacity of neurons to maintain function or to repair after trauma. A team led by Dr. Hernán López-Schier, head of the Research Unit Sensory Biology and Organogenesis at Helmholtz Zentrum München, now succeeded in promoting the repair of an injured neural circuit in zebrafish.

18 Nov 2015

NRL researchers to develop next generation of functional materials to map brain connections

Research biologists, chemists and theoreticians at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, are on pace to develop the next generation of functional materials that could enable the mapping of the complex neural connections in the brain. The ultimate goal is to better understand how the billions of neurons in the brain communicate with one another during normal brain function, or dysfunction, as result of injury or disease.

18 Nov 2015

Elite endurance athletes who eat few carbohydrates burn more fat during prolonged exercise

Elite endurance athletes who eat very few carbohydrates burned more than twice as much fat as high-carb athletes during maximum exertion and prolonged exercise in a new study - the highest fat-burning rates under these conditions ever seen by researchers.

18 Nov 2015

Scientists explain the evolutionary roots of language in the brain

A team led at Newcastle University, UK, has shed light on the evolutionary roots of language in the brain. Publishing in Nature Communications, the team led by Dr Ben Wilson and Professor Chris Petkov explain how using an imaging technique to explore the brain activity in humans and monkeys has identified the evolutionary origins of cognitive functions in the brain that underpin language and allow us to evaluate orderliness in sequences of sounds.

18 Nov 2015

Scientists develop potent compound that promotes wakefulness, remedies sleep disorder narcolepsy

Hiroshi Nagase, a Professor at the International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, collaborated with Masashi Yanagisawa (Professor / Director of WPI-IIIS) and successfully developed a potent compound that promotes wakefulness and remedies the sleep disorder narcolepsy in model animals.

18 Nov 2015

URI researcher developing novel vaccine delivery system to improve nicotine vaccine effectiveness

Xinyuan Chen, an assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, joined URI's College of Pharmacy after seven years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, bringing with him a $1.08 million career development grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse and a $432,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

18 Nov 2015

NIMH signs agreement to establish collaborative brain donation initiative for autism research

The National Institute of Mental Health has signed an agreement to establish a collaborative, nationwide effort for the collection, storage, and distribution of postmortem human brain tissue for the benefit of autism research. The agreement with Foundation Associates LLC will coordinate the efforts of two independent networks of human brain tissue repositories, the National Institutes of Health NeuroBioBank and the Autism BrainNet.

18 Nov 2015

Study provides biochemical links between genes linked to autism and the inhibition of nerve cells

A study led by the University of Utah School of Medicine provides new insights into how the subtle changes within cells, caused by disruptions in a gene called Kirrel3, could underlie some types of intellectual disability and autism.

18 Nov 2015

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Researchers develop simple visual test to identify individuals' level of executive cognitive abilities

Testosterone cause of sex differences in the occurrence of Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests

Scientists, chefs explore ways to help people with neurologically-related taste impairments enjoy food again

NIH-led collaboration details research strategy to address brain disorders

Sound deprivation causes irreversible damage to the inner ear

Dartmouth study reveals the brain's visual pathways

IMB scientists unravel complex regulatory mechanism involved in brain development

Clinical study shows new Ebola vaccine stimulates strong immune responses in adults

HIV+ individuals show deficits in cognitive functioning

College courses may increase cognitive capacity, reduce debilitating effects of dementia for older adults

Barefoot activities can improve balance and posture, prevent common injuries

IU researchers discover hormonal mechanism that links short winter days with increased aggression in females

Scientists succeed in promoting regeneration of injured neurons in zebrafish by the use of light

NRL researchers to develop next generation of functional materials to map brain connections

Elite endurance athletes who eat few carbohydrates burn more fat during prolonged exercise

Scientists explain the evolutionary roots of language in the brain

Scientists develop potent compound that promotes wakefulness, remedies sleep disorder narcolepsy

URI researcher developing novel vaccine delivery system to improve nicotine vaccine effectiveness

NIMH signs agreement to establish collaborative brain donation initiative for autism research

Study provides biochemical links between genes linked to autism and the inhibition of nerve cells

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

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Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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