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.

Athletes and non-athletes gather at TCS New York City Marathon

Well known for its culture, theater, and cuisine, New York is also one of the 25 healthiest cities in the United States. It's this fitness side that will be on show this weekend with the TCS New York City Marathon.

31 Oct 2015

Researchers use strain-gauge plethysmography system to assess cerebral outflow in microgravity

On Earth, blood flows down from a person's brain back toward the heart thanks in part to gravity, but very little is known about how this flow happens in microgravity.

31 Oct 2015

Unique funding opportunity seeks countermeasures to protect healthy tissue from radiation exposure

Small U.S.-based companies developing countermeasures to protect healthy tissue from the effects of radiation exposures may be eligible for a unique funding opportunity offered through the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. NSBRI's Industry Forum is soliciting applications for its Space Medical and Related Technologies Commercialization Assistance Program (SMARTCAP).

31 Oct 2015

Rotation model provides explanation of ligand activation mechanism of dimeric receptors

"This 'rotation model', which made the cover of BioEssays, represents a true paradigm shift in the membrane receptor field," stated Prof. Pierre De Meyts, a renowned researcher of insulin and receptor binding for almost half a century and one of the reviewers of the paper by Prof. Ichiro Maruyama, the head of the Information Processing Biology Unit at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University.

31 Oct 2015

Saint Louis University ophthalmologist offers tips to manage night vision issues

Owls and cats are at an advantage as the days get darker, but humans may notice their vision takes a hit during their evening commute home as daylight hours shrink.

31 Oct 2015

Penn Medicine's Gordon Baltuch performs 1,000th deep brain stimulation procedure

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves many of the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) and is a life-alerting surgery for many patients. Penn Medicine's Gordon Baltuch, MD, a professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Penn Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery, is one of the most prolific DBS surgeons in the world, having recently performed his 1,000th procedure, marking an important milestone for Baltuch and Penn Medicine.

31 Oct 2015

Underlying processes of working memory more complex than previously thought, say researchers

In order to retain a piece of information for a short time, working memory is required. The underlying processes are considerably more complex than hitherto assumed, as researchers from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Bonn University report in the journal "Cell Reports". Two brain states must alternate rhythmically in order for a piece of information to be successfully maintained.

31 Oct 2015

UCSD researchers develop new computational strategy to find tumor-shrinking molecules

Patients with glioblastoma, a type of malignant brain tumor, usually survive fewer than 15 months following diagnosis. Since there are no effective treatments for the deadly disease, University of California, San Diego researchers developed a new computational strategy to search for molecules that could be developed into glioblastoma drugs. In mouse models of human glioblastoma, one molecule they found shrank the average tumor size by half.

31 Oct 2015

Interrupted sleep affects people's positive moods

A study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers suggests that awakening several times throughout the night is more detrimental to people's positive moods than getting the same shortened amount of sleep without interruption.

31 Oct 2015

Scientists identify new jelly-like properties of essential proteins that lead to serious diseases

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified a new property of essential proteins which, when it malfunctions, can cause the build up, or 'aggregation', of misshaped proteins and lead to serious diseases.

31 Oct 2015

Stem cell transplantation may offer viable treatment for Alzheimer's disease patients

Alzheimer's disease (AD), affecting millions worldwide, is the leading cause of dementia. The prevalence of AD is rapidly increasing, and will possibly affect over 100 million people by 2050, yet there are no effective therapies for the disease.

31 Oct 2015

Routine clinical features may aid BVFTD diagnostic accuracy

Researchers have identified clinical features that can help determine which patients assessed for behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia are most likely to actually have the condition.

30 Oct 2015

‘Room for improvement’ in post-thrombolysis haemorrhage management

Real-world data on the management of post-thrombolysis symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage highlight delays in diagnosis and treatment.

30 Oct 2015

Lack of adequate sleep can interfere with fundamental cellular process

Lack of adequate sleep can do more than just make you tired. It can short-circuit your system and interfere with a fundamental cellular process that drives physical growth, physiological adaptation and even brain activity, according to a new study from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

30 Oct 2015

Findings could lead to new treatment for ALS, dementia

University of Toronto (U of T) researchers are proposing a new way of understanding Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the devastating and incurable neurological disease. Their findings, published today in the journal Neuron, could be a major milestone on the path to a treatment for both ALS and dementia.

30 Oct 2015

Study sheds light on mechanism of neuronal activity

Neurons communicate by passing electrical messages, known as action potentials, between each other. Each neuron has a highly specialized structural region, the axon initial segment (AIS), whose primary role is in the generation and sending of these messages.

30 Oct 2015

Study suggests a neural pathway through which early life stress may contribute to depression

Early life stress is a major risk factor for later episodes of depression. In fact, adults who are abused or neglected as children are almost twice as likely to experience depression.

30 Oct 2015

Study finds no major difference in hippocampal size between men and women

A research study at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science has debunked the widely-held belief that the hippocampus, a crucial part of the brain that consolidates new memories and helps connect emotions to the senses, is larger in females than in males.

30 Oct 2015

Exercise can protect brain function, reduce occurrence of PTSD

Experiencing a traumatic event often results in an acute stress response and the lingering memory may lead to mental and physical changes that negatively impact one's health.

30 Oct 2015

Single gene variation may influence obesity in children, adults

A single variation in the gene for brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) may influence obesity in children and adults, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

30 Oct 2015

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Athletes and non-athletes gather at TCS New York City Marathon

Researchers use strain-gauge plethysmography system to assess cerebral outflow in microgravity

Unique funding opportunity seeks countermeasures to protect healthy tissue from radiation exposure

Rotation model provides explanation of ligand activation mechanism of dimeric receptors

Saint Louis University ophthalmologist offers tips to manage night vision issues

Penn Medicine's Gordon Baltuch performs 1,000th deep brain stimulation procedure

Underlying processes of working memory more complex than previously thought, say researchers

UCSD researchers develop new computational strategy to find tumor-shrinking molecules

Interrupted sleep affects people's positive moods

Scientists identify new jelly-like properties of essential proteins that lead to serious diseases

Stem cell transplantation may offer viable treatment for Alzheimer's disease patients

Routine clinical features may aid BVFTD diagnostic accuracy

‘Room for improvement’ in post-thrombolysis haemorrhage management

Lack of adequate sleep can interfere with fundamental cellular process

Findings could lead to new treatment for ALS, dementia

Study sheds light on mechanism of neuronal activity

Study suggests a neural pathway through which early life stress may contribute to depression

Study finds no major difference in hippocampal size between men and women

Exercise can protect brain function, reduce occurrence of PTSD

Single gene variation may influence obesity in children, adults

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st 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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