Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

Babies remain calm twice as long when listening to song compared to speech

In a new study from the University of Montreal, infants remained calm twice as long when listening to a song, which they didn't even know, as they did when listening to speech. "Many studies have looked at how singing and speech affect infants' attention, but we wanted to know how they affect a baby's emotional self-control," explained Professor Isabelle Peretz, of the university's Center for Research on Brain, Music and Language.

28 Oct 2015

Lund University researchers reveal how nerve cells learn and forget

Our brains not only contain learning mechanisms but also forgetting mechanisms that erase "unnecessary" learning. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now been able to describe one of these mechanisms at the cellular level.

28 Oct 2015

UCLA launches second Grand Challenge to reduce health and economic impacts of depression

In an effort to place depression front and center on the national and international research agendas, UCLA has launched the Depression Grand Challenge, which aims to reduce the health and economic impacts of depression by half by the year 2050.

28 Oct 2015

Drug that relieves opioid-induced constipation may help some cancer patients live longer

Patients with advanced cancers who took a drug designed to relieve constipation caused by pain killers lived longer and had fewer reports of tumor progression than cancer patients who did not receive the drug, according to results presented October 27 at the 2015 meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Diego. This is the first study in humans to associate opioid blockade with improved survival.

28 Oct 2015

Researchers identify role of cGAS enzyme in autoimmune diseases

Activating an enzyme that sounds an alarm for the body's innate immune system causes two lethal autoimmune diseases in mice, while inhibiting the same enzyme rescues them, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

28 Oct 2015

Wyss Institute, UMass team up to develop drug-device combination for treating blood clots in stroke patients

Scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University developing novel nanotherapeutics for clearing obstructed blood vessels have teamed up with researchers at University of Massachusetts' New England Center for Stroke Research (NECSTR) to develop a new, highly effective drug-device combination for treating life-threatening blood clots in patients with stroke.

28 Oct 2015

Weight and physical activity level matter in kids' ability to think

Weight and physical activity levels are both factors in a child's ability to acquire and use knowledge, a new study finds.

28 Oct 2015

Learning detailed navigation information causes hippocampal brain changes

Fifteen years ago, a study showed that the brains of London cab drivers had an enlargement in the hippocampus, a brain area associated with navigation. But questions remained: Did the experience of navigating London's complex system of streets change their brains, or did only the people with larger hippocampi succeed in becoming cab drivers? Now, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have determined that learning detailed navigation information causes the hippocampal brain changes.

28 Oct 2015

Imlygic approved for treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), the first FDA-approved oncolytic virus therapy, for the treatment of melanoma lesions in the skin and lymph nodes.

28 Oct 2015

Infections with Lone star ticks appear to be surging but deaths are not, new study reveals

A mild disease spread by the aggressive Lone star tick that is now colonizing large swaths of the United States is being mistaken for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, according to a new study from scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

28 Oct 2015

Insulin plays a much stronger role in regulating release of dopamine

Insulin, the hormone essential to all mammals for controlling blood sugar levels and a feeling of being full after eating, plays a much stronger role than previously known in regulating release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers, new studies by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center show.

27 Oct 2015

Changes in lifestyle could reduce Alzheimer's disease risk

Changes in lifestyle could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. That was the conclusion of a study conducted by researchers of Heidelberg University's Network Aging Research, who examined the data from two independent epidemiological studies. Carriers of the ApoE4 genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's may be able to reduce their increased risk of cognitive decline by reducing their cholesterol level, especially if they also suffer from cardiovascular disease.

27 Oct 2015

Oxytocin treatment improves social, emotional and behavioral problems among young kids with autism

A five week treatment with the synthetic hormone oxytocin significantly improved social, emotional and behavioral issues among young children with autism, according to University of Sydney research published today in Molecular Psychiatry.

27 Oct 2015

Love hormone may enhance pleasure of social interactions, UCI study finds

The hormone oxytocin, which has been associated with interpersonal bonding, may enhance the pleasure of social interactions by stimulating production of marijuana-like neurotransmitters in the brain, according to a University of California, Irvine study.

27 Oct 2015

MGH researchers identify mechanism behind the spread of neurofibrillary tangles

Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have discovered a mechanism behind the spread of neurofibrillary tangles - one of the two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease - through the brains of affected individuals.

27 Oct 2015

Scientists decode central signal switch associated with epileptic seizures

Scientists at the University of Bonn and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) have decoded a central signal cascade associated with epileptic seizures. If the researchers blocked a central switch in epileptic mice, the frequency and severity of the seizures decreased. Using a novel technology, it was possible to observe the processes prior to the occurrence of epileptic seizures in living animals.

27 Oct 2015

Expectant mothers need to avoid certain cosmetics, cleaning agents and medicines during first trimester

Expectant mothers in their first trimester should avoid certain cosmetics, cleaning agents and medicines, to protect the developing fetal brain from chemicals that can trigger autism, York U health researchers have found.

27 Oct 2015

Research finding could lead to new treatment to promote brain repair, functional recovery after stroke

UCLA researchers have identified a molecule that, after a stroke, signals brain tissue to form new connections to compensate for the damage and initiate repairs to the brain.

27 Oct 2015

PRN Course for rehabilitation nurses now available online

The PRN Course is an intensive, online course covering the major areas of care that a rehabilitation nurse provides and is conveniently accessible from anywhere. Recorded at the recent live course, this valuable educational opportunity addresses comprehensive care for the rehabilitation patient, including how professionals can incorporate 36 rehabilitation nursing concepts and skills into their practice.

26 Oct 2015

New approaches to treating lung cancer patients in New Mexico

This year, more than 158,000 Americans are expected to die from lung cancer. That's a staggering number: it's more than all the deaths expected from breast, prostate, colon, rectum, bladder and skin cancers combined.

26 Oct 2015