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.

Research findings may provide new approach to treating male infertility

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine has demonstrated for the first time that hydrogen sulphide (H2S), when applied exogenously, could protect testicular germ cells, which are male reproductive cells, against heat-induced injury, which is one of the major causes of male infertility.

28 Jul 2015

Low-dose lithium lowers involuntary motor movements in mouse model of Parkinson's disease

Low-dose lithium reduced involuntary motor movements - the troubling side effect of the medication most commonly used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) - in a mouse model of the condition that is diagnosed in about 60,000 Americans each year. The third in a series of studies from the Andersen lab involving PD and low-dose lithium, the results add to mounting evidence that low-doses of the psychotropic drug could benefit patients suffering from the incurable, degenerative condition.

28 Jul 2015

Inflammation plays role in onset of delirium in older adults

Delirium is an acute state of confusion that often affects older adults following surgery or serious illness. Now a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center confirms that inflammation - an immune response that develops when the body attempts to protect itself from harmful stimuli -- plays a role in the onset of delirium.

28 Jul 2015

Multiple sclerosis relapse management: an interview with Gina Remington

MS relapses are typically reflective of new neurological symptoms. However, it can be a worsening of neurologic symptoms that begins after a patient has been stable (generally for about 30 days), but relapses are persistent and consistent changes in symptoms that occur for more than 24 to 48 hours.

26 Jul 2015

New research may aid in treatment of vision problems like lazy eye

If you have two working eyes, you are live streaming two images of the world into your brain. Your brain combines the two to produce a view of the world that appears as though you had a single eye -- like the Cyclops from Greek mythology.

25 Jul 2015

Twenty Radboud researchers receive Veni grant as part of Innovational Research Incentives Scheme

Twenty young and promising researchers from Nijmegen - eleven from Radboud University and nine from Radboudumc - are each to receive up to 250,000. NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) is awarding the Veni grant as part of the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme.

25 Jul 2015

Iron supplementation may increase risk of neurodegeneration, shows research

Is it possible that too much iron in infant formula may potentially increase risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's in adulthood -- and are teeth the window into the past that can help us tell? T

25 Jul 2015

Organ donor honored at Reagan UCLA Medical Center

Two years ago, Rachel Greenberg went out to run a few errands. While she was gone, her husband Glenn suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. He was immediately taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where physicians explained he had suffered the worst kind of brain bleed.

25 Jul 2015

Static synapses that lie between cell body and AIS critical for decreasing neuronal excitability

In biology, stability is important. From body temperature to blood pressure and sugar levels, our body ensures that these remain within reasonable limits and do not reach potentially damaging extremes.

25 Jul 2015

Researchers discover first fully synthetic substrate with potential to grow billions of stem cells

If you experience a major heart attack the damage could cost you around five billion heart cells. Future stem cell treatments will require this number and more to ensure those cells are replaced and improve your chances of survival.

25 Jul 2015

Changes in UCH-L1 and GFAP proteins linked to trauma-related brain damage

Researchers have shown that the levels of two proteins present in blood and cerebrospinal fluid increase significantly at different time points following traumatic brain injury (TBI), confirming their potential value as biomarkers of trauma-related brain damage.

25 Jul 2015

Rutgers physicians use new treatments to restore teenager’s life

At first, 13-year-old Christina Blumstein thought she had an ordinary headache. She and her parents were returning from a visit to Long Island in July 2014 when the pain struck. Was it a bout of carsickness? Too much screen time on her iPad? But a few hours later, back home in Old Bridge, New Jersey, her mother MaryAnn says, "Christina started screaming that somebody was stabbing her in the head with a knife." Soon afterward Christina was comatose and in an ambulance - and her life was in grave danger.

25 Jul 2015

Emotionally unstable people have different brain structure

We all vary in how often we become happy, sad or angry, and also in how strongly these emotions are expressed. This variability is a part of our personality and can be seen as a positive aspect that increases diversity in society. However, there are people that find it so difficult to regulate their emotions that it has a serious impact on their work, family and social life. These individuals may be given an emotional instability diagnosis such as borderline personality disorder or antisocial personality disorder.

25 Jul 2015

CU-Boulder study reveals how and when placebo effect works

You don't think you're hungry, then a friend mentions how hungry he is or you smell some freshly baked pizza and whoaaa, you suddenly feel really hungry. Or, you've had surgery and need a bit of morphine for pain. As soon as you hit that button you feel relief even though the medicine hasn't even hit your bloodstream.

25 Jul 2015

New research shows concussion may affect men and women differently

New research suggests concussion may not significantly impair symptoms or cognitive skills for one gender over another, however, women may still experience greater symptoms and poorer cognitive performance at preseason testing.

25 Jul 2015

Extremes of stroke symptoms attract misdiagnoses

Patients with very mild or very severe stroke symptoms are at the greatest risk of being misdiagnosed in the emergency department, research suggests.

24 Jul 2015

Adults born very premature display socially withdrawn personality

New research indicates that adults born very premature are more likely to be socially withdrawn and display signs of autism.

24 Jul 2015

Vanderbilt researchers hope to give new dexterity to needlescopic surgery with tiny mechanical wrist

With the flick of a tiny mechanical wrist, a team of engineers and doctors at Vanderbilt University's Medical Engineering and Discovery Laboratory hope to give needlescopic surgery a whole new degree of dexterity.

24 Jul 2015

Breakthrough reveals influence of schizophrenia’s 'Rosetta Stone' gene in brain development

Scientists have identified a critical function of what they believe to be schizophrenia's "Rosetta Stone" gene that could hold the key to decoding the function of all genes involved in the disease.

24 Jul 2015

Migraines may increase risk of stroke among smokers

New research suggests older people who experience migraines may have an increased risk of stroke, but only if they are smokers. The study is published in the July 22, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Jul 2015