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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.

Higher-fit children have more compact white-matter tracts in the brain than lower-fit peers

A new study of 9- and 10-year-olds finds that those who are more aerobically fit have more fibrous and compact white-matter tracts in the brain than their peers who are less fit. "White matter" describes the bundles of axons that carry nerve signals from one brain region to another. More compact white matter is associated with faster and more efficient nerve activity.

19 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Virginia lawmakers will convene in a special session next month to address the question of expanding Medicaid and, more broadly, the fact that hundreds of thousands of poor and disabled people in the state have no health insurance coverage. Democrats and some moderate Republicans have advanced a variety of ideas to tackle that problem. Conservative Republicans, who control the legislature in Richmond, have rejected those solutions while proposing no alternative. Does the GOP intend for the special session to be anything more than a charade at taxpayers' expense? (8/15).

19 Aug 2014

Researchers develop new technique to map pulse pressure and elasticity of arteries in the brain

Researchers at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new technique that can noninvasively image the pulse pressure and elasticity of the arteries of the brain, revealing correlations between arterial health and aging.

19 Aug 2014

Researchers uncover role of epigenetic changes in Alzheimer's disease

A team led by researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School and King's College London has uncovered some of the strongest evidence yet that epigenetic changes in the brain play a role in Alzheimer's disease.

19 Aug 2014

Study shows bryostatin plays key role in slowing or reversing Alzheimer's disease

Neurotrope, Inc. (OTCQB: NTRP) today announced that results from a new study, entitled, "PKCe Deficits in Alzheimer's Disease Brains and Skin Fibroblasts," published in the recent edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and co-authored by Tapan K. Khan, Ph.D.; Abhik Sen, Ph.D.; Jarin Hongpaisan, Ph.D.; Chol S. Lim, Ph.D.; Thomas J. Nelson, Ph.D., and; Dr. Daniel L. Alkon, each of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), provide further indication of the role that protein kinase C epsilon (PKCe) may play in the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

19 Aug 2014

Study confirms close link between immune system and adult neurogenesis

A new study by Barbara Beltz, the Allene Lummis Russell Professor of Neuroscience at Wellesley College, and Irene Soderhall of Uppsala University, Sweden, published in the August 11 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, demonstrates that the immune system can produce cells with stem cell properties, using crayfish as a model system. These cells can, in turn, create neurons in the adult animal.

19 Aug 2014

Hatha yoga improves sedentary older adults' cognitive performance

Practicing hatha yoga three times a week for eight weeks improved sedentary older adults' performance on cognitive tasks that are relevant to everyday life, researchers report.

19 Aug 2014

Rare mutation in suspect gene disrupts brain circuitry in complex psychiatric disorders

Researchers have long suspected that major mental disorders are genetically-rooted diseases of synapses - the connections between neurons.

18 Aug 2014

Research examines evidence of damage to hearing

New research examines evidence of damage to your hearing. Many people listen to loud music without realizing that this can affect their hearing.

18 Aug 2014

Study to explain how brain reorganizes itself as children learn math facts

As children learn basic arithmetic, they gradually switch from solving problems by counting on their fingers to pulling facts from memory. The shift comes more easily for some kids than for others, but no one knows why.

18 Aug 2014

Individual’s genetic make-up determines effect of stress on emotional centres

Our individual genetic make-up determines the effect that stress has on our emotional centres. These are the findings of a group of researchers from the MedUni Vienna. Not every individual reacts in the same way to life events that produce the same degree of stress.

18 Aug 2014

Errors and learning: Johns Hopkins researchers reveal how we learn a new motor task

Using a deceptively simple set of experiments, researchers at Johns Hopkins have learned why people learn an identical or similar task faster the second, third and subsequent time around. The reason: They are aided not only by memories of how to perform the task, but also by memories of the errors made the first time.

18 Aug 2014

Risky situations increase anxiety for women but not for men

Risky situations increase anxiety for women but not for men, leading women to perform worse under these circumstances, finds a study to be presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

18 Aug 2014

Finding may explain why people with schizophrenia have difficulty achieving real-world goals

People with schizophrenia struggle to turn goals into actions because brain structures governing desire and emotion are less active and fail to pass goal-directed messages to cortical regions affecting human decision-making, new research reveals.

18 Aug 2014

Researchers reveal how early changes in DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease

A new study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Rush University Medical Center, reveals how early changes in brain DNA methylation are involved in Alzheimer's disease.

18 Aug 2014

Exposure to visual experience outside womb may matter most for early gaze following

Following another person's gaze can reveal a wealth of information critical to social interactions and also to safety. Gaze following typically emerges in infancy, and new research looking at preterm infants suggests that it's visual experience, not maturational age, that underlies this critical ability.

18 Aug 2014

Researchers use new gene editing method to correct mutation that leads to DMD

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers successfully used a new gene editing method to correct the mutation that leads to Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in a mouse model of the condition.

17 Aug 2014

Microbes influence human eating behavior, dietary choices

It sounds like science fiction, but it seems that bacteria within us — which outnumber our own cells about 100-fold — may very well be affecting both our cravings and moods to get us to eat what they want, and often are driving us toward obesity.

17 Aug 2014

ALS Association surpasses $10 million in "Ice Bucket" donations

Today, The ALS Association announced it has surpassed $10 million in "Ice Bucket" donations. Specifically, as of Saturday, August 16, 2014, The ALS Association has received $11.4 million in donations compared to $1.7 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 16).

17 Aug 2014

Scientists create computer algorithm for cell and tissue engineering

In a boon to stem cell research and regenerative medicine, scientists at Boston Children's Hospital, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Boston University have created a computer algorithm called CellNet as a "roadmap" for cell and tissue engineering, to ensure that cells engineered in the lab have the same favorable properties as cells in our own bodies.

16 Aug 2014

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Higher-fit children have more compact white-matter tracts in the brain than lower-fit peers

Viewpoints: Va. GOP's 'Medicaid charade'; Paul Ryan's health Rx for poverty; giving the sick unapproved drugs

Researchers develop new technique to map pulse pressure and elasticity of arteries in the brain

Researchers uncover role of epigenetic changes in Alzheimer's disease

Study shows bryostatin plays key role in slowing or reversing Alzheimer's disease

Study confirms close link between immune system and adult neurogenesis

Hatha yoga improves sedentary older adults' cognitive performance

Rare mutation in suspect gene disrupts brain circuitry in complex psychiatric disorders

Research examines evidence of damage to hearing

Study to explain how brain reorganizes itself as children learn math facts

Individual’s genetic make-up determines effect of stress on emotional centres

Errors and learning: Johns Hopkins researchers reveal how we learn a new motor task

Risky situations increase anxiety for women but not for men

Finding may explain why people with schizophrenia have difficulty achieving real-world goals

Researchers reveal how early changes in DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease

Exposure to visual experience outside womb may matter most for early gaze following

Researchers use new gene editing method to correct mutation that leads to DMD

Microbes influence human eating behavior, dietary choices

ALS Association surpasses $10 million in "Ice Bucket" donations

Scientists create computer algorithm for cell and tissue engineering

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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