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.

State highlights: Calif. rejecting 'free money'; N.C. Medicaid changes, problems; Ill. readies employer contraception coverage vote

Consumer advocates and some legislators were surprised and frustrated when California health officials recently refused a $6 million donation to help people re-up their Medi-Cal health coverage. Now two senators have proposed an unusual solution: a bill to force the state to accept the offer from The California Endowment (Gorman, 7/4).

8 Jul 2014

First report of spinal cord mass arising from spinal cord cell transplantation

A spinal mass was identified in a young woman with complete spinal cord injury 8 years after she had undergone implantation of olfactory mucosal cells in the hopes of regaining sensory and motor function.

8 Jul 2014

Insights into how cells move could lead to innovative techniques to stop spread of cancer

Insights into how cells move through the body could lead to innovative techniques to stop cancer cells from spreading and causing secondary tumours, according to new UCL research.

8 Jul 2014

Study provides new insight into the primal brain circuits involved in collision avoidance

A neuroscience study provides new insight into the primal brain circuits involved in collision avoidance, and perhaps a more general model of how neurons can participate in networks to process information and act on it.

8 Jul 2014

New technology in field of optogenetics can remotely control specific receptors by light

Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the main organization of the International Science and Business Belt project in South Korea, has announced that a group of researchers, led by professor Won Do Heo, have developed a new technology in the field of optogenetics that can remotely control specific receptors by light.

8 Jul 2014

Military physicians will soon pick up joysticks to save lives of children

Military physicians will soon pick up joysticks instead of textbooks to learn skills that could save lives of children with serious health threats.

7 Jul 2014

Sleep deprivation can lead a healthy person to display symptoms similar to schizophrenia

Twenty-four hours of sleep deprivation can lead to conditions in healthy persons similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia. This discovery was made by an international team of researchers under the guidance of the University of Bonn and King's College London.

7 Jul 2014

Research on intestinal microbiota overturns vision of human gut ecosystem

An international research team within the MetaHIT consortium coordinated by INRA and involving teams from CEA, CNRS and Université d'Evry, has developed a new method to analyse the global genome, or the metagenome of the intestinal microbiota.

7 Jul 2014

CNIOA researchers update number of human genes to 19,000

How nutrients are metabolised and how neurons communicate in the brain are just some of the messages coded by the 3 billion letters that make up the human genome.

4 Jul 2014

MEF2 gene: A potential therapeutic target to protect neuronal loss in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

A new study by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has identified a chemical "switch" that controls both the generation of new neurons from neural stem cells and the survival of existing nerve cells in the brain.

4 Jul 2014

Headbanging to Motörhead thought to have caused bleeding in the brain

A recent report in the Lancet describes the case of a man who developed bleeding in the brain after headbanging at a Motörhead concert.

4 Jul 2014

Mass spectrometry-based tool successfully used in brain cancer surgery

A tool to help brain surgeons test and more precisely remove cancerous tissue was successfully used during surgery, according to a Purdue University and Brigham and Women's Hospital study.

4 Jul 2014

Brain uses varying strategies to filter out distractions

You know the feeling? You are trying to dial a phone number from memory… you have to concentrate…. then someone starts shouting out other numbers nearby.

4 Jul 2014

Study shows how psychedelic drug alters brain activity to produce unusual psychological effects

New research shows that our brain displays a similar pattern of activity during dreams as it does during a mind-expanding drug trip.

4 Jul 2014

Researchers identify pathogenic mechanism common to several neurodegenerative diseases

An international team of researchers identified a pathogenic mechanism that is common to several neurodegenerative diseases. The findings suggest that it may be possible to slow the progression of dementia even after the onset of symptoms.

4 Jul 2014

Researchers reveal how schizophrenia-linked genetic variation alters skeletons of developing brain cells

Johns Hopkins researchers have begun to connect the dots between a schizophrenia-linked genetic variation and its effect on the developing brain. As they report July 3 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, their experiments show that the loss of a particular gene alters the skeletons of developing brain cells, which in turn disrupts the orderly layers those cells would normally form.

4 Jul 2014

Researchers discover new way by which metabolism is linked to regulation of DNA

A research team at the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta have discovered a new way by which metabolism is linked to the regulation of DNA, the basis of our genetic code. The findings may have important implications for the understanding of many common diseases, including cancer.

4 Jul 2014

Maternal inflammatory marker linked to children’s schizophrenia risk

The children of women who have elevated levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein during pregnancy have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, research suggests.

3 Jul 2014

New research examines brain effects of the psychedelic chemical in magic mushrooms

New research shows that our brain displays a similar pattern of activity during dreams as it does during a mind-expanding drug trip.

3 Jul 2014

Persons with reduced levels of TREM2 protein at greater risk for neurodegenerative diseases

Persons with reduced levels of the TREM2 protein could be at greater risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia, according to an international study which included the participation of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute.

3 Jul 2014

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State highlights: Calif. rejecting 'free money'; N.C. Medicaid changes, problems; Ill. readies employer contraception coverage vote

First report of spinal cord mass arising from spinal cord cell transplantation

Insights into how cells move could lead to innovative techniques to stop spread of cancer

Study provides new insight into the primal brain circuits involved in collision avoidance

New technology in field of optogenetics can remotely control specific receptors by light

Military physicians will soon pick up joysticks to save lives of children

Sleep deprivation can lead a healthy person to display symptoms similar to schizophrenia

Research on intestinal microbiota overturns vision of human gut ecosystem

CNIOA researchers update number of human genes to 19,000

MEF2 gene: A potential therapeutic target to protect neuronal loss in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

Headbanging to Motörhead thought to have caused bleeding in the brain

Mass spectrometry-based tool successfully used in brain cancer surgery

Brain uses varying strategies to filter out distractions

Study shows how psychedelic drug alters brain activity to produce unusual psychological effects

Researchers identify pathogenic mechanism common to several neurodegenerative diseases

Researchers reveal how schizophrenia-linked genetic variation alters skeletons of developing brain cells

Researchers discover new way by which metabolism is linked to regulation of DNA

Maternal inflammatory marker linked to children’s schizophrenia risk

New research examines brain effects of the psychedelic chemical in magic mushrooms

Persons with reduced levels of TREM2 protein at greater risk for neurodegenerative diseases

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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