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Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition 2014 winners announced

From algae to zebrafish, life under the microscope can be beautiful, surprising and mysterious. This week, amazing glimpses of the unseen universe earned top prizes in the 2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®, the world’s foremost forum for showcasing microscope images of life science subjects.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 16 Dec 2014

UT Southwestern researchers identify possible therapy to treat neurofibromatosis type 1

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a possible therapy to treat neurofibromatosis type 1 or NF1, a childhood neurological disease characterized by learning deficits and autism that is caused by inherited mutations in the gene encoding a protein called neurofibromin.

15 Dec 2014

Experts expose fundamental role of chaos and complexity in biological information processing

The interdisciplinary approach to problems that till recently were addressed in the hermetic framework of distinct disciplines such as physics, informatics, biology or sociology constitutes today one of the most active and innovative areas of science, where fundamental issues meet problems of everyday concern.

14 Dec 2014

Study: Obese children's brains light up differently when tasting sugar

A new study led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine finds that the brains of obese children literally light up differently when tasting sugar.

12 Dec 2014

Cerebellar cortical volume reduction specific to schizophrenia

Reduced cerebellar cortical volume occurs only in patients with schizophrenia, rather than all those with psychosis, say researchers.

10 Dec 2014

New study explores reliability of optogenetics as method of intervention of temporal lobe seizures

Optogenetics is one of the hottest tools in biomedical research today, a method that uses gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins into specific cells. This new tool allows researchers to interact with a single cell or a network of cells with exquisite precision. Whereas imaging and other technologies allow researchers to watch the brain in action, optogenetics enables them to influence those actions.

7 Dec 2014

Study provides insights into genetic underpinnings of childhood epilepsies

Technological advances in genetic analysis have uncovered changes in single genes that account for a surprising number of infantile and early-childhood epilepsies. Though some of the affected genes have been identified, the physical manifestations of these alterations remain largely uncharacterized.

7 Dec 2014

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

How does the brain determine what matters? According to a new scientific article, a brain structure called the insula is essential for selecting things out of the environment that are "salient" for an individual, and dysfunction of this system is linked to brain disorders such as autism, psychosis and dementia.

5 Dec 2014

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Quitting smoking sets off a series of changes in the brain that Penn Medicine researchers say may better identify smokers who will start smoking again—a prediction that goes above and beyond today's clinical or behavioral tools for assessing relapse risk.

5 Dec 2014

Controlling neural excitations may help prevent detrimental effects like those in stroke, say scientists

What do lasers, neural networks, and spreading epidemics have in common? They share a most basic feature whereby an initial pulse can propagate through a medium - be it physical, biological or socio-economic, respectively. The challenge is to gain a better understanding - and eventually control - of such systems, allowing them to be applied, for instance to real neural systems. This is the objective of a new theoretical study published in EPJ B by Clemens Bachmair and Eckehard Schöll from the Berlin University of Technology in Germany.

4 Dec 2014

UC Berkeley scientists reveal how humans have excelled at 'relational reasoning'

When it comes to getting out of a tricky situation, we humans have an evolutionary edge over other primates. Take, as a dramatic example, the Apollo 13 voyage in which engineers, against all odds, improvised a chemical filter on a lunar module to prevent carbon dioxide buildup from killing the crew.

4 Dec 2014

Frontal lesions predict better improvement in people with spatial neglect after prism therapy

Stroke researchers have found that the presence of frontal lesions predicts better functional improvement in individuals with spatial neglect who received prism adaptation therapy. "Integrity of medial temporal structures may predict better improvement of spatial neglect with prism adaptation treatment" was published in September in the Neuroimaging and Rehabilitation Special Issue of Brain Imaging & Behavior.

3 Dec 2014

Monash Vision Group moves a step closer to Bionic Eye clinical trials

The Monash Vision Groupmoves a step closer to clinical trials of its Bionic Eye, thanks to landmark donations from two respected business leaders.

3 Dec 2014

Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day may protect against Alzheimer’s Disease

Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day may help to protect against Alzheimer’s Disease, according to research highlighted in an Alzheimer Europe session report published by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee, a not-for-profit organisation devoted to the study and disclosure of science related to coffee and health.

29 Nov 2014

Researchers discover molecular switch that triggers stress processes in the brain

At the Center for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna an important factor for stress has been identified in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (Sweden). This is the protein secretagogin that plays an important role in the release of the stress hormone CRH and which only then enables stress processes in the brain to be transmitted to the pituitary gland and then onwards to the organs.

28 Nov 2014

Functional connectivity loss may underlie Parkinson’s cognitive decline

Patients with Parkinson’s disease have deceases in functional connectivity over time and these correlate closely with cognitive decline, research shows.

27 Nov 2014

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center releases November tip sheet of story ideas

Following is the November 2014 tip sheet of story ideas from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

27 Nov 2014

Research findings highlight power of expectations to drive brain activity in Parkinson's patients

Learning-related brain activity in Parkinson's patients improves as much in response to a placebo treatment as to real medication, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Columbia University.

26 Nov 2014

Ohio State researchers study repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are trying to help patients who have suffered a stroke to improve arm movement by stimulating the brain using a device called a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS). By using TMS to reduce brain activity on the side that was not injured by the stroke, the injured side may have a better chance of recovering.

25 Nov 2014

NOS1AP gene may help explain biological process of schizophrenia

A gene associated with schizophrenia plays a role in brain development and may help to explain the biological process of the disease, according to new Rutgers research.

24 Nov 2014