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.

Biodegradable surgical sutures could treat brain infections

A plastic material already used in absorbable surgical sutures and other medical devices shows promise for continuous administration of antibiotics to patients with brain infections, scientists are reporting in a new study. Use of the material, placed directly on the brain's surface, could reduce the need for weeks of costly hospital stays now required for such treatment, they say in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.

8 Aug 2013

Overthinking can be harmful to human performance, finds study

Trying to explain riding a bike is difficult because it is an implicit memory. The body knows what to do, but thinking about the process can often interfere. So why is it that under certain circumstances paying full attention and trying hard can actually impede performance? A new UC Santa Barbara study, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals part of the answer.

8 Aug 2013

Understanding the movement of neurons sheds light on how cancer cells invade health tissues

The invasion of brain-tumor cells into surrounding tissue requires the same protein molecule that neurons need to migrate into position as they differentiate and mature, according to new research from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and published August 7 in the online journal PLOS ONE.

8 Aug 2013

Cognitive decline with age is natural part of life, OSU researchers find

If you forget where you put your car keys and you can't seem to remember things as well as you used to, the problem may well be with the GluN2B subunits in your NMDA receptors.

8 Aug 2013

Increase in TV watching linked with diminished vocabulary of kids at kindergarten

Every hourly increase in daily television watching at 29 months of age is associated with diminished vocabulary and math skills, classroom engagement (which is largely determined by attention skills), victimization by classmates, and physical prowess at kindergarten, according to Professor Linda Pagani of the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine children's hospital.

8 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Obamacare isn't a 'job-killing' law; hometown insurer Aetna pulls out of Conn. exchange

The share of part-time jobs rose sharply during the recession, as it always does - employers always cut workers' hours in downturns. Here's the question: Has this share continued to grow as we approach the start of the ACA's employer mandate, which was recently pushed back a year to 2015? The answer is no. Part-time workers represent 19.0 percent of total employment - below the post-recession peak of 20.0 percent and exactly the same as a year ago (Jared Bernstein and Paul Van de Water, 8/6).

8 Aug 2013

Research suggests treadmill training after spinal cord injury can have positive effects on recovery

New research suggests that treadmill training soon after a spinal cord injury can have long-lasting positive effects on recovery - as long as the training is accompanied by efforts to control inflammation in the lower spinal cord.

8 Aug 2013

TSRI scientists decode important molecular signal that guides development of neocortex

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have decoded an important molecular signal that guides the development of a key region of the brain known as the neocortex. The largest and most recently evolved region of the brain, the neocortex is particularly well developed in humans and is responsible for sensory processing, long-term memory, reasoning, complex muscle actions, consciousness and other functions.

8 Aug 2013

Wiring diagram of retinal neurons: The first step toward mapping the human brain

The human brain has 100 billion neurons, connected to each other in networks that allow us to interpret the world around us, plan for the future, and control our actions and movements. MIT neuroscientist Sebastian Seung wants to map those networks, creating a wiring diagram of the brain that could help scientists learn how we each become our unique selves.

8 Aug 2013

Endovascular Therapy still "reasonable" option for patients with acute stroke

Despite recent discouraging results, endovascular treatment is still a "reasonable" treatment option for selected patients with acute stroke, according to a commentary in the August issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

8 Aug 2013

Chronic exposure biomass fuel smoke can cause cardiovascular problems

Rural households in developing countries often rely on burning biomass, such as wood, animal dung and waste from agricultural crops, to cook and heat their homes. The practice is long known to cause lung disease, but a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine links the resulting smoke to cardiovascular problems, including an increase in artery-clogging plaques, artery thickness and higher blood pressure.

8 Aug 2013

Brain tumor cells in arrested development contribute to cell variety that protects cancer

A program that pushes immature cells to grow up and fulfill their destiny as useful, dedicated cells is short-circuited in the most common and deadly form of brain tumor, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

8 Aug 2013

Scientists identify important molecular signal that guides development of brain

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have decoded an important molecular signal that guides the development of a key region of the brain known as the neocortex.

8 Aug 2013

Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may keep brains healthy

Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may help older people keep their brains healthy and their thinking skills sharp, according to a study published in the August 7, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Aug 2013

Findings may allow lower doses of chemotherapy, limit toxic side effects

In research recently published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Alessandro Vindigni, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Saint Louis University, discovered how cancer cells respond to the damage caused by an important class of anti-cancer drugs, topoisomerase I inhibitors.

7 Aug 2013

Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center neurosurgeons implant MRI-safe spinal cord stimulator for pain

Neurosurgeons at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are among the first in the United States to successfully implant an MRI-safe spinal cord stimulator to help patients suffering from chronic back or limb pain.

From Medtronic 7 Aug 2013

UCSF researchers develop assessment tool to predict patient's risk of delirium

UC San Francisco researchers have developed a two-minute assessment tool to help hospital staff predict a patient-s risk of delirium, a change in mental cognition characterized by severe confusion and disorientation that can prolong hospital stays.

7 Aug 2013

New study suggests that color of night light can affect mood-related behaviors

When it comes to some of the health hazards of light at night, a new study suggests that the color of the light can make a big difference.

7 Aug 2013

Immune function restored in spinal injured mice

In a new study, researchers at The Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center show that is possible to restore immune function in spinal injured mice.

7 Aug 2013

SmartTots announces recipients of pediatric anesthesia research grants

SmartTots announces Lena Sun, MD and Jeffrey William Sall, PhD, MD as the recipients of its 2013/2014 round of pediatric anesthesia research grants. The research grants are intended to support investigations into the existence of a clinical signal suggesting poor neurocognitive outcomes as the result of early exposure to anesthesia.

7 Aug 2013

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Biodegradable surgical sutures could treat brain infections

Overthinking can be harmful to human performance, finds study

Understanding the movement of neurons sheds light on how cancer cells invade health tissues

Cognitive decline with age is natural part of life, OSU researchers find

Increase in TV watching linked with diminished vocabulary of kids at kindergarten

Viewpoints: Obamacare isn't a 'job-killing' law; hometown insurer Aetna pulls out of Conn. exchange

Research suggests treadmill training after spinal cord injury can have positive effects on recovery

TSRI scientists decode important molecular signal that guides development of neocortex

Wiring diagram of retinal neurons: The first step toward mapping the human brain

Endovascular Therapy still "reasonable" option for patients with acute stroke

Chronic exposure biomass fuel smoke can cause cardiovascular problems

Brain tumor cells in arrested development contribute to cell variety that protects cancer

Scientists identify important molecular signal that guides development of brain

Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may keep brains healthy

Findings may allow lower doses of chemotherapy, limit toxic side effects

Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center neurosurgeons implant MRI-safe spinal cord stimulator for pain

UCSF researchers develop assessment tool to predict patient's risk of delirium

New study suggests that color of night light can affect mood-related behaviors

Immune function restored in spinal injured mice

SmartTots announces recipients of pediatric anesthesia research grants

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

Latest News