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.

Food, drugs of abuse engage same brain systems, show studies

New animal research helps explain why some eat without hunger or to excess. The studies explore the biological effects of poor eating habits, showing that high-fat diets cause lasting brain changes that may impair healthy eating. Additional studies show that food and drugs of abuse engage many of the same brain systems. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

16 Nov 2010

Teenage binge drinking could cause mental health problems in adulthood: Study

Binge-drinking teenagers may be putting themselves at higher risk in adulthood for mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, Loyola University Health System researchers report.

16 Nov 2010

Researchers find additional work of oxytocin hormone

New human research suggests the chemical oxytocin dubbed the "cuddle hormone" because of its importance in bonding between romantic partners and mothers and children also influences feelings of well-being and sensitivity to advertising.

15 Nov 2010

Young marijuana users suffer most cognitive damage: Study

Many marijuana smokers begin early. A new study shows that these people did much worse on tests of executive brain function than those who started smoking when they were older. Researchers highlight the danger posed by marijuana and the need to develop effective strategies to reduce marijuana use, especially among young people in their study.

15 Nov 2010

StemCells seeks Swiss authorization to conduct human neural stem cells clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury

StemCells, Inc. announced today that is has filed an application with Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency for therapeutic products, to conduct a clinical trial in Switzerland of the Company's HuCNS-SC® purified human neural stem cells in chronic spinal cord injury patients. If authorized, the study would enroll patients who are three to 12 months post-injury.

15 Nov 2010

Protox decreases third quarter net and comprehensive loss to $1.6 million

Protox Therapeutics Inc., a leader in the development of receptor targeted therapeutic fusion proteins, today released financial results for the third quarter, ended September 30, 2010.

15 Nov 2010

Study analyzes neurological recovery after hypothermia treatment in cardiac arrest patients

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins say that physicians might be drawing conclusions too soon about irreversible brain damage in patients surviving cardiac arrest whose bodies were for a day initially chilled into a calming coma.

15 Nov 2010

Diffusion Tensor Imaging MRI technique helps produce satisfactory images of nerve bundles

Standard MRI scans have so far been unable to produce satisfactory images of nerve bundles. However, this is now possible by an MRI technique called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI). Matthan Caan succeeded in improving the DTI method during his PhD research at TU Delft, enabling him to produce more accurate images of the damage that radiotherapy and chemotherapy cause in young leukaemia patients.

15 Nov 2010

Aging changes how people view themselves and others through 'mind wandering'

Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center can now show, using functional MRI images, why it is that behavior in children and young adolescents veers toward the egocentric rather than the introspective.

15 Nov 2010

Findings reveal potential cause of lower survival from nighttime in-hospital cardiac arrest

CPR quality is worse during in-hospital cardiac arrests occurring overnight than those that happen during the day, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study that will be presented at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions on November 14.

15 Nov 2010

fMRI predicts response to 'talk therapy' in patients with pediatric anxiety disorder

A brain scan with functional MRI (fMRI) is enough to predict which patients with pediatric anxiety disorder will respond to "talk therapy," and so may not need to use psychiatric medication, say neuroscientists from Georgetown University Medical Center.

15 Nov 2010

Study finds extensive natural recovery after spinal cord injury

A study led by researchers in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows unexpected and extensive natural recovery after spinal cord injury in primates. The findings, to be published November 14 in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience, may one day lead to the development of new treatments for patients with spinal cord injuries.

15 Nov 2010

NIMH intramural researcher to receive National Medal of Science

National Institutes of Health intramural researcher Mortimer Mishkin, Ph.D., will be awarded the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony later this month. Mishkin is chief of the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Section on Cognitive Neuroscience, and acting chief of its Laboratory of Neuropsychology.

15 Nov 2010

ICON, Proteome enter alliance to provide expanded biomarker solutions

ICON plc, a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, and Proteome Sciences a leading provider of protein biomarker discovery, validation, and assay development services, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance to provide pharmaceutical companies with an expanded biomarker solution to allow earlier assessments in the development of new medicines.

15 Nov 2010

Researchers find structural deficits in gray matter may be associated with daytime sleepiness

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may blame their daytime difficulties on simple sleepiness, but new research suggests that their brains may be to blame. Specifically, their cognitive challenges may be caused by structural deficits in gray matter, brought on by the intermittent oxygen deprivation that comes with OSA. The good news is that these deficits may be partially or fully reversible with early detection and treatment, according to Italian researchers

15 Nov 2010

Scientists find sleep helps consolidate memories

Scientists have found that sleep helps consolidate memories, fixing them in the brain so we can retrieve them later. Now, new research is showing that sleep also seems to reorganize memories, picking out the emotional details and reconfiguring the memories to help you produce new and creative ideas, according to the authors of an article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

15 Nov 2010

Research may lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries

15 Nov 2010

Researchers improvise fruit fly as a model system to study brain development, disorders

VIB researchers attached to the K.U.Leuven have improved the fruit fly as a model for studying the connections between brain cells. The researchers developed a specific marker for a part of the fly's nerve cell which had previously been difficult to distinguish. Their discovery will not only contribute to gaining a better insight into brain development but also makes the fruit fly into a better model system for studying brain development and brain disorders.

15 Nov 2010

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease highlights latest scientific studies of AD

A supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease on "Anesthetics and Alzheimer's Disease" provides the platform to bring the latest scientific studies to the AD research and clinical communities.

15 Nov 2010

30 seconds to predict possibility of Alzheimer’s disease

It could take a mere 30 seconds to spot signs of Alzheimer’s disease in 40 year-olds in the near future say scientists who are developing a new diagnostic test. Usually Alzheimer’s disease is detected much later in life after the symptoms begin to appear.

14 Nov 2010