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.

Study helps uncover how brain processes and interprets facial expressions

Research released today helps reveal how human and primate brains process and interpret facial expressions, and the role of facial mimicry in everything from deciphering an unclear smile to establishing relationships of power and status.

15 Oct 2012

Scientists take first steps to create neural-like stem cells from muscle tissue

Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have taken the first steps to create neural-like stem cells from muscle tissue in animals.

15 Oct 2012

Highlights of Mount Sinai research at Neuroscience 2012

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine are presenting important discoveries on the involvement of the immune system and dopamine cells in the onset of depression at Neuroscience 2012, the Society for Neuroscience's 42nd annual meeting on October 13 -17 in New Orleans, and are available for interviews.

15 Oct 2012

Elekta Synergy system with Agility 160-leaf MLC now available at Radboud

The first of three newly acquired Elekta Synergy treatment systems equipped with Agility 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC) is now up and running clinically at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center - making the clinic the first in the Netherlands to use Agility.

From Elekta 15 Oct 2012

Brain size reduced in schizophrenia patients

Medicated and antipsychotic-naive patients with schizophrenia show significant reductions in brain volume, researchers report.

12 Oct 2012

Brown University, UCI researchers create Drosophila fruit fly model of epilepsy

In a newly reported set of experiments that show the value of a particularly precise but difficult genetic engineering technique, researchers at Brown University and the University of California-Irvine have created a Drosophila fruit fly model of epilepsy to discern the mechanism by which temperature-dependent seizures happen.

12 Oct 2012

Perception test could predict mild cognitive impairment

Psychologists at the University of Toronto and the Georgia Institute of Technology - commonly known as Georgia Tech - have shown that an individual's inability to recognize once-familiar faces and objects may have as much to do with difficulty perceiving their distinct features as it does with the capacity to recall from memory.

12 Oct 2012

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore announces opening of new neurological rehabilitation center

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore announces the opening of the new Louis and Phyllis Friedman Neurological Rehabilitation Center. The 20-bed center located on the fifth floor of the hospital's South Tower provides specialized rehabilitation services to adults who have sustained a brain injury, stroke or other neurological disorder and is one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in the state.

12 Oct 2012

Three WSU studies could result in new treatments for epilepsy, behavioral disorders

Three studies conducted as part of Wayne State University's Systems Biology of Epilepsy Project (SBEP) could result in new types of treatment for the disease and, as a bonus, for behavioral disorders as well.

12 Oct 2012

Biogen Idec announces new data from BG-12 Phase 3 studies on RRMS

Today Biogen Idec announced new data from studies evaluating oral BG-12 (dimethyl fumarate), which provide further evidence supporting its strong clinical and radiological effects in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and reinforce its favorable safety profile seen to date.

12 Oct 2012

Premature babies from low-income families more likely to develop brain hemorrhages

Babies born prematurely to low-income parents have a disproportionately high risk for developing dangerous brain bleeds that require multiple surgeries and extensive follow-up, according to a small Johns Hopkins Children's Center study.

12 Oct 2012

Two CUMC studies provide new insights into spinal muscular atrophy

A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought.

12 Oct 2012

Results from Aldagen’s ALD-401 Phase II trial on ischemic stroke

Early results of a Phase II intra-arterial stem cell trial for ischemic stroke showed no adverse events associated with the first 10 patients, allowing investigators to expand the study to a targeted total of 100 patients.

12 Oct 2012

Protocol allows researchers to generate functional thyroid tissue from stem cells

The generation of functional thyroid tissue from stem cells could allow the treatment of patients, which suffer from thyroid hormone deficiency due to defective function, or abnormal development of the thyroid gland.

12 Oct 2012

Brain scans can identify reading skills of children

If a 7-year-old is breezing through the "Harry Potter" books, studies indicate that he or she will be a strong reader later in life. Conversely, if a 7-year-old is struggling with "The Cat in the Hat," that child will most likely struggle with reading going forward.

12 Oct 2012

NRG1 gene plays an important role in cannabis dependence

A paper by Shizhong Han and colleagues in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry implicates a new gene in the risk for cannabis dependence. This gene, NRG1, codes for the ErbB4 receptor, a protein implicated in synaptic development and function.

12 Oct 2012

First picture of interaction between leptin and its receptor

Researchers at the University of Michigan have determined how the hormone leptin, an important regulator of metabolism and body weight, interacts with a key receptor in the brain.

12 Oct 2012

Investigators provide overview of role of dopamine in modulating the immune system

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is associated with emotions, movement, and the brain's pleasure and reward system. In the current issue of Advances in Neuroimmune Biology, investigators provide a broad overview of the direct and indirect role of dopamine in modulating the immune system and discuss how recent research has opened up new possibilities for treating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis or even the autoimmune disorders.

11 Oct 2012

Study shows how CaM kinase II triggers cell death following heart damage

University of Iowa researchers have previously shown that an enzyme called CaM kinase II plays a pivotal role in the death of heart cells following a heart attack or other conditions that damage or stress heart muscle.

11 Oct 2012