Functional MRI News and Research

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Specific area of the brain linked to anxiety disorders in children and adolescents

Anxiety disorders are common in children and adolescents, affecting up to 25 percent of the youth population. Anxiety causes distress and functional impairment and, if left untreated, can result in bad grades, problems at home and increased rates of psychiatric disorders in adulthood.

20 Nov 2013

BIDMC pilot study shows promise for age-related cognitive disorders

It's well known that the brains of meditators change, but it's not entirely clear what those changes mean or how the changes might benefit the meditator. A new pilot study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests that the brain changes associated with meditation and stress reduction may play an important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

18 Nov 2013

Study: Light enhances brain activity during cognitive task even in blind people

Light enhances brain activity during a cognitive task even in some people who are totally blind, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal and Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

29 Oct 2013

Cancer imaging centers receive £35M grant to develop cutting edge imaging technologies

Cancer imaging is set to get a major boost from a -35 million nationwide initiative to develop cutting edge imaging technologies for basic and clinical cancer research.

25 Oct 2013

Study illuminates definitive brain alterations in troops with Gulf War Illness

New research illuminates definitive brain alterations in troops with Gulf War Illness thought to result from the exposure to neurotoxic chemicals, including sarin gas, during the first Persian Gulf War.

15 Oct 2013

Study shows functional MRI differences in working memory in people with primary insomnia

A new brain imaging study may help explain why people with insomnia often complain that they struggle to concentrate during the day even when objective evidence of a cognitive problem is lacking.

31 Aug 2013

Study: Deficiency of protein causes age-related memory loss and Alzheimer's disease

A team of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers, led by Nobel laureate Eric R. Kandel, MD, has found that deficiency of a protein called RbAp48 in the hippocampus is a significant contributor to age-related memory loss and that this form of memory loss is reversible.

29 Aug 2013

Psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia caused by faulty 'switch' within brain

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have shown that psychotic symptoms experienced by people with schizophrenia could be caused by a faulty 'switch' within the brain.

22 Aug 2013

Mother's perceived social status predicts child's brain development, stress indicators

A mother's perceived social status predicts her child's brain development and stress indicators, finds a study at Boston Children's Hospital. While previous studies going back to the 1950s have linked objective socioeconomic factors—such as parental income or education—to child health, achievement and brain function, the new study is the first to link brain function to maternal self-perception.

9 Aug 2013

Study looks at correlation between reading ability and brain structure

A combination of brain scans and reading tests has revealed that several regions in the brain are responsible for allowing humans to read.

6 Aug 2013

Scientists use fMRI and EEG to unlock one of the human brain's mysteries

Physicists and neuroscientists from The University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham have unlocked one of the mysteries of the human brain, thanks to new research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG).

2 Aug 2013

Study provides information on neural pathways involved in human word learning

Language is a uniquely human ability. The average vocabulary of a person consists of about thirty thousand words, although people show individual differences in their ability to learn a new language.

26 Jul 2013

Researchers identify neural pathways involved in word learning among humans

For the first time scientists have identified how a pathway in the brain which is unique to humans allows us to learn new words. The average adult's vocabulary consists of about 30,000 words. This ability seems unique to humans as even the species closest to us -- chimps -- manage to learn no more than 100.

23 Jul 2013

Depressive disorder patients exhibit negative bias brain imaging changes and cognitive dysfunction

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19 Jul 2013

Kessler Foundation scientists receive more than $1.2 M grants from NJ Commission for SCI research

The New Jersey Commission on Spinal Cord Injury Research awarded three grants to scientists at Kessler Foundation. The grants, which exceed $1.2 million, fund studies of assisted walking with Ekso, the impact of aging in the population with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the effects of electrical stimulation on bone loss.

10 Jul 2013

Self-consciousness associated with physiological and brain responses in adolescence

Teenagers are famously self-conscious, acutely aware and concerned about what their peers think of them. A new study reveals that this self-consciousness is linked with specific physiological and brain responses that seem to emerge and peak in adolescence.

2 Jul 2013

Innate worriers are more vulnerable to impacts of sleep loss, find UC Berkeley neuroscientists

UC Berkeley researchers have found that a lack of sleep, which is common in anxiety disorders, may play a key role in ramping up the brain regions that contribute to excessive worrying.

27 Jun 2013

New imaging system combines PET and MR for mapping recurrent prostate cancer

When prostate cancer makes a comeback, it becomes increasingly important to have exceptional imaging available to find all possible regions where cancer has spread to other parts of the body, or metastasized, in order to plan the best possible treatment.

12 Jun 2013

Blood vessels within sensory area of mammalian brain loop connect in unexpected ways, new map reveals

Blood vessels within a sensory area of the mammalian brain loop and connect in unexpected ways, a new map has revealed.

10 Jun 2013

New noninvasive system allows people to control flying robot using only their mind

Researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering have developed a new noninvasive system that allows people to control a flying robot using only their mind. The study goes far beyond fun and games and has the potential to help people who are paralyzed or have neurodegenerative diseases.

6 Jun 2013