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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.

Young investigators to receive Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation will honor five outstanding researchers at the Annual Klerman and Freedman Awards event in New York City.

15 Jul 2011

Meditation appears to change brain anatomy: Study

Two years ago, researchers at UCLA found that specific regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger and had more gray matter than the brains of individuals in a control group. This suggested that meditation may indeed be good for all of us since, alas, our brains shrink naturally with age.

15 Jul 2011

NHS facing heavier loads as waiting times rise

According to Sir Richard Thompson, President of the Royal College of Physicians, health service providers are struggling to cope with rising demand especially among the elderly, with the result that planned tests and operations are being delayed. He made his statement as Department of Health statistics showed the proportion of inpatients waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment has risen by 29 per cent since the general election, with those needing orthopedic or brain surgery experiencing the worst delays.

14 Jul 2011

Being health wards off dementia and Alzheimer's: Study

According to a new study even relatively minor health problems seemingly unrelated to the mind may affect a person's risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This is apart from the other known risk factors like heart disease, strokes and other serious health conditions that affect the circulatory system or brain. The study was published this week in the journal Neurology.

14 Jul 2011

Eli Lilly makes charitable contribution to Patient Advocate Foundation

Eli Lilly and Company announced that it has made a charitable contribution to the Patient Advocate Foundation.

14 Jul 2011

BBN to explore how brain processes large amounts of partial information

Raytheon BBN Technologies has been awarded $3 million in government funding to explore new methods of modeling the brain's ability to make sense of large amounts of haphazard, partial information.

14 Jul 2011

Study explains how 'positivity effect' leads to successful aging

Whether we choose to accept or fight it, the fact is that we will all age, but will we do so successfully? Aging successfully has been linked with the "positivity effect", a biased tendency towards and preference for positive, emotionally gratifying experiences.

14 Jul 2011

Study demonstrates how unconscious brain continues to process information

Brain damage can cause significant changes in behaviour, such as loss of cognitive skills, but also reveals much about how the nervous system deals with consciousness. New findings reported in the July 2011 issue of Elsevier's Cortex demonstrate how the unconscious brain continues to process information even when the conscious brain is incapacitated.

14 Jul 2011

Maintaining general health may help reduce risk for dementia

Improving and maintaining health factors not traditionally associated with dementia, such as denture fit, vision and hearing, may lower a person's risk for developing dementia, according to a new study published in the July 13, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Jul 2011

Light-switching complex could help detect signs of Alzheimer's disease

A breakthrough in sensing at Rice University could make finding signs of Alzheimer's disease nearly as simple as switching on a light.

14 Jul 2011

UW scientists determine atomic architecture of sodium channel

Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle have determined the atomic architecture of a sodium channel. The achievement opens new possibilities for molecular medicine researchers around the world in designing better drugs for pain, epilepsy, and heart rhythm disturbances.

14 Jul 2011

UCI study sheds light on how transplantation alleviates side effects of radiotherapy

Human neural stem cells are capable of helping people regain learning and memory abilities lost due to radiation treatment for brain tumors, a UC Irvine study suggests.

14 Jul 2011

Progesterone could fight against neuroblastoma

High doses of the hormone progesterone can kill neuroblastoma cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found in laboratory research.

14 Jul 2011

Patients with brain cancer may benefit from stem cell therapy

Stem cell therapy may restore cognition in patients with brain cancer who experience functional learning and memory loss often associated with radiation treatment, according to a laboratory study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

14 Jul 2011

Fish oil consumption helps reduce inflammation, anxiety in healthy young people

A new study gauging the impact of consuming more fish oil showed a marked reduction both in inflammation and, surprisingly, in anxiety among a cohort of healthy young people.

14 Jul 2011

Both body and brain mechanisms are involved in effects of exercise to modulate food intake

Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that alterations of meal-related gut hormone signals may contribute to the overall effects of exercise to help manage body weight.

13 Jul 2011

New method to study neuronal activity in the deepest layers of the cortex

Visual and tactile objects in our surroundings are translated into a perception by complex interactions of neurons in the cortex. The principles underlying spatial and temporal organization of neuronal activity during decision-making and object perception are not all understood yet.

13 Jul 2011

Heart experts begin to test new device for treatment of blocked aortic valves

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have begun testing a new device designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is considered too risky, such as elderly patients and those with other serious medical conditions.

13 Jul 2011

New insights into specific types of brain abnormalities

Postmortem analysis of the brains of ten professional athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) provides new insights into the specific types of brain abnormalities associated with this diagnosis, reports a study in the July 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.

13 Jul 2011

Article describes predictors of post-TBI psychiatric disorders

A history of psychiatric illness such as depression or anxiety before a traumatic brain injury (TBI), together with other risk factors, are strongly predictive of post-TBI psychiatric disorders, according to an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

13 Jul 2011