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.

Pain in fibromyalgia is linked to changes in brain molecule

Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have found a key linkage between pain and a specific brain molecule, a discovery that lends new insight into fibromyalgia, an often-baffling chronic pain condition.

10 Mar 2008

Small-bodied humans from island of Palau

Since the reporting of the so-called "hobbit" fossil from the island of Flores in Indonesia, debate has raged as to whether these remains are of modern humans (Homo sapiens), reduced, for some reason, in stature, or whether they represent a new species, Homo floresiensis.

10 Mar 2008

Paradoxical Alzheimer's finding may provide better understanding of memory loss

Do you remember the seventh song that played on your radio on the way to work yesterday?

10 Mar 2008

Improved method for genetically manipulating human embryonic stem cells

UC Irvine researchers have discovered a dramatically improved method for genetically manipulating human embryonic stem cells, making it easier for scientists to study and potentially treat thousands of disorders ranging from Huntington's disease to muscular dystrophy and diabetes.

10 Mar 2008

The brain's melanocortin system points to new treatments for obesity and anorexia

The discovery of the brain's so-called melanocortin system and its central role in controlling appetite has paved the way for entirely new possibilities for treating obesity and anorexia.

10 Mar 2008

The potential for cannabinoids as medicines

Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, according to research from The University of Nottingham.

10 Mar 2008

Contemplative brain network less complex in children

A brain network linked to introspective tasks - such as forming the self-image or understanding the motivations of others - is less intricate and well-connected in children, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned.

10 Mar 2008

Brain network linked to contemplation in adults is less complex in children

10 Mar 2008

Cannabis-derived medicines may help Alzheimer's

Cannabis-derived medicines may one day be used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease which affects 417,000 people in the UK.

10 Mar 2008

Refined carb diet increases risk of common diseases

Eating foods the body quickly converts into blood glucose - such as highly processed breakfast cereals and most white breads - leads to a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.

9 Mar 2008

Integrin beta3 protein yields clues to autism

Many children with autism have elevated blood levels of serotonin - a chemical with strong links to mood and anxiety.

6 Mar 2008

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide.

6 Mar 2008

Discovery of gene abnormality that causes the fatal paralysis, motor neuron disease

In a world first, University of Sydney researchers from the ANZAC Research Institute at Concord Hospital, in collaboration with colleagues at Kings College London, have found a new gene abnormality that causes the fatal paralysis, motor neuron disease (MND).

6 Mar 2008

Neural progenitor cells as reservoirs for HIV in the brain

Impaired brain function is a prominent and still unsolved problem in AIDS.

6 Mar 2008

Folic acid consumption before and during pregnancy

Taking a folic acid pill a day — a simple measure to prevent severe birth defects — is under-promoted in the media, under-recommended by health care providers and underused by women of childbearing age, according to a new review of studies.

6 Mar 2008

Children of alcoholics: different brain regions effect who may or may not develop alcohol problems

Although children of alcoholics (COAs) have a greater risk of developing alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), not all COAs will develop AUDs.

6 Mar 2008

Rimonabant weight-loss drug might fight alcoholic fatty liver

The cannabinoid receptors best known for delivering the psychological effects of marijuana also explain the connection between chronic alcohol use and a buildup of fat in the liver, according to a report in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.

6 Mar 2008

Dietary supplement called NutraStem protects against stroke damage

A unique dietary supplement called NutraStem has been shown to have beneficial effects following experimental stroke.

6 Mar 2008

Protein within neurons in the amygdala controls development of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and drinking behaviors

Doctors may one day be able to control alcohol addiction by manipulating the molecular events in the brain that underlie anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center report in the March 5 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

6 Mar 2008