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.

Innovative treatment option for excessive sweating

An estimated 3 percent of the world population, or about 197 million people suffer from some form of hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), many of whom do not receive proper diagnosis or treatment.

17 Apr 2007

Effect of alcohol and aspirin consumption in traumatic brain injury patients

An estimated 1.5 million people in the United States incur a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year and 60,000 people die annually from these injuries.

17 Apr 2007

Deep brain stimulation helps improve memory in patients with psychiatric illness

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic will present results of a study today that shows deep brain stimulation (DBS) is associated with improvements on formal memory tests in patients with severe psychiatric illness.

17 Apr 2007

Cortical mapping helps brain tumor removal

In 2006, it was estimated that 18,820 new cases were diagnosed and 12,820 deaths were associated with malignant tumors of the brain and other parts of the central nervous system.

17 Apr 2007

Brain structure changes years before dementia or Alzheimer's disease begins

People who develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease experience brain structure changes years before any signs of memory loss begin, according to a study published in the April 17, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Apr 2007

Biomira selects PX-866 as clinical development candidate

Biomira Inc. has announced that it has selected PX-866 as its next clinical development candidate.

17 Apr 2007

New tumor antigen found with new cloning technique

In recent years, researchers have worked to develop a number of vaccines to help the immune system fight tumors.

16 Apr 2007

Functional diffusion map measures effectiveness of treatment for prostate cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a new imaging technique that can measure the effectiveness of treatment for prostate cancer that has spread to the bones.

16 Apr 2007

Research sheds new light on central nervous system

Research by Renee Theiss, Jason Kuo and C J Heckman, which has just been published in The Journal of Physiology, throws light on how information is processed in the Central Nervous System (CNS) to drive movement.

16 Apr 2007

High blood pressure could be a brain problem

Scientists in Britain say the cause of high blood pressure may lie within the brain, rather than with problems relating to the heart, kidneys or blood vessels.

16 Apr 2007

Mapping rhesus macaque genome helps illuminate what makes us human

Researchers have sequenced the genome of the relatively ancient rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ), providing perspective into how humans are genetically different from our primate relatives.

15 Apr 2007

Lactate instead of glucose after traumatic brain injury

The chemical lactate has gotten a bad rap. Conventional wisdom considered it to be little more than the bane of runners and other athletes, causing stiff muscles and fatigue, and the "sour" in sour milk. It turns out that view may have been too narrow.

15 Apr 2007

Men and women show different patterns of brain activity when viewing sexual stimuli

A study funded by the Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) analyzed the viewing patterns of men and women looking at sexual photographs, and the result was not what one typically might expect.

15 Apr 2007

A report for the ten year strategy for the reduction of vitamin and mineral deficiencies

A new report by AED Center for Nutrition and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) for the Food and Nutrition Bulletin shows that while cost-effective interventions to reduce vitamin and mineral deficiencies have existed for more than 20 years, significant micronutrient deficiencies still plague many countries, increasing maternal and child mortality and slowing brain development in children.

15 Apr 2007

Macaque genome analysis will improve scientists' ability to identify human genes involved in diseases

Cornell experts in computational biology and bioinformatics have made key contributions to the analysis of the genome of the rhesus macaque, better known as the rhesus monkey.

15 Apr 2007

Seeing a person's face makes it easier to hear them

Experience hearing a person's voice allows us to more easily hear what they are saying. Now research by UC Riverside psychology Professor Lawrence D.

15 Apr 2007

Visual prosthesis

When the idea appeared several years ago, it sounded persuasive: How about implanting electrodes at the defective retina of blind subjects and connecting them with a mini camera in order to re-establish vision.

15 Apr 2007

New device increases circulation and blood flow to vital organs during CPR

In the United States, a person's chance of surviving cardiac arrest is probably much lower than most people realize: 17-19 percent in hospitals.

15 Apr 2007

New perspectives on risk taking in adolescence

While the government spends billions of dollars on educational and prevention programs to persuade teens not to do things like smoke, drink or do drugs, a Temple University psychologist suggests that competing systems within the brain make adolescents more susceptible to engaging in risky or dangerous behavior, and that educational interventions alone are unlikely to be effective.

15 Apr 2007

GlaxoSmithKline initiates study of PROMACTA in chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

GlaxoSmithKline has announced the initiation of a global, open-label, single group trial that will assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of PROMACTA (eltrombopag olamine) in patients previously treated for chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

15 Apr 2007