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.

Intensive therapy helps in battle against bipolar disorder

New results from the largest federally funded bipolar study ever conducted show that patients who receive psychotherapy in addition to medication get better faster from bipolar disorder's debilitating depression and stay better longer, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher involved in the study.

4 Apr 2007

Researchers identify new player in the 'fat from food' game

UCLA investigators have identified a new molecule that may help regulate the delivery of fats to cells for energy and storage.

4 Apr 2007

Scientists identify new molecule that may help regulate the delivery of fats to cells

Published in the April issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, the finding could lead to a better understanding of how we utilize fats from the foods we eat.

4 Apr 2007

Researchers discover factor that controls blood sugar's manufacture in a novel way

Researchers have discovered a factor that controls blood sugar's manufacture in a novel way: by limiting the supply of its building blocks. The findings are reported in the April issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press.

3 Apr 2007

Debate continues over access to experimental medications for terminally ill

USA Today on Monday examined the debate over whether patients with terminal illnesses should have expanded access to experimental medications -- an issue currently under consideration in a lawsuit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

3 Apr 2007

Study explains exactly how exposure to lead during brain development produces learning deficits

A study of young adult rats by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health provides evidence that explains exactly how exposure to lead during brain development produces learning deficits.

3 Apr 2007

Infants understand other people's emotional states at a very young age

Little children never cease to amaze. University of Washington researchers have found that 18-month-old toddlers engage in what they call "emotional eavesdropping" by listening and watching emotional reactions directed by one adult to another and then using this emotional information to shape their own behavior.

3 Apr 2007

Stem cell therapy shows promise for degenerative diseases of the eye

For the millions of Americans whose vision is slowly ebbing due to degenerative diseases of the eye, the lowly neural progenitor cell may be riding to the rescue.

3 Apr 2007

Self-regulation plays major role in early child achievement

Although intelligence is generally thought to play a key role in children's early academic achievement, aspects of children's self-regulation abilities, including the ability to alternately shift and focus attention and to inhibit impulsive responding--are uniquely related to early academic success and account for greater variation in early academic progress than do measures of intelligence.

3 Apr 2007

New hope for a rabies cure

The appeal, by Rodney Willoughby, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, appears in the April 2007 issue of Scientific American.

3 Apr 2007

New understanding of the mechanics of hearing

Modern hearing aids, though quite sophisticated, still do not faithfully reproduce sound as hearing people perceive it.

3 Apr 2007

New treatment possibilities for Huntington's disease

Howard Florey Institute have opened up new treatment possibilities for Huntington's disease by proving a scientific theory incorrect.

3 Apr 2007

Halting neurogenesis improves working memory in mice

New research from Columbia University Medical Center may explain why people who are able to easily and accurately recall historical dates or long-ago events, may have a harder time with word recall or remembering the day's current events.

3 Apr 2007

H63D genetic defect linked to increased risk of stroke

One of the most common genetic defects passed on through families significantly increases a person's chance of having a stroke, according to a study published in the March 27, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Apr 2007