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.

Pioglitazone shows promise in treating Alzheimer's

Treatment of high blood sugar may have a scientific connection to memory loss that could, one day, benefit millions of people with Alzheimer's Disease, which affects up to 4.5 million older Americans, bringing with it impaired thinking and memory.

17 Jul 2006

Weight loss and dementia in women

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that women who develop dementia experience a decline in weight as many as 10 years prior to the onset of memory loss, compared to peers who do not develop dementia.

17 Jul 2006

Researchers find cause of frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is the second major form of dementia.

17 Jul 2006

Women who develop dementia start to lose weight a decade earlier

Researchers in the U.S. have discovered that prior to developing dementia, women experience a decline in weight as early as 10 years before they begin to lose their memory.

17 Jul 2006

Key deficiencies found in brains of people with autism

In a pair of groundbreaking studies, brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the anatomical differences that characterize the brains of people with autism are related to the way those brains process information.

13 Jul 2006

Researchers discover why brain areas fail to work together in autism

In people with autism, the brain areas that perform complex analysis appear less likely to work together during problem solving tasks than in people who do not have the disorder, report researchers working in a network funded by the National Institutes of Health.

12 Jul 2006

"Magic" mushrooms create profound mystical experience and change behaviour

A group of healthy well educated volunteers appear to have achieved some sort of profound mystical experience that led to behaviour changes lasting for weeks after taking a drug derived from 'magic mushrooms'.

12 Jul 2006

Female stroke risk reduced by healthy living

Researchers in America say that women can significantly reduce their risk of a stroke by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

12 Jul 2006

Practice builds brain connections for babies learning language, how to speak

Experience, as the old saying goes, is the best teacher. And experience seems to play an important early role in how infants learn to understand and produce language.

11 Jul 2006

Hallucinogen in mushrooms creates mystical/spiritual experiences

Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.

11 Jul 2006

Determining the genetic composition of brain cancers informs treatment, predicts outcome

Research confirms that determining the genetic composition of brain cancers can better inform doctors and patients for treatment options and prognosis.

11 Jul 2006

First trial to investigate effects of cannabinoids on progression of multiple sclerosis

Clinicians from across the UK have now embarked on the world's first trial to investigate whether cannabis derivatives could play a role in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis.

11 Jul 2006

Latest March of Dimes Newborn Screening Report Card

Nearly two-thirds of all babies born in the United States this year will be screened for more than 20 life-threatening disorders - at nearly twice the rate as in 2005, according to the latest March of Dimes Newborn Screening Report Card.

11 Jul 2006

BioTel system to test methods of improving cardiac arrest

UT Southwestern Medical Center is among 10 institutions selected to oversee innovative clinical trials designed to test life-saving interventions for critical trauma and sudden cardiac arrest.

11 Jul 2006

People with Parkinson disease can be apathetic without being depressed

People with Parkinson disease can be apathetic without being depressed, and apathy may be a core feature of the disease.

10 Jul 2006

Healthy living prevents ischemic stroke

Women who are non-smokers, exercise regularly, have a healthy diet, including moderate alcohol consumption, and otherwise live a healthy lifestyle may have a reduced risk of stroke, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Jul 2006

New model illustrates brain mechanisms that lead to autistic behaviors

Approximately 1.5 million children and adults in the U.S. have autism and it is estimated to be the fastest growing developmental disability with a 10 - 17 percent increase each year.

10 Jul 2006

A good nights sleep will help the memory

According to new research a good nights sleep has more benefits than just making one feel rested.

10 Jul 2006

New research promising for improving brain cell survival after brain injury

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have found a protein in the brain that can save neurons from dying after experiencing traumatic brain injury from incidents such as stroke, car accidents and falls.

10 Jul 2006