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Depressive symptoms after ACS associated with vascular brain changes

A new study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosmatics has examined brain activity after a heart attack.This study provides the first evidence that persistent depressive symptoms after acute coronary syndrome are associated with vascular brain changes.

4 May 2010

Study finds multiple brain regions used to decipher sentences

A new study from the University of Rochester finds that there is no single advanced area of the human brain that gives it language capabilities above and beyond those of any other animal species.

30 Apr 2010

Researchers develop lottery game to assess extent of spatial neglect

Patients recovering from stroke sometimes behave as if completely unaware of one half of the world: colliding with obstacles on their left, eating food only from the right side of their plate, or failing to dress their left side. This puzzling phenomenon is termed "spatial neglect" and it affects roughly 45% of patients suffering from a stroke in the right side of the brain.

29 Apr 2010

Blind and sighted individuals have similar smell perception

An ongoing study by Mathilde Beaulieu-Lefebvre, a graduate student from the Universit- de Montr-al Department of Psychology, has debunked the myth that the blind have a more acute sense of smell than the sighted.

29 Apr 2010

Research finding sheds more light on the workings of lateral PFC

Whether it's for money, marbles or chalk, the brains of reward-driven people keep their game faces on, helping them win at every step of the way. Surprisingly, they win most often when there is no reward.

28 Apr 2010

New study links psychopathy to frontal lobe dysfunction

Psychopaths are known to be characterized by callousness, diminished capacity for remorse, and lack of empathy. However, the exact cause of these personality traits is an area of scientific debate. The results of a new study, reported in the May 2010 issue of Elsevier's Cortex, show striking similarities between the mental impairments observed in psychopaths and those seen in patients with frontal lobe damage.

28 Apr 2010

Slitrk5 gene linked to development of OCD-like behaviors

Researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute and the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College discovered that mice missing a single gene developed repetitive obsessive-compulsive-like behaviors. The genetically altered mice, which behaved much like people with a certain type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), could help scientists design new therapies for this debilitating condition.

27 Apr 2010

New discovery links Slitrk5 gene to development of OCD-like behaviors

27 Apr 2010

Regular exercise speeds learning, improves blood flow to the brain: Study

Regular exercise speeds learning and improves blood flow to the brain, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that is the first to examine these relationships in a non-human primate model. The findings are available in the journal Neuroscience.

27 Apr 2010

Mayo Clinic study finds changes in tissue damage throughout the course of MS

A new Mayo Clinic study has found that the type of tissue damage changes throughout the course of multiple sclerosis. In early relapsing disease stages, the plaques, or areas where the nervous system is inflamed or demyelinated, are predominantly active with distinct heterogeneous patterns of myelin damage.

23 Apr 2010

Removable methyl groups on specific genes of autistic individuals that led to gene silencing identified

A new study by researchers at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences' Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology raises hope that autism may be more easily diagnosed and that its effects may be more reversible than previously thought.

22 Apr 2010

Basal ganglia and cerebellum linked together to form integrated functional network: Researchers

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have found new evidence that the basal ganglia and the cerebellum, two important areas in the central nervous system, are linked together to form an integrated functional network. The findings are available online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

20 Apr 2010

Australian study uncovers mechanisms involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease

A major Australian study has provided new insights into the loss of structure in regions of the brain and its potential association with Alzheimer's Disease. The findings recently reported in Neurology suggest a build-up of deposits of the protein amyloid-beta in a region of the brain known as the temporal inferior cortex.

17 Apr 2010

Working memory maintenance linked with synchronisation of neurons

A research project of the Neuroscience Center of the University of Helsinki sheds light on the neuronal mechanisms sustaining memory traces of visual stimuli in the human brain. The results show that the maintenance of working memory is associated with synchronisation of neurons, which facilitates communication between different parts of the brain. On the basis of interaction between the brain areas, it was even possible to predict the subject's individual working memory capacity.

15 Apr 2010

Study combines CT and VBM to provide accurate picture of autistic brain

A new study, the first of its kind, combines two complementary analytical brain imaging techniques, to provide a more comprehensive and accurate picture of the neuroanatomy of the autistic brain. The study, published in the April issue of neuroimaging journal Human Brain Mapping, was conducted by researchers at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, McGill University and the Universit- de Montr-al.

15 Apr 2010

MRI technology depicts women's anxiety of getting fat

A group of women in a new study seemed unlikely to have body image issues - at least their responses on a tried-and-true psychological screening presented no red flags.

15 Apr 2010

Brain regions play a fundamental role in empathetic and violent situations

"Just as our species could be considered the most violent, since we are capable of serial killings, genocide and other atrocities, we are also the most empathetic species, which would seem to be the other side of the coin", Luis Moya Albiol, lead author of the study and a researcher at the UV, tells SINC.

15 Apr 2010

First direct recording of mirror neurons in the brain

Mirror neurons, many say, are what make us human. They are the cells in the brain that fire not only when we perform a particular action but also when we watch someone else perform that same action.

13 Apr 2010

Study investigates cerebral cortical response to biliary stimulation

The cortical response to esophageal, stomach or rectal stimulation has been studied using several different modalities including evoked potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and positron emission tomography. However, there is no information concerning the cerebral cortical response to sensory signals that originate in the biliary tract in humans.

13 Apr 2010

Study supports use of Fisher Wallace Cranial Stimulator for treating depression, anxiety and insomnia

Fisher Wallace Laboratories today announced the results of a brain stimulation study involving the Fisher Wallace Cranial Stimulator, a portable medical device that treats depression, anxiety and insomnia. The study, published in The Neuroscientist and authored by Dr. Felipe Fregni, assistant professor in neurology at Harvard Medical School, analyzes a decade's worth of research on the brain stimulation technology used by the Fisher Wallace Cranial Stimulator.

13 Apr 2010