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.

Schools need to be more aware of head injuries

New research from the University of Warwick examining return to school and classroom performance following head injury reveals that teachers are often unaware of the injury and that children only very rarely receive specialist help, despite having attention and memory problems.

5 Aug 2004

Heavy drinking by college students poses many serious dangers

As American college students gear up to head back to campus later this month, they'll look forward to all the usual college traditions: football games, late-night discussions, and pizza with new friends after classes.

3 Aug 2004

Smart drug that targets cancer cells in the brain following removal of a tumor

The use of a "smart" drug that targets cancer cells in the brain following removal of a tumor may provide treatment that can extend the survival of people with the most common form of primary malignant brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

3 Aug 2004

Pacemakers and defibrillators can be safe for use in magnetic resonance imaging machines

In animal and laboratory studies, scientists at Johns Hopkins have shown that modern, implanted heart assist devices - such as pacemakers and defibrillators - can be safe for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines

3 Aug 2004

Mothers who catch a flu during pregnancy may increase the risk of their child developing schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime — more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year.

3 Aug 2004

New gene therapy treatment involves injecting Herpes simplex virus into the brain tumours of Glioma patients

Experts on the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee have given the go ahead for a large clinical trial of a new treatment for patients with Glioma - one of the most aggressive types of brain tumours for which there is currently no cure.

3 Aug 2004

Scripps Encinitas Program helps brain-injury patients regain living skills

Yvette, a 50-year-old stroke patient, entered the Scripps Encinitas Rehabilitation Center’s Brain Injury Day Treatment Program on March 3 in a wheelchair. On July 9, she walked out on her own with a new outlook on life.

3 Aug 2004

Switches in the brain that tell the body to stop eating and start burning calories

A Brown-led research team has discovered a pair of universal switches in the brain that tell the body to stop eating and start burning calories.

3 Aug 2004

Smart gene therapy might effectively prevent the organ damage commonly suffered by heart attack victims

Early intervention with a novel kind of "smart gene therapy" might effectively prevent the organ damage commonly suffered by heart attack victims, suggests a new animal study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Duke University Medical Center.

2 Aug 2004

Study evaluated the ability of vitamin E and Aricept, to delay the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers in the neurology department in the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson participated in a study that evaluated the ability of vitamin E and donepezil hydrochloride, marketed as Aricept, to delay the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.

2 Aug 2004

Computer-aided detection (CAD) can help physicians locate and analyze images from computed tomography (CT) scans

The diagnostic imaging modality of computed tomography (CT) scan is very helpful in lung cancer assessment as it spots even small lung tumors that might go undetected in conventional chest X-ray and other tests.

2 Aug 2004

College freshmen, beware of dorm diseases

High school graduates have more in common with newborn babies than one would think. Although departing the proverbial family nest, incoming college freshmen need vaccinations, too.

2 Aug 2004

Hormone previously identified in the venom of the green mamba snake may play role in stroke research

A Mayo Clinic research team is focusing on a hormone previously identified in the venom of the green mamba snake for the role it may play in a dangerous blood vessel narrowing in stroke patients that can lead to a second stroke, reduced blood flow and brain damage.

2 Aug 2004

Scientists create mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets

By altering the expression of a single -- albeit different – gene, Drs. Roger Davis (UMASS Medical School, USA) and Ying-Hue Lee (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) have succeeded in creating two different strains of transgenic mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets.

2 Aug 2004

Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder similar to "mad cow" disease

Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder in mice that is similar to "mad cow" disease, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Aug 2004

Identification of PIK3CA as an oncogene associated with brain cancers opens the door to new screening processes

Hotspots in two areas of a gene that encodes a specific signaling enzyme, or kinase, are vulnerable to a variety of mutations found in five types of brain cancers, according to a report published in the August 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

2 Aug 2004

Miniature spectroscopic instruments and software to look at changes that occur within the cells and tissue of the brain

When molecules in cells are stimulated by light, they respond by becoming excited and re-emitting light of varying colors (fluorescence) that can be captured and measured by highly sensitive optical equipment.

2 Aug 2004

Measures to keep people safe in unusually hot weather

Britain's Chief Medical Officer has outlined measures to keep people safe in unusually hot weather.

31 Jul 2004

Warning for counterfeit drugs simvastatin and carisoprodol recently imported from Mexico

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a public warning regarding counterfeit versions of the drugs simvastatin and carisoprodol that have recently been imported from Mexico to the U.S.

31 Jul 2004

Key to detecting Asperger’s syndrome, a milder yet little-understood form of autism, lies in analyzing infants’ movements

Home videos of infants' movements can be used to help detect a form of autism in a child’s first year of life, years earlier than the disorder typically is identified, University of Florida researchers have discovered.

29 Jul 2004

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Schools need to be more aware of head injuries

Heavy drinking by college students poses many serious dangers

Smart drug that targets cancer cells in the brain following removal of a tumor

Pacemakers and defibrillators can be safe for use in magnetic resonance imaging machines

Mothers who catch a flu during pregnancy may increase the risk of their child developing schizophrenia

New gene therapy treatment involves injecting Herpes simplex virus into the brain tumours of Glioma patients

Scripps Encinitas Program helps brain-injury patients regain living skills

Switches in the brain that tell the body to stop eating and start burning calories

Smart gene therapy might effectively prevent the organ damage commonly suffered by heart attack victims

Study evaluated the ability of vitamin E and Aricept, to delay the progression of mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease

Computer-aided detection (CAD) can help physicians locate and analyze images from computed tomography (CT) scans

College freshmen, beware of dorm diseases

Hormone previously identified in the venom of the green mamba snake may play role in stroke research

Scientists create mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets

Scientists have produced a prion protein that can trigger the development of a neurological disorder similar to "mad cow" disease

Identification of PIK3CA as an oncogene associated with brain cancers opens the door to new screening processes

Miniature spectroscopic instruments and software to look at changes that occur within the cells and tissue of the brain

Measures to keep people safe in unusually hot weather

Warning for counterfeit drugs simvastatin and carisoprodol recently imported from Mexico

Key to detecting Asperger’s syndrome, a milder yet little-understood form of autism, lies in analyzing infants’ movements

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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