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.

Breakthrough in combating adverse side-effects associated with quinine

Discovered back in the 1600s quinine was the first effective treatment in the fight against malaria - and it continues to be a commonly used treatment against this devastating disease. But the drug is associated with a long list of side effects which can range from sickness and headaches to blindness, deafness and in rare cases death - and until now no one knew why.

29 Jun 2009

Study could help target new pancreatitis treatments

Pancreatitis is often a fatal condition, in which the pancreas digests itself and surrounding tissue. Scientists have previously found that alcohol can trigger the condition by combining with fatty acids in the pancreas, which leads to an excessive release of stored calcium ions. Once calcium ions enter cell fluid in the pancreas it activates digestive enzymes and damages the cells.

29 Jun 2009

Even moderate exercise helps keep the brain healthy

Scientists at the University of Queensland (UQ) say they have found that exercise helps keep the brain healthy and even moderate exercise directly increases the number of stem cells in the ageing brain.

28 Jun 2009

Enzyme fights mutated protein in inherited Parkinson's disease

An enzyme that naturally occurs in the brain helps destroy the mutated protein that is the most common cause of inherited Parkinson's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

28 Jun 2009

Scientists investigate health benefits of molecule associated with male sexual arousal

Medical scientists at the University of Leicester are investigating how signalling molecules known to control blood pressure and penile erection act to regulate brain function and which have potential for treatments of migraine, chronic pain, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.

24 Jun 2009

Cognitive health among seniors in the United States and in England

American over-65s scored significantly better than their English counterparts at a memory and awareness test. The authors of the research, published in the open access journal BMC Geriatrics, suggest that differences in relative levels of depression, education, and the aggressiveness of treatment for heart disease may be to blame.

24 Jun 2009

Smoking provokes migraine attacks

Tobacco acts as a precipitating factor for headaches, specifically migraines. This is indicated in a study which shows that smokers have more migraine attacks and that smoking more than five cigarettes a day triggers this headache. The work has appeared in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

24 Jun 2009

Brain classification reveals the right cerebellum as the best biomarker of dyslexia

Parts of the right hemisphere of the brains of people with dyslexia have been shown to differ from those of normal readers. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the two groups, and were able to associate the neurological differences found with different language difficulties within the dyslexic group.

24 Jun 2009

Telemedicine stroke program provides woman a lifeline

While suffering a major stroke at her home near Mena, Iva Sikes assumed the worst, not knowing that a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) - led telemedicine program would provide her a complete recovery.

24 Jun 2009

ADHD genes found - missing DNA segments may suggest future drug targets

Pediatric researchers have identified hundreds of gene variations that occur more frequently in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in children without ADHD. Many of those genes were already known to be important for learning, behavior, brain function and neurodevelopment, but had not been previously associated with ADHD.

24 Jun 2009

Brain protein a possible biomarker for anorexia

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are often regarded as psychological or societal diseases, but new research suggests that they may have an underlying biological cause - according to a new study anorexic women have different levels of a brain protein to healthy women.

24 Jun 2009

New treatments for infertility could be in the pipeline

Scientists at the University of Otago have found in their research into the brain circuits which control human fertility, that instead of the usual synapses, fertility is controlled by a thousand or so special neurons, which are linked by long, branch-like dendrites and they believe their discovery could lead to the development of new treatments for infertility.

23 Jun 2009

Dental health advocates want to sink teeth into health care reform

The Washington Post reports many oral health professionals worry that dental issues have "a tenuous place at best in the national debate" regarding an overhaul of the health care system. Still, they emphasize that dental health is an integral part of health care and note the special burden untreated dental issues have on poor children.

23 Jun 2009

Senators debate public plan, co-ops for health overhaul

Senators crafting health reform legislation are debating a number of issues ahead of the revelation of proposal including the inclusion of a cooperative as an alternative to a government-run public plan, Politico reports.

23 Jun 2009

African scientists ask developed countries for greater investment in African research

The Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) issued a statement (pdf) asking developed countries to establish training programs that would allow African students to stay in Africa or other developing countries in effort to curb the "tide of African talent leaving the continent's universities," CNN reports (Wong, CNN, 6/22).

23 Jun 2009

New biomarker predicts brain tumor's response to cediranib therapy

A report in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, highlights a new biomarker that may be useful in identifying patients with recurrent glioblastoma, or brain tumors, who would respond better to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, specifically cediranib.

23 Jun 2009

Woman's placenta new source for harvesting stem cells

A groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns.

23 Jun 2009

Migraines with aura in middle age associated with late-life brain lesions

Women who suffer from migraine headaches in middle age accompanied by neurological aura (visual disturbances, dizziness or numbness that can precede migraines) are more likely to have damage to brain tissue in the cerebellum later in life, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the Icelandic Heart Association in Reykjavik.

23 Jun 2009

Alterations in brain's white matter key to schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, a chronic and debilitating disorder marked in part by auditory hallucinations and paranoia, can strike in late adolescence or early adulthood at a time when people are ready to stand on their own two feet as fully independent adults.

23 Jun 2009

Music therapy for heart and stroke patients

Blood flow and respiratory rates can synch with music, indicating that music could one day be a therapeutic tool for blood pressure control and rehabilitation, according to a study by Italian researchers published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

23 Jun 2009