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.

Stress may speed growth of melanoma tumors

For patients with a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer - malignant melanoma - stress, including that which comes from simply hearing that diagnosis, might amplify the progression of their disease.

2 Feb 2009

Recent reports regarding mercury and high fructose

ChemRisk, a leading scientific consulting firm, was asked by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) to examine the recent publication by Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), "Not So Sweet: Missing Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup," and the Environmental Health journal publication "Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar," by Dufault et al, 2009, and to offer our comments and analysis.

2 Feb 2009

Physical therapists test mechanical arm to help patients recover from stroke, traumatic brain injury

Physical therapists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are evaluating a new mechanical arm that allows people recovering from neurological injuries such as strokes and traumatic brain injury to enter a virtual world where they can repeatedly practice movements needed to regain arm strength and movement.

2 Feb 2009

Link found between Parkinson's disease genes and manganese poisoning

A connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson's disease has been discovered by a research team led by Aaron D. Gitler, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

2 Feb 2009

Premature babies are a costly item!

According to researchers in Britain premature babies are a costly item amounting to as much as an extra £939 million a year.

2 Feb 2009

Stress disrupts human thinking, but the brain can bounce back

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don't do their most agile thinking under stress.

29 Jan 2009

Sociability traced to region of brain called amygdala

People with a genetic condition called Williams syndrome are famously gregarious. Scientists, looking carefully at brain function in individuals with Williams syndrome, think they may know why this is so.

29 Jan 2009

Researchers discover link between brain iron levels and serotonin

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have found a surprising link between brain iron levels and serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in neuropsychiatric conditions ranging from autism to major depression.

29 Jan 2009

Researchers identify a cell type that limits brain damage after a stroke

A research team including Serge Rivest of University Laval's Faculty of Medicine has demonstrated the existence of a type of cells that limits brain damage after a stroke.

29 Jan 2009

New insights into a avian pathogenic E. coli and its risks to human health

Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University associate research scientist Melha Mellata, a member of professor Roy Curtiss' team, is leading a USDA funded project to develop a vaccine against a leading poultry disease called avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC).

29 Jan 2009

Orexin - natural brain substance - blocks weight gain in mice

Mice with increased levels of a natural brain chemical don't gain weight when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

29 Jan 2009

Imaging study shows how memories become permanent

A new brain imaging study illustrates what happens to memories as time goes by.

29 Jan 2009

Research provides insight into brain mechanisms involved in empathy

Is it possible to share a pain that you observe in another but have never actually experienced yourself?

29 Jan 2009

Sport related concussions affect mental and physical processes later in life

Researchers have found the first evidence that athletes who were concussed during their earlier sporting life show a decline in their mental and physical processes more than 30 years later.

29 Jan 2009

Biomarkers as a guide to therapy in heart failure patients

There has been much interest in the biomarker known as N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a precise guide for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of heart failure.

29 Jan 2009

Study shows no standardized approach to epidural steroid injections for back pain

Today at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 25th Annual Meeting, researchers from University of California at San Diego report that no standardized practices exist for administering an epidural steroid injection for back pain. Researchers looked at many factors including: which steroids were given, the amount of steroid used, and whether or not a local anesthetic was mixed with the steroid.

29 Jan 2009

Reduce the calories and increase that brain power!

According to a study conducted by researchers in Germany older people benefit from a calorie restricted diet in more ways than one - they lose weight but also improve their memories.

28 Jan 2009

Discovery of brain's memory 'buffer' in single cells

Individual nerve cells in the front part of the brain can hold traces of memories on their own for as long as a minute and possibly longer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Jan 2009

Statins may treat cerebral cavernous malformation

In a finding that could save thousands of lives a year, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a blood vessel disorder leading to unpredictable, sometimes fatal, hemorrhagic strokes, seizures, paralysis or other problems is treatable with the same statin drugs that millions of people take to control high cholesterol.

27 Jan 2009

Early treatment with rasagiline (Azilect) for Parkinson's best

There is hope that the drug rasagiline can do what no other medication for Parkinson's disease now does -- slow the progression of a devastating degenerative brain disease that eventually robs people of their ability to move and function.

27 Jan 2009