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Schizophrenia could be caused by faulty signalling in the brain

In the biggest study of its kind, scientists looking in detail at brain samples donated by people with the condition have identified 49 genes that work differently in the brains of schizophrenia patients compared to controls.

2 Apr 2009

Activation of the prefrontal cortex improves working memory

Psychologists and neurologists invest considerable effort in the study of working memory.

1 Apr 2009

Rigorous visual training helps the brain to see again after stroke

By doing a set of vigorous visual exercises on a computer every day for several months, patients who had gone partially blind as a result of suffering a stroke were able to regain some vision, according to scientists who published their results in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

1 Apr 2009

Experimental brain tools developed by Hebrew University scientists

An interdisciplinary team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed a new analytical tool to answer the question of how our brain cells record outside stimuli and react to them.

1 Apr 2009

Mother's criticism causes distinctive neural activity among formerly depressed

Formerly depressed women show patterns of brain activity when they are criticized by their mothers that are distinctly different from the patterns shown by never depressed controls, according to a new study from Harvard University.

1 Apr 2009

How your brain grows might come down to how your cells divide

In the April 6 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), Lake and Sokol report that mouse protein Vangl2 controls the asymmetrical cell division and developmental fate of progenitor neurons.

30 Mar 2009

Action video games improve real-world vision

Video games that involve high levels of action, such as first-person-shooter games, increase a player's real-world vision, according to research in today's Nature Neuroscience.

29 Mar 2009

Thinning of right hemisphere in brain a marker for familial form of depression

Findings from one of the largest-ever imaging studies of depression indicate that a structural difference in the brain - a thinning of the right hemisphere - appears to be linked to a higher risk for depression, according to new research at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

23 Mar 2009

Distinct electric signature in brain predicts blunders

From spilling a cup of coffee to failing to notice a stop sign, everyone makes an occasional error due to lack of attention.

23 Mar 2009

Hearing could hold key to unlocking schizophrenia mystery

Measuring brain waves in response to hearing a variety of tones appears to be a useful way to begin understanding the underlying genetic abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, says a study headed by researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.

17 Mar 2009

Brain abnormality found in boys with ADHD

Researchers trying to uncover the mechanisms that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder have found an abnormality in the brains of adolescent boys suffering from the conditions, but not where they expected to find it.

17 Mar 2009

Cause of severe pediatric epilepsy disorder discovered

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that convulsive seizures in a form of severe epilepsy are generated, not on the brain's surface as expected, but from within the memory-forming hippocampus.

16 Mar 2009

New target for heart failure therapy identified

A novel signaling pathway plays a significant role in the production of aldosterone, a hormone that promotes heart failure after a myocardial infarction, according to a study conducted by Thomas Jefferson University researchers.

16 Mar 2009

Does stress damage the brain?

In the March 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a paper by Tibor Hajszan and colleagues provides an important new chapter to this question.

16 Mar 2009

Researchers shed new light on dyslexia

By peering into the brains of people with dyslexia compared to normal readers, a study published online on March 12th in Current Biology , a Cell Press publication, has shed new light on the roots of the learning disability, which affects four to ten percent of the population.

12 Mar 2009

MRI and CT used to map intelligence in the brain

Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have conducted the most comprehensive brain mapping to date of the cognitive abilities measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the most widely used intelligence test in the world.

11 Mar 2009