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.

Brain study may lead to improved epilepsy treatments

Using a rodent model of epilepsy, researchers found one of the body's own neurotransmitters released during seizures, glutamate, turns on a signaling pathway in the brain that increases production of a protein that could reduce medication entry into the brain.

15 Apr 2008

Blood urate levels associated with the progression of Parkinson's disease

Higher blood levels of the compound urate, a salt derived from uric acid that is associated with gout, may be associated with a slower progression of Parkinson's disease, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the June 2008 print issue of Archives of Neurology.

15 Apr 2008

Mental health services in the bush failing

Figures released by the Australian government show that a Medicare scheme aimed at improving mental health services appears to be failing to meet its original objective.

14 Apr 2008

Cancer cluster at a fire station in Queensland leads to statewide investigation

The investigation into a suspected cancer cluster at a fire station in north Queensland has failed to establish a link between the building and an increased rate of cancer.

14 Apr 2008

Stem cells and their role in malignant brain tumours

Speaking at the UK National Stem Cell Network Annual Science Meeting in Edinburgh, Professor Silvia Marino shows how the mechanisms normally involved in balancing different functions of stem cells may also contribute to cancer.

13 Apr 2008

Inserting tiny scaffolding into the brain could dramatically reduce damage caused by strokes

With funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) neurobiologists from the Institute of Psychiatry and tissue engineers from The University of Nottingham have joined forces to tackle the challenge of tissue loss as a result of stroke.

13 Apr 2008

Young macho men with serious injuries often abuse alcohol

Men with serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, must deal with a range of emotions.

11 Apr 2008

Carotid stenting shows long-term benefit as alternative to surgery

Carotid artery stenting is an effective option for high risk patients who are not eligible for surgery, according to a long-term study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Apr 2008

Impairments in language development can be detected in infants as young as 3 months

Uncover how the brains of infants distinguish differences in sounds and it may become possible to correct language problems even before children start to speak, sparing them the difficulties that come from struggling with language.

11 Apr 2008

Phytochemical-rich foods effective at reversing age-related deficits in memory

If you are getting forgetful as you get older, then a research team from the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England may have good news for you.

11 Apr 2008

Researchers close in on origins of main ingredient of Alzheimer's plaques

The ability of brain cells to take in substances from their surface is essential to the production of a key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned.

10 Apr 2008

Repeated methamphetamine use causes long-term adaptations in brains of mice

Repeatedly stimulating the mouse brain with methamphetamine depresses important areas of the brain, and those changes can only be undone by re-introducing the drug, according to research at the University of Washington and other institutions.

10 Apr 2008

Potential drug target identified for diabetes by studying novel gut-brain-liver circuit

Scientists at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute have discovered a novel signaling pathway between three organs - the gut, the brain, and the liver - which lowers blood sugar when activated.

10 Apr 2008

Omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant's development

A study supervised by Universite Laval researchers Gina Muckle and Eric Dewailly reveals that omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant's sensory, cognitive, and motor development.

10 Apr 2008

Methamphetamine use in pregnancy changes learning ability of the offspring

Studies have suggested that infants exposed to methamphetamines while in the womb can suffer irreversible brain damage, although the exact effects of these drugs during pregnancy have been hard to pinpoint due to many other negative behaviors that often occur in meth users.

10 Apr 2008

Methamphetamine addiction mechanism discovered

Researchers have identified, for the first time, long-term changes in the brain circuitry of methamphetamine-addicted mice that can explain why the craving of addiction is so stubborn and long-lived.

10 Apr 2008

Carotid endarterectomy versus carotid stenting for clogged neck arteries

Like horses running down the long stretch of a race track, two different artery-opening treatments appear to be running neck-and-neck when it comes to preventing stroke among people with clogged neck arteries and other health problems.

10 Apr 2008

How protein sludge accumulates in Alzheimer's

Researchers have identified a key mechanism by which the protein sludge that kills brain cells accumulates in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

10 Apr 2008

Men who develop diabetes in mid-life have increased risk of Alzheimer's

Men who develop diabetes in mid-life appear to significantly increase their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a long-term study published in the April 9, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Apr 2008

Scientists turn normal skin cells into cancer stem cells

With a bit of genetic trickery, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have turned normal skin cells into cancer stem cells, a step that will make these naturally rare cells easier to study.

10 Apr 2008