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.

Mouse calls help search for emotion-controlling genes

Scientists have long known that emotions and other personality traits and disorders run together in families.

3 Apr 2008

HDAC inhibitors show potential as therapeutic agents in treating alcoholism

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in the alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that make it so difficult for alcoholics to stop using alcohol.

3 Apr 2008

A daily dose of caffeine may help protect against Alzheimer's

A daily dose of caffeine blocks the disruptive effects of high cholesterol that scientists have linked to Alzheimer's disease.

3 Apr 2008

Botox scare as scientists say the toxin may spread in the body

Scientists are warning that the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox used by millions of women every year can spread from the face to the brain.

3 Apr 2008

Expert warns size zero leads to 'famine then feast' eating disorder

A leading British expert on eating disorders has warned that the current obsession with size-zero in the fashion industry is encouraging women to 'famine then feast'.

2 Apr 2008

Confusing sexual interest with friendliness

New research from Indiana University and Yale suggests that college-age men confuse friendly non-verbal cues with cues for sexual interest because the men have a less discerning eye than women -- but their female peers aren't far behind.

2 Apr 2008

Satoris enters collaboration to validate early Alzheimer's test

Satoris, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on developing blood-based tests for Alzheimer ' s disease, will shortly begin a collaborative study with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (Mayo Clinic) to validate the utility of plasma biomarkers for early detection of mild to moderate Alzheimer ' s disease.

2 Apr 2008

Stimulant treatment for ADHD does not contribute to substance abuse later in life

Treating children as early as age six or seven with stimulants for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not likely to increase risk of substance abuse as adults, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

2 Apr 2008

Newly identified gene may prompt pancreas cells to form

Before a pancreas is a pancreas, it?s part of the endoderm, one of three layers of cells in a developing embryo that eventually form its organs.

2 Apr 2008

Do humans hear better than animals?

It is known that various species of land and water-based living creatures are capable of hearing some lower and higher frequencies than humans are capable of detecting.

2 Apr 2008

Exercise delays onset of Huntington’s in mouse model

The simple act of running in an exercise wheel delays the onset of some symptoms of Huntington's disease in a mouse model of the fatal human disorder according to research published in the open-access journal BMC Neuroscience.

1 Apr 2008

Eli Lilly starts trial of treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease

Eli Lilly and Company has announced the start of a Phase III clinical trial studying LY450139, an investigational gamma secretase inhibitor for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2008

Grhelin hormone that controls hunger and appetite also linked to reduced fertility

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that in-utero exposure to the hormone grhelin, a molecule that controls appetite and hunger and nutrition, can result in decreased fertility and fewer offspring.

1 Apr 2008

Chloroform provides clue to 150 year old medical puzzle

One of the earliest general anaesthetics to be used by the medical profession, chloroform, has shed light on a mystery that's puzzled doctors for more than 150 years - how such anaesthetics actually work.

1 Apr 2008

Cerebral microbleeds more common than previously thought

New research shows cerebral microbleeds, which are lesions in the brain, are more common in people over 60 than previously thought.

1 Apr 2008

Researchers publish MRI images of genes in action in the living brain

Biologists have just confirmed what poets have known for centuries: eyes really are windows of the soul—or at least of the brain.

1 Apr 2008

Discovery of role of rare gene mutations in schizophrenia

Using an important new method that can be applied in the study of other psychiatric illnesses, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Washington (UW) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have identified multiple, individually rare gene mutations in people with schizophrenia that may help explain how that devastating illness is caused.

31 Mar 2008