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Using neural signals to predict sensory decisions

The rodent whisker sensory system is particularly intriguing because it is "active": the animal generates sensory signals by palpating objects through self-controlled whisker motion (just as we move our fingertips along surfaces to measure their tactile features).

13 Nov 2007

Researchers image a biomarker of neurogenesis

Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, M.D., Ph.D, and co-investigators from Stony Brook University Medical Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have discovered a way to image a biomarker of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) in the living human brain.

13 Nov 2007

Cortex maturation in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

In youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions, on average, compared to youth without the disorder, an imaging study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has revealed.

13 Nov 2007

Prazosin curbs brain damage from post-traumatic stress disorder

A drug used to treat high blood pressure and enlargement of the prostate may protect the brain from damage caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer's disease, depression and schizophrenia.

6 Nov 2007

Maternal link to Alzheimer's disease found

People who have a mother with Alzheimer's disease appear to be at higher risk for getting the disease than those individuals whose fathers are afflicted, according to a new study by NYU School of Medicine researchers.

6 Nov 2007

Neural stem cells may help to restore memory after brain damage

In the study, mice with brain injuries experienced enhanced memory -- similar to the level found in healthy mice -- up to three months after receiving a stem cell treatment. Scientists believe the stem cells secreted proteins called neurotrophins that protected vulnerable cells from death and rescued memory.

31 Oct 2007

New brain marker predicts cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease

Duke University Medical Center researchers have used imaging technology to identify a new marker that may help identify those at greatest risk for cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer's disease.

31 Oct 2007

Neurons in primate cortex associate numerical meaning with visual signs

Humans share with animals a language-independent system for representing numerical quantity, but number symbols have to be acquired throughout childhood.

31 Oct 2007

New insights into how the brain takes in and assembles stimuli from the outside world

The area of the brain that processes sounds entering the ears also appears to process stimulus entering the eyes, providing a novel explanation for why many viewers believe that ventriloquists have thrown their voices to the mouths of their dummies.

29 Oct 2007

Hunger influenced by leptin hormone

Researchers at UCLA have determined the brain circuits involved in hunger that are influenced by a hormone called leptin.

29 Oct 2007

Human decision-making linked to an individuals' need to maintain a homeostatic balance

A researcher at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine suggests that psychiatrists may need to approach the treatment of psychiatric patients from a new direction - by understanding that such individuals' behavior and decision-making are based on an attempt to reach an inner equilibrium.

25 Oct 2007

Researchers discover drug-craving brain region in rats

Chilean researchers have identified a region of the brain - the insular cortex - that plays a role in drug craving in amphetamine-addicted rats, according to a report published in the 26 October issue of the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the nonprofit science society.

25 Oct 2007

Researchers pinpoint brain waves that distinguish false memories from real ones

For the first time, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are able to pinpoint brain waves that distinguish true from false memories, providing a better understanding of how memory works and creating a new strategy to help epilepsy patients retain cognitive function.

24 Oct 2007

Australian researchers stelp closer to discovering the cause of epileptic seizures

Scientists still do not know what causes epileptic seizures, but researchers from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute are one step closer to solving this puzzle with the help of their newly developed genetically modified epileptic mouse.

22 Oct 2007

New approach to measuring brain activity - potential for artificial limbs

Neuroscientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a novel approach for measuring and deciphering brain activity that holds out promise of providing improved movements of natural or artificial limbs by those who have been injured or paralyzed.

19 Oct 2007

Childhood epilepsy research offers new hope for seizure control

18 Oct 2007

Existing drugs may be useful in treating brain tumors

Scientists have shown how developing brain tumors can turn an encounter with a signaling molecule from a fatal experience for the tumor cells into a cue for their own growth and multiplication.

17 Oct 2007

Discovery of new area for exploration of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia may occur, in part, because of a problem in an intermittent on/off switch for a gene involved in making a key chemical messenger in the brain, scientists have found in a study of human brain tissue.

17 Oct 2007

Familial multiple sclerosis appears more severe than non-familial

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a large group of patients with multiple sclerosis has provided the first evidence that those with a history of MS in their families show more severe brain damage than patients who have no close relatives with the disease.

15 Oct 2007