Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

A neurostimulator device that detects, stops seizures under study at Medical College of Georgia

A small device implanted in the skull that detects oncoming seizures, then delivers a brief electrical stimulus to the brain to stop them is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

11 Sep 2007

Schizophrenia-linked gene keeps new adult brain cells under control

The study reveals that the gene, known as Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), directs the incorporation of new neurons into the adult brain and keeps the process under control. The gene's newly discovered roles might help to explain why schizophrenia's symptoms generally arise in adolescence or early adulthood, the researchers suggested.

10 Sep 2007

Researchers develop mouse model of autism spectrum disorders

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have genetically engineered mice that harbor the same genetic mutation found in some people with autism and Asperger syndrome.

10 Sep 2007

Mutated mice provide new insights into autism

Mice containing a mutated human gene implicated in autism exhibit the poor social skills but increased intelligence akin to the title character's traits in the movie “Rain Man,” researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

10 Sep 2007

Research looks at prions and retroviruses

National Research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg/Munich (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) the group is continuing to search for cellular components whose make-up is changed as a result of a prion infection.

10 Sep 2007

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea

Opioid-based pain medications may cause sleep apnea, according to an article in the September issue of Pain Medicine, the journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

10 Sep 2007

New understanding of role of schizophrenia risk gene DISC1 in normal adult brains

How the gene that has been pegged as a major risk factor for schizophrenia and other mood disorders that affect millions of Americans contributes to these diseases remains unclear.

10 Sep 2007

A molecular probe that may one day light up tumors while surgery is in progress

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a molecular probe that sets aglow tumor cells within living animals. Their goal is to use the probe to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.

10 Sep 2007

Research highlights importance of starch in human beginnings

To think that world domination could have begun in the cheeks. That's one interpretation of a discovery, published online September 9 in Nature Genetics, which indicates that humans carry extra copies of the salivary amylase gene.

10 Sep 2007

Brain does most of the work in seeing the difference between colours, rather than the eye

Colour contrast is detected much earlier in the brain than previously thought, a new study shows. Scientists at Durham University have confirmed that colour contrast is first detected by part of the brain called primary visual cortex, which is located at the very back of the head where visual information first enters the cortex of the brain.

10 Sep 2007

U.S. dogs now rabies-free

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States has announced that canine rabies has disappeared from the United States.

9 Sep 2007

Ultraconserved elements in the genome: Are they indispensable?

Three years ago, "ultraconserved elements" were discovered in the genomes of mice, rats, and humans.

5 Sep 2007

Scoliosis in adults

Scoliosis is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. It is most often diagnosed in childhood or early adolescence, but can also be diagnosed in adults.

5 Sep 2007

Ability of a brain area to change its functioning after stroke

New evidence from a patient shows that the area of the brain that processes visual inputs can reorganize after an injury caused by stroke.

5 Sep 2007

Ovation Pharmaceuticals advances development pipeline with new phase III epilepsy study

OVATION Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase III clinical trial evaluating clobazam, a unique 1,5 benzodiazapine with significant anticonvulsant properties, as adjunctive treatment for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), one of the most severe forms of childhood epilepsy that frequently persists into adulthood.

5 Sep 2007

Smoking and lactating women - nicotine disrupts infants' sleep patterns

A study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center reports that nicotine in the breast milk of lactating mothers who smoke cigarettes disrupts their infants' sleep patterns.

5 Sep 2007

Low level of neuronal receptor LR11 linked to Alzheimer's disease

Results of a new study indicate a strong link between the loss of the neuronal receptor LR11and onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), often a harbinger of Alzheimer's disease.

5 Sep 2007

Vital recommendations for treatment of brain injury patients

A landmark Australian and New Zealand intensive care study has provided vital information for the treatment of patients with brain injuries.

5 Sep 2007

Halting rabies in the brain

While rabies, an ancient scourge that still kills 70,000 every year in developing countries worldwide can be combated with a series of vaccines today, it nearly is always fatal when it reaches the brain.

5 Sep 2007

Having right timing connections in brain is key to overcoming dyslexia

Using new software developed to investigate how the brains of dyslexic children are organized, University of Washington researchers have found that key areas for language and working memory involved in reading are connected differently in dyslexics than in children who are good readers and spellers.

5 Sep 2007