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.

Oestrogen research points to new class of analgesic drugs

Oestrogen plays an important role in determining how sensitive a person is to pain, and the oestrogen receptor known as ER-beta is particularly significant in this context.

13 Aug 2007

Gene use sets humans and chimps apart

The striking differences between humans and chimps aren't so much in the genes we have, which are 99 percent the same, but in the way those genes are used, according to new research from a Duke University team.

13 Aug 2007

Warfarin versus aspirin for stroke prevention

A study tracking nearly 1,000 over-75s at high risk of stroke has found that the anticoagulant drug warfarin cuts the risk by half in this older population without causing more side-effects than alternatives.

13 Aug 2007

Genetic engineering offers promising new approaches to improve dietary iron intake

Using selective plant breeding and genetic engineering could be used to reduce the incidence of iron deficiency worldwide by improving the quality of dietary iron, conclude authors of a Seminar in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

13 Aug 2007

Scientists take plumber's approach to Alzheimer's

Scientists are trying a plumber's approach to rid the brain of the amyloid buildup that plagues Alzheimer's patients: Simply drain the toxic protein away.

13 Aug 2007

DIY hole-in-the-heart repair kit

Specialists in the UK have found a way to treat a common heart defect using the body's natural healing power.

12 Aug 2007

Neuregulin 1 gene linked to schizophrenia

Scientists have provided new insight into how a gene is related to schizophrenia.

12 Aug 2007

High-tech diagnosis pinpoints causes of behavioral and psychiatric problems in patients

Is there a definitive test for mental illness? Not yet, but using advanced neuropsychiatric diagnostic tools including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), mental health professionals at The Menninger Clinic in Houston are pinpointing the causes of behavioral and psychiatric problems in patients.

12 Aug 2007

Leptin controls our fondness for food

Scientists have discovered that leptin, one of the key hormones responsible for reducing hunger and increasing the feeling of fullness, also controls our fondness for food.

12 Aug 2007

Women with migraines and aura have higher stroke risk

Women who have migraine headaches with visual symptoms (or aura) may be at increased risk for stroke compared to women who do not have migraines, researchers reported in Stroke, journal of the American Heart Association.

11 Aug 2007

Thyroid hormones may play important role in sleep regulation

While the thyroid has long been linked to metabolism, cutting-edge research underway at Rutgers University Camden is investigating the possibility that thyroid hormones have an important role in sleep regulation.

9 Aug 2007

Cerebral blood flow provides clues to treating depression

The usefulness of established molecular imaging/nuclear medicine approaches in identifying the hows and whys of brain dysfunction and its potential in providing immediately useful information in treating depression are emphasized in a study in the August Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

9 Aug 2007

New Alzheimer's drugs may help prevent glaucoma

British eye specialists have shown for the first time that key proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease are also implicated in glaucoma.

8 Aug 2007

Cannabis mouth spray eases pain of cancer patients

Canadian health authorities have given approval for a new cannabis-based painkiller for use with cancer patients.

8 Aug 2007

Scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells

Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2007

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene linked to brain aneurysm formation

University of Cincinnati (UC) neurovascular researchers have identified a gene that, when suppressed or completely absent, may predispose a person to brain aneurysms.

8 Aug 2007

Independent brain networks control human walking

In a study published in the August issue of Nature Neuroscience, researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland found that there are separate adaptable networks controlling each leg and there are also separate networks controlling leg movements, e.g., forward or backward walking.

8 Aug 2007

Nanotech sensors and tiny transmitters to predict and prevent epileptic seizures

Purdue University researchers have developed new miniature devices designed to be implanted in the brain to predict and prevent epileptic seizures and a nanotech sensor for implantation in the eye to treat glaucoma.

8 Aug 2007

High-intensity focused ultrasound may alerts the immune system to cancer

An intense form of ultrasound that shakes a tumor until its cells start to leak can trigger an alarm that enlists immune defenses against the cancerous invasion, according to a study led by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.

8 Aug 2007

UIC receives $9.6 million grant for autism research

The University of Illinois at Chicago has been awarded a $9.6 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish an Autism Center of Excellence.

7 Aug 2007