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.

Strokes role in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered key details of how stroke or traumatic brain injury can trigger Alzheimer's disease (AD) by enhancing formation of brain-clogging amyloid plaques.

8 Jun 2007

Secrets of working memory revealed

A newly discovered interplay of cells in one of the brain's memory centers sheds light on how you recall your grocery list, where you laid your keys, and a host of important but fleeting daily tasks.

8 Jun 2007

Sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment

Jeffrey Kopita, M.D., pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist on the medical staff at Baylor Medical Center at Garland, talks about sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment.

8 Jun 2007

New practical weight loss solution for the obese

Millions of people the world over suffer today from obesity, yet there is no magic bullet that has yet provided a universally accepted solution.

8 Jun 2007

Pramlintide treatment curbs fast food consumption and tendency to binge eat

The synthetic form of a hormone previously found to produce a feeling of fullness when eating and reduce body weight, also may help curb binge eating and the desire to eat high-fat foods and sweets.

8 Jun 2007

New research shows promise for memory-related disorders

In today's fast-moving world of look-alike hotel rooms and comparable corridors, it can take a bit of thinking to answer this simple question.

8 Jun 2007

New gene influences susceptibility to late-onset Alzheimer's disease

A new gene that influences susceptibility to late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) has been identified by an international research team that analyzed the genomes of more than a thousand people with and without the disorder.

8 Jun 2007

Cochlear implant restores hearing to patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have, for the first time, used a bionic ear to restore hearing in a patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease.

8 Jun 2007

New target for the Fragile X mental retardation protein

Researchers in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine have identified a new regulatory target for the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), laying the groundwork for possible new treatments for Fragile X syndrome(FXS), the leading inherited form of mental retardation.

8 Jun 2007

Endocannabinoids appear to play important role in regulating inflammation

Endocannabinoids seem to play an important role in regulating inflammation processes. Scientists from the University of Bonn have discovered this in experiments on mice.

8 Jun 2007

Novel pathways and markers for diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder

Looking into the brain is yielding vital clues to understanding, diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder, according to findings being presented at the Seventh International Conference on Bipolar Disorder.

8 Jun 2007

Surgery underway to separate twins joined at the head

Neurosurgeons in the U.S. have begun the first of many operations to separate 3-year-old twins who are joined at the head.

7 Jun 2007

Why do more women than men die from strokes?

It is well known that more women than men die of stroke even though men are more at risk.

7 Jun 2007

Ecstasy damages parts of the brain

Ecstasy, the illicit drug loved by party people and dance club patrons, may harm parts of the brain involved with verbal memory, according to new research.

5 Jun 2007

Low doses of Ecstasy associated with decreased verbal memory function

Even low doses of Ecstasy may be associated with a decline in language-related memory, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Jun 2007

What the brain does while idle

Indiana University neuroscientists Olaf Sporns and Christopher Honey find the 98 percent of brain activity that other researchers consider just background noise to be fascinating and important.

5 Jun 2007

Hypothyroidism linked to mood swings

Hypothyroidism is often associated with mood changes like depression lethargy.

5 Jun 2007

Researchers track human stem cells transplanted into rat brain

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have illuminated the path taken by human neural stem cells that were transplanted into the brains of rats and mice, and found that the cells successfully navigate toward areas damaged by stroke.

5 Jun 2007

Blocking stress protein decreases Alzheimer's peptide

Scientists revealed in November 2006 that stress increases production in mice of a brain peptide critical to Alzheimer's disease.

5 Jun 2007

What causes Alzheimer's disease?

Researchers tied the accumulation of the toxic brain protein beta-amyloid to Alzheimer's disease, according to a study reported at the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals.

5 Jun 2007