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.

Bumetanide may help treat seizures in newborns

A diuretic drug called bumetanide may serendipitously help treat seizures in newborns, which are difficult to control with existing anticonvulsants, according to a study in the November Nature Medicine.

1 Nov 2005

When it comes to telling lies it's the stomach not the heart which is the giveaway

According to a new study it is suggested that it is the stomach rather than the heart that offers greater lie detection accuracy.

31 Oct 2005

How the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions

The brain is a "time machine," assert Duke neuroscientists Catalin Buhusi and Warren Meck. And understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. The brain's internal clocks coordinate a vast array of activities from communicating, to orchestrating movement, to getting food, they said.

30 Oct 2005

Hormone found naturally in the body has the ability to cause limited weight loss

Research at the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) at Oregon Health & Science University has demonstrated that a hormone found naturally in the body has the ability to cause limited weight loss. Specifically, the research revealed that peptide YY (PYY) can reduce food consumption in the morning, leading to a mild level of weight loss in the short term.

30 Oct 2005

Risk of ischemic stroke increases with a rise in air pollution

The risk of ischemic stroke - which results when a blood clot travels to the brain - increases with a rise in particulate air pollution, according to a study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

30 Oct 2005

Environment is a major factor influencing the success of the addiction recovery

New research in monkeys suggests that, although living in an "enriched" environment can make someone less vulnerable to abusing cocaine, once started, extended drug abuse can eliminate the social advantage the abuser originally had.

30 Oct 2005

DCDC2 gene linked to dyslexia

Pediatric researchers at Yale School of Medicine have identified a gene on human chromosome 6 called DCDC2, which is linked to dyslexia, a reading disability affecting millions of children and adults.

30 Oct 2005

Vaccination against measles could prevent many more cases of SSPE, than previously thought

A new study has found wild-type measles virus in tissues from patients who died of a fatal brain infection, providing evidence against the notion that the strain of virus in the measles vaccine caused the infection.

30 Oct 2005

Novel mouse model of medulloblastoma

A collaboration of researchers, led by Dr. Martine Roussel of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, has developed a novel mouse model of medulloblastoma -- the most prevalent malignant pediatric brain tumor -- that the researchers hope will more accurately represent the genetic changes involved in human brain tumor development.

30 Oct 2005

Head injury patients not treated in specialist brain surgery centres are at significantly greater risk

In a study published in The Lancet which analysed 1989 – 2003 data from the national Trauma Audit and Research Network database, the team compared the death-rates of patients with head injuries with those of other types of emergency patients and assessed the impact of neurosurgical care on these rates.

From The University of Manchester 30 Oct 2005

Search for genes responsible for anxiety disorders

Increasing the activity of two enzymes better known for their role in oxidative stress metabolism turns normally relaxed mice into "Nervous Nellies," according to research conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and reported in the early online edition of Nature.

30 Oct 2005

Scientists unravel complex mechanisms in the brain that regulate body weight

Scientists are one step closer to unraveling the complex mechanisms in the brain that regulate body weight. Working with mice -- whose appetites are controlled by systems very similar to those in humans – they have identified a specific type of neuron that is essential for feeding behavior.

30 Oct 2005

Rimonabant appears to be very promising, especially for the treatment of patients with abdominal obesity

Overweight or obese people who are stout around the waist and abdomen are particularly at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

30 Oct 2005

Doctors adopt new checklist to ensure patients are asleep during surgery

At a meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Atlanta, new standards were approved on preventing a rare but terrifying situation in which patients wake up during surgery and sometimes feel excruciating pain without being able to cry out.

27 Oct 2005

Scientists say there is less white matter in the frontal lobes of those who struggle with focusing

When it comes to focusing on a task amid distractions, some folks more than 60 years old are as mentally sharp as 22-year-olds. Others struggle. Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have shed some light on why that is.

27 Oct 2005

Type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix

Patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared to patients with type 2 diabetes alone, over the three-year period of a recent study in Washington state.

27 Oct 2005

New understanding of how neurogenesis occurs

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a crucial cellular signal that controls the fate of stem cells in the brains of adult mice.

27 Oct 2005

Unique report on global long-term care worker migration

Who will provide long-term care to you or your loved ones? If you live in developed countries like the US or the UK, the answer may surprise you according to a new report issued by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

26 Oct 2005

Why some women turn from pussycats to tigers once a month!

At last there is evidence why some women turn from pussycats to tigers once a month!

26 Oct 2005

Scientists find key step in a signaling pathway that helps orchestrate embryonic development

The study, reported in Nature (Oct. 13, 2005), focuses on the Hedgehog family of signaling molecules, which play a central role in directing development of the early embryo's growth and spatial plan, as well as its later organ and limb development. Defects in Hedgehog signaling are a significant cause of some birth defects and cancers.

25 Oct 2005