Functional MRI News and Research

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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

Genetic contributions to human brain morphology and intelligence

While showing an impressive growth prenatally, the human brain is not completed at birth.

17 Oct 2007

Expertise modulates the perception of pain in others

Physicians apparently learn to “shut off” the portion of their brain that helps them appreciate the pain their patients experience while treating them and instead activate a portion of the brain connected with controlling emotions, according to new research using brain scans at the University of Chicago.

27 Sep 2007

Study links changes in brain function directly to the recovery of athletes from sports concussion

Concussions are common in young athletes but the underlying changes in brain function that occur have been poorly understood.

7 Aug 2007

Hallucinations in schizophrenia linked to brain area that regulates emotion and processes human voices

For the first time, researchers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have found both structural and functional abnormalities in specific brain regions of schizophrenic patients who experience chronic auditory hallucinations, according to a study published in the August issue of Radiology.

1 Aug 2007

The future of Alzheimer's disease research

Imagine the day when a routine visit to the family doctor includes a simple blood test to predict the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD).

26 Jul 2007

Study identifies areas of the brain involved in alien hand syndrome

Alien hand syndrome (AHS) is a rare neurological disorder that causes hand movement without the person being aware of what is happening or having control over the action.

18 Jul 2007

Dual-imaging technique improves functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery

Brain specialists associated with the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital say the ability to incorporate in real time two high-tech imaging tools into the operating room can improve the functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery.

14 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

Key source of chronic pain appears to be an old memory trace stuck in the prefrontal cortex

Why do so many people continue to suffer from life-altering, chronic pain long after their injuries have actually healed"

5 Jun 2007

World's first PET/MR images of the human brain

The world's first PET/MR images of the human brain, taken simultaneously by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and magnetic resonance (MR), debuted during the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals, June 2-6 in Washington, D.C.

From Siemens Healthineers 5 Jun 2007

White matter tracts in brain play a significant role in the rapid control of behavior

As wise as the counsel to "finish what you've started" may be, it is also sometimes critically important to do just the opposite -- stop.

4 Apr 2007

How the brain processes pain location

Is that pain in your chest a heart attack or indigestion? New research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals that more areas of the brain than previously thought are involved in determining the location of pain.

2 Apr 2007

Severe stress can damage a child's brain

According to researchers in the U.S. children who suffer severe stress may also suffer damage to their brains.

5 Mar 2007

Scans show hysteria is caused by a brain dysfunction

Hysteria is an unexplained neurological disorder in which a patient complains of symptoms, ranging from numbness in a limb, to paralysis, memory loss and seizures, that cannot be traced to any known medical problem and doctors fail to find anything medically wrong with them.

12 Dec 2006

HRT shows promise in helping visual memory of postmenopausal women

Many women experience declines in their memory during and after menopause, a change thought to be due, in part, to the rapid hormonal changes they weather during that time.

20 Nov 2006

Resolution of uncertainty in prefrontal cortex

Whether finding your way through an unfamiliar neighborhood to a friend's house or deciding on a political candidate, your brain is adept at adapting.

9 Jun 2006

Visual word forming area (VWFA) of the cortex demonstrated to have an effect on word recognition

Humans have an uncanny ability to skim through text, instantly recognizing words by their shape--even though writing developed only about 6000 years ago--long after humans evolved. Thus, neuroscientists have hotly debated whether an area of the cortex called the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) is truly a specific and necessary area for recognizing words.

28 Apr 2006

That mistake will cost you and your brain knows staight away!

According to a team of researchers in the U.S.a particular part of the brain called the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, or rACC, becomes much more active when a person realizes he or she has made an error that carries consequences - for instance, losing money.

12 Apr 2006

Gene linked to impulsive violence weakens brain circuits that regulate thinking in humans

A version of a gene previously linked to impulsive violence appears to weaken brain circuits that regulate impulses, emotional memory and thinking in humans, researchers at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found.

21 Mar 2006