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New clues to cracking brain's neural code

Decoding the complex electrical signals that brain cells use to "talk" to each other is a new and important frontier in neuroscience, one that could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disease.

12 Sep 2007

New techniques to diagnose hearing loss

A Purdue University researcher is working on a new technique to diagnose hearing loss in a way that more accurately reflects real-world situations.

10 Sep 2007

Fruit flies have a taste for carbonated water

That fruit fly hovering over your kitchen counter may be attracted to more than the bananas that are going brown; it may also want a sip of your carbonated water.

4 Sep 2007

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

4 Sep 2007

New and very different schizophrenia drug shows promise

Scientists at Eli Lilly say the first human trial of a new schizophrenia drug shows promise for sufferers of the debilitating mental illness.

3 Sep 2007

Impact of mild hearing loss on neurological processes

Mild to moderate forms of hearing loss can have a lasting impact on the auditory cortex, according to findings by researchers at New York University's Center for Neural Science.

30 Aug 2007

Aid boost for hearing research

Research at the University of Essex into aiding people with hearing impairments has won a grant of nearly half a million pounds.

29 Aug 2007

New discovery helps explain the mechanics of hearing

A 30-year scientific debate about how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to St. Jude investigators.

28 Aug 2007

People ages 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life

The first comprehensive national survey of sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems among older adults in the United States has found that most people ages 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s.

24 Aug 2007

Insight into autism's origin in the brain

In the first study of its kind, researchers have discovered that in autistic individuals, connections between brain cells may be deficient within single regions, and not just between regions, as was previously believed.

23 Aug 2007

High-density diffuse optical tomography helps scan infant brains

Researchers hoping to better understand the development of the infant brain have long been stymied by a formidable obstacle: babies just don't want to sit still for brain scans.

22 Aug 2007

New Cockayne syndrome discovery

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have shown that the genetic defect that causes Cockayne Syndrome affects a key function of the cell – the transcription of genes coding for ribosomal RNA.

21 Aug 2007

Geriatric conditions and disability

A broad study of adults ages 65 and older has found that half of them have one or more conditions that can affect their ability to participate in activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing on their own.

8 Aug 2007

Electrical device partly restores sense of balance in animals

Hearing and balance experts at Johns Hopkins report successful testing in animals of an electrical device that partly restores a damaged or impaired sense of balance.

7 Aug 2007

Age-related hearing loss very common

For many people, hearing loss is part of aging. Hearing loss affects approximately one-third of people over age 65. Among people age 75 and older, 40 percent to 50 percent experience hearing loss.

7 Aug 2007

New pregnancy labeling rules should be approved without delay

Marks the tenth anniversary of a public hearing that was hoped to spark substantial changes in the way drugs are labeled for use during pregnancy.

2 Aug 2007

Music moves brain to pay attention

Using brain images of people listening to short symphonies by an obscure 18th-century composer, a research team from the Stanford University School of Medicine has gained valuable insight into how the brain sorts out the chaotic world around it.

2 Aug 2007

TB back in the news again in the U.S.

After years of hearing very little news on tuberculosis (TB), these days it seems to appear in the news on an almost weekly basis.

1 Aug 2007

Bone-anchored cochlear stimulator provides new hope for those with significant hearing impairment

Thomas Lynch, age 2, is now able to hear on both sides of his head with a device and surgical procedure pioneered by a surgeon-led team at Loyola University Medical Center.

1 Aug 2007

Health care access problems in New Orleans

As the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall approaches, new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation of its household survey of people in the New Orleans area shows that more than four in 10 (43 percent) adults reported at least one health care access problem in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

31 Jul 2007