Brain Stimulation News and Research

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Probing the brain in high resolution with graphene based neural probes

Graphene-based transistors enable a flexible neural probe with excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Such probes are useful for examining neural activity for understanding diseases, as well as in neuroprosthetics for control of artificial limbs.

27 Mar 2017

Deep brain stimulation could be effective treatment option for patients with severe depressions

Treatment with deep brain stimulation can provide lasting relief to patients suffering from previously non-treatable, severe forms of depression several years into the therapy or even eliminate symptoms entirely.

20 Mar 2017

Scientists uncover new method for improving short-term working memory

Scientists have uncovered a method for improving short-term working memory, by stimulating the brain with electricity to synchronise brain waves.

14 Mar 2017

Clinician-scientist wins annual award for excellence in behavioral neurology research

Peter Turkeltaub, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine, and director of the Cognitive Recovery Lab, has been chosen by an international society of neurologists to receive its annual award for excellence in behavioral neurology research.

14 Mar 2017

MIT researchers develop precise technique to measure dopamine in the brain

MIT researchers have devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain much more precisely than previously possible, which should allow scientists to gain insight into dopamine's roles in learning, memory, and emotion.

3 Mar 2017

Advances in Optogenetics

Optogenetics is a way of introducing information into the brain using light, it targets specific cells or connections across the brain. It is fast, like brain signaling, and helps you communicate with neural circuitry in a language more similar to what is normally used within the brain.

From Pittcon 2 Mar 2017

Deep brain stimulation may help improve mental, physical health in patients with anorexia nervosa

Deep brain stimulation might alter the brain circuits that drive anorexia nervosa symptoms and help improve patients’ mental and physical health, according to a small study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

25 Feb 2017

IDSA guidelines: Team approach vital to successful treatment of complex neurological infections

A team approach is vital to the successful diagnosis and treatment of complex neurological infections related to placement of devices in the brain, or as a result of neurosurgery or head trauma.

16 Feb 2017

New infusion therapy may help avoid debilitating symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients

Constant infusion of a drug now used intermittently to "rescue" patients with Parkinson's from bouts of immobility may also help avoid these debilitating symptoms and smooth out their movement throughout the day, physician-scientists say.

14 Feb 2017

Researchers find chemical link between two problem proteins that cause Parkinson's disease

Researchers report they have discovered how two problem proteins known to cause Parkinson's disease are chemically linked, suggesting that someday, both could be neutralized by a single drug designed to target the link.

2 Feb 2017

Deep brain stimulation can reduce heroin relapse in rat models of addiction, TSRI study shows

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can greatly reduce the compulsion to use heroin in standard rat models of addiction.

2 Feb 2017

Tau pathology underlies deterioration of spatial cognition in Alzheimer's disease

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have discovered that the spatial disorientation that leads to wandering in many Alzheimer's disease patients is caused by the accumulation of tau protein in navigational nerve cells in the brain.

20 Jan 2017

Research shows how memory can be improved using noninvasive brain stimulation

Northwestern Medicine scientists showed for the first time that non-invasive brain stimulation can be used like a scalpel, rather than like a hammer, to cause a specific improvement in precise memory.

19 Jan 2017

Experimental treatment shows early promise for improving Parkinson's symptoms

About fourteen years ago, Bill Crawford noticed a persistent twitching in one of his fingers that was interfering with his rehearsal time as the music pastor at Porter Memorial Church.

6 Jan 2017

MGH researchers develop magnetic coils for selective and reliable neural stimulation

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have developed what appears to be a significant improvement in the technology behind brain implants used to activate neural circuits responsible for vision, hearing or movement.

9 Dec 2016

Painless tDCS technique could improve life for people with major depression

Small amounts of electricity similar to the output of a common 9-volt battery could improve life for people living with major depression, the most common mood disorder.

16 Nov 2016

Stimulation of the brain delays exhaustion of leg muscles during exercise task

Research led by the University of Kent shows stimulation of the brain impacts on endurance exercise performance by decreasing perception of effort.

1 Nov 2016

UAB investigators receive BRAIN Initiative award to study new DBS technology for Parkinson's disease

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a BRAIN Initiative grant of $7.3 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to study new technology that could improve outcomes from deep brain stimulation, an increasingly important treatment for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.

18 Oct 2016

Salk scientist wins NIH grant for new technique to precisely target specific cells using sound waves

Salk Associate Professor Sreekanth Chalasani has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative for developing a way to selectively activate brain, heart, muscle and other cells using ultrasonic waves, which could be a boon to neuroscience research as well as medicine.

14 Oct 2016

Brain rehabilitation via a mobile app? An interview with Keith Cooper

When a person has a brain injury due to a stroke or a trauma, they typically start in a hospital emergency room to treat any life threatening injuries. They are then often transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation program at the hospital where they receive intensive physical and cognitive therapy until they are well enough to transition home.

5 Oct 2016