Neuroscience News and Research

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Tears may be reliable, noninvasive biological marker of Parkinson's disease

Tears may hold clues to whether someone has Parkinson's disease, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, April 21 to 27, 2018.

24 Feb 2018

Study supports benefits of meditation in control of attention and emotions

The study's findings show that mental silence experienced through Sahaja Yoga meditation is associated with the development of neural networks and areas that are crucial for the control of attention and emotions.

24 Feb 2018

New intervention improves communication behaviors in couples affected by dementia

They do it with the best of intentions. "Do you remember our wedding day?" "Who is that person next to you in the picture?" For couples with decades of shared memories, a partner's decline in the ability to communicate is one of the most frightening and frustrating consequences of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

22 Feb 2018

Iron deficiency early in life can have long-lasting consequences for the brain

Iron deficiency in the first four weeks of a piglet's life - equivalent to roughly four months in a human infant - impairs the development of key brain structures, scientists report. The abnormalities remain even after weeks of iron supplementation begun later in life, the researchers found.

22 Feb 2018

Study finds novel therapeutic strategy that preserves neuromuscular synapses in ALS mouse model

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, causes lethal respiratory paralysis within several years of diagnosis. There are no effective treatments to slow or halt this devastating disease.

21 Feb 2018

Study aims to examine effects of PTSD symptoms in police officers

Police officers are often called to situations that require a quick decision: fire a shot and risk harming, or killing, innocent bystanders; don't fire and there's the potential for being killed in the line of duty.

20 Feb 2018

Study reveals biological relevance of sex in effects of D-galactose induced aging

A research study by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in collaboration with the University of La Laguna demonstrates in mice the biological relevance of sex in the effects of accelerated ageing caused by a chronic treatment of D-galactose, a sugar found abundantly in milk and to a lesser extent in fruits and vegetables.

20 Feb 2018

Researchers find high risk of suicide among unaccompanied refugee minors

In a report written on behalf of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have concluded that the risk of suicide among unaccompanied refugee minors and young adults in 2017 was nine times higher than the equivalent figure for the same age group in the Swedish population.

19 Feb 2018

MRI and machine learning could predict whether OCD patients will benefit from treatment

Washing hands needlessly dozens of times of day. Spending so much time perfecting schoolwork that it never gets turned in.

15 Feb 2018

Learning stress-reducing techniques may benefit people with epilepsy

Learning techniques to help manage stress may help people with epilepsy reduce how often they have seizures, according to a study published in the February 14, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

15 Feb 2018

TUM scientists observe formation of myelin sheaths around nerve fibers

Nerve fibers are surrounded by a myelin sheath. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich have now made the first-ever "live" observations of how this protective layer is formed.

15 Feb 2018

Researchers study how unexpected event makes people to stop an action

Imagine reaching to pet your cat, and it hisses at you. How does your brain take stock of the sound and communicate with your body to pull back your hand?

14 Feb 2018

Researchers use upconversion nanoparticles to understand brain functions

Scientists from the National University of Singapore have worked with an international research team to jointly develop a novel approach for deep brain stimulation.

14 Feb 2018

Emotional state affects operation of the entire brain instead of being restricted to specific regions

The brain mechanisms of basic emotions such as anger and happiness are fairly similar across people. Differences are greater in social emotions, such as gratitude and contempt.

14 Feb 2018

Mice study raises hope to successfully treat Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute have found that gradually depleting an enzyme called BACE1 completely reverses the formation of amyloid plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease, thereby improving the animals' cognitive function.

14 Feb 2018

Researcher makes breakthrough discovery in process of fear relapse

Steve Maren, the Claude H. Everett Jr. '47 Chair of Liberal Arts professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Texas A&M University, and his Emotion and Memory Systems Laboratory have made a breakthrough discovery in the process of fear relapse.

14 Feb 2018

High-tech brain scans can provide new way to define intelligence

High-tech scans of the resting human brain can provide a new way to define and interpret the brain's actual mental capacity, new research suggests.

14 Feb 2018

New Blink Reflexometer could provide more objective measures of concussion severity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the US. In addition, research indicates that nearly a quarter of annual traumatic brain injuries among children are sustained during high-contact/collision recreational activities or sports.

13 Feb 2018

Researchers develop new method to map dopamine system in Parkinson's patients

With the aid of a PET camera, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a new method for investigating the dopamine system in the brains of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.

13 Feb 2018

MRI scans reveal why people often become aggressive after drinking alcohol

Researchers have used magnetic resonance imaging scans that measure blood flow in the brain to better understand why people often become aggressive and violent after drinking alcohol.

12 Feb 2018