Brain News and Research

RSS

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.

Men using erectile dysfunction drugs less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease

Drugs commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

9 Feb 2024

Older Asian Americans hesitant to participate in MRI research, study finds

Asian Americans are less likely than their white peers to participate in health research involving MRIs and addressing this hesitancy could improve research, according to a Rutgers Health-led study.

9 Feb 2024

mRNA COVID vaccines in pregnancy linked to lower risk of neonatal issues, study shows

A JAMA Network study finds COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in pregnant women not only safe but also associated with reduced risks of neonatal cerebral ischemia, intracranial hemorrhage, and mortality, supporting vaccination during pregnancy.

9 Feb 2024

Machine learning tool reads brain scans for early signs of psychosis

The onset of psychosis can be predicted before it occurs, using a machine-learning tool which can classify MRI brain scans into those who are healthy and those at risk of a psychotic episode.

8 Feb 2024

Stroke patients see lower death rates with AI-guided treatment

Ischemic stroke survivors who received care recommendations from an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system had fewer recurrent strokes, heart attacks or vascular death within three months, compared to people whose stroke treatment was not guided by AI tools, according to preliminary late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2024.

8 Feb 2024

Multi-level network analysis provides integrated view of multiple sclerosis

International research led by the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University, in collaboration with Hospital del Mar, Hospital Clínic, Charité - Medical University of Berlin, and the universities of Oslo and Genoa, has developed a computational biology tool, based on multi-level network analysis, to achieve an integrated vision of multiple sclerosis.

8 Feb 2024

New MRI method enables early detection and better monitoring of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that usually leads to permanent disabilities. It affects around 2.9 million people worldwide, and around 15,000 in Switzerland alone.

8 Feb 2024

CPR survival plummets as minutes pass during cardiac arrest

A person's chance of surviving while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest in hospital declines rapidly from 22% after one minute to less than 1% after 39 minutes, finds a US study published by The BMJ today.

8 Feb 2024

Study shows distinct patterns of brain connectivity between pre-term and term babies

A new King's College London scanning study of 390 babies has shown distinct patterns between term and pre-term babies in the moment-to-moment activity and connectivity of brain networks.

8 Feb 2024

Mitochondrial misfire sparks inflammation

Cells in the human body contain power-generating mitochondria, each with their own mtDNA - a unique set of genetic instructions entirely separate from the cell's nuclear DNA that mitochondria use to create life-giving energy.

8 Feb 2024

New drug targets key mechanism in ALS, protects motor neurons

A new pharmacological inhibitor can intervene in a central cell death mechanism that is responsible for the death of motor neurons and hence important for the progression of the motor neuron disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

8 Feb 2024

Enzyme released by immune cells may play role in depression

Mount Sinai researchers have shown for the first time that immune cells called monocytes, derived in the bone marrow and released into the bloodstream, can be drawn during stress into sites in the brain that control emotional behaviors.

8 Feb 2024

Scientists unlock secrets of the brain's internal compass

Our sense of direction is essential to our ability to navigate the world around us. It acts as the brain's internal compass to help us find our way and, just as importantly, to prompt us to change course when we're heading in the wrong direction.

8 Feb 2024

Flat positioning may give stroke patients an edge before surgery

Positioning patients with large vessel ischemic (clot-caused) stroke with their heads flat (0-degrees) before surgery to remove the blood clot resulted in significant improvements in neurological function, compared to patients whose heads were elevated (at a 30-degree angle), according to preliminary late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2024.

8 Feb 2024

NCCN publishes first-ever treatment recommendations pertaining to neuroblastoma

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) - an alliance of leading cancer centers - today published its first ever set of treatment recommendations pertaining to neuroblastoma.

8 Feb 2024

Study advances search for a blood test to identify disease-associated changes in the brain

Researchers in a Johns Hopkins Children's Center-led study that used genetic material from human blood and lab-grown brain cells say they have made progress in developing a blood test to identify disease-associated changes in the brain specifically linked to postpartum depression and other psychiatric and neurological disorders.

8 Feb 2024

Study discovers a direct connection between the brain and its surrounding environment

In a recent study of the brain's waste drainage system, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, collaborating with investigators at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), discovered a direct connection between the brain and its tough protective covering, the dura mater.

8 Feb 2024

Study tracks health and quality of life in chronically critically ill COVID-19 patients months after hospital discharge

Researchers investigated chronic critical illness in COVID-19 survivors who sought ICU admission and were on mechanical ventilation due to severe infection by SARS-CoV-2.

8 Feb 2024

Combining clot busters and blood thinners shows no advantage for people with ischemic strokes

Giving blood thinners in addition to clot-busting medications to people with ischemic strokes (clot-caused strokes) did not improve their outcomes 90 days later, according to preliminary late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2024.

7 Feb 2024

New treatment target found for CDKL5 deficiency disorder

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute have found a new treatment target for CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), one of the most common types of genetic epilepsy.

7 Feb 2024