Neuroscience News and Research

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Study provides window into the brain changes that link mindfulness meditation with health-related benefits

Over the past decade, mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve a broad range of health and disease outcomes, such as slowing HIV progression and improving healthy aging. Yet, little is known about the brain changes that produce these beneficial health effects.

5 Feb 2016

People with traumatic brain injuries may have buildup of plaques related to Alzheimer's disease

A new study suggests that people with brain injuries following head trauma may have buildup of the plaques related to Alzheimer's disease in their brains. The research is published in the February 3, 2016, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

4 Feb 2016

Study: Prior surgical abortion appears to increase risk of later preterm birth

Surgical methods used in a common form of abortion or to clear the womb after a spontaneous miscarriage appears to significantly increase the risk of a later preterm birth, say researchers at Thomas Jefferson University who analyzed 36 studies that enrolled more than 1 million women.

4 Feb 2016

Elder financial exploitation resulting from age-related cognitive decline pose major economic threats

Protecting the wealth of older adults should be a high priority for banks, insurance companies, and others, according to the latest edition of Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR). Elder financial exploitation and diminished financial capacity resulting from age-related cognitive impairments both pose major economic threats, the issue finds.

4 Feb 2016

CMU joins $12 million research project to reverse-engineer the brain's secret algorithms

Carnegie Mellon University is embarking on a five-year, $12 million research effort to reverse-engineer the brain, seeking to unlock the secrets of neural circuitry and the brain's learning methods. Researchers will use these insights to make computers think more like humans.

4 Feb 2016

Scientists explore how antidepressants affect fetuses during pregnancy

Depression is a serious issue for expecting mothers. Left untreated, depression could have implications for a fetus's health. But treating the disease during pregnancy may carry health risks for the developing fetus, which makes an expecting mother's decision whether to take medication a very difficult one.

4 Feb 2016

UCI researchers identify potential strategies to prevent cognitive decline

As brain cells age they lose the fibers that receive neural impulses, a change that may underlie cognitive decline. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine recently found a way to reverse this process in rats. The study was published February 3 in The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers caution that more studies are needed, but the findings shed light on the mechanisms of cognitive decline and identify potential strategies to stem it.

3 Feb 2016

Study reveals fetal origin for social and repetitive behavior deficits

Fetal development has been known to play an important role in social interaction, a fundamental behavior found in nearly all organisms, and later adult social behaviors. Autism, a highly heritable neurodevelopment disorder that causes difficulties with social interactions, has been postulated to be caused by neuron overgrowth in the prenatal period, although the precise timing and cause of this overgrowth has been unknown.

3 Feb 2016

Seafood consumption may benefit older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

New research published Feb. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that older adults with a major risk gene for Alzheimer's disease known as APOE?4 who ate at least one seafood serving per week showed fewer signs of Alzheimer's-related brain changes. In contrast, this association was not found in the brains of volunteers who ate fish weekly but did not carry the risk gene.

3 Feb 2016

Study finds no evidence of genetic overlap between schizophrenia risk and subcortical brain volumes

Over the last decade, important contributions to our understanding of schizophrenia have come from two different types of studies. Neuroimaging studies have found that certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala, are smaller in people with schizophrenia - a devastating psychiatric illness with high heritability.

3 Feb 2016

New approach to investigate how neurodevelopment influences diseases in adulthood

The Research Training Group, which builds on translational research training programmes and research structures such as the Molecular Medicine degree programme and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research, will work on areas where basic research and clinical practice overlap. It will bring together 20 doctoral candidates from the natural sciences and 28 from medicine.

3 Feb 2016

Study: Young African-Americans often have distorted view of stroke risk

Young African-Americans often hold a distorted view of their personal risk for a stroke, two nursing researchers at Georgia State University's Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions say in a recently published study in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing.

3 Feb 2016

New way of using MRI scanners to diagnose multiple sclerosis

A new way of using MRI scanners to look for evidence of multiple sclerosis in the brain has been successfully tested by researchers at The University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

2 Feb 2016

Understanding crucial role of 'healthy' brain in preventing memory failures linked to Alzheimer's disease

The mechanisms underlying the stability and plasticity of neural circuits in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for spatial memory and the memory of everyday facts and events, has been a major focus of study in the field of neuroscience. Understanding precisely how a "healthy" brain stores and processes information is crucial to preventing and reversing the memory failures associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of late-life dementia.

2 Feb 2016

Vanderbilt study offers a glimmer of hope to alcoholics suffering from depression

A study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is offering a glimmer of hope to alcoholics who find it hard to remain sober because their abstinence is hounded by stubborn, difficult-to-treat depression.

1 Feb 2016

Alternative splicing: a new approach to drug development? An interview with Lucy Donaldson

RNA is becoming an interesting drug target as it takes possible intervention back one step to the synthesis of a target protein, instead of trying to block or inhibit a process.

1 Feb 2016

New partnership aims to study underlying neurobiology and genetics of PTSD, TBI

Cohen Veterans Bioscience today announced two new collaborative partnership efforts that will provide critical research tools for understanding the underlying neurobiology and genetics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the goal of accelerating the development of first generation diagnostics and treatments.

31 Jan 2016

Human brain uses several frequency channels for communication

In the brain, the visual cortex processes visual information and passes it from lower to higher areas of the brain. However, information also flows in the opposite direction, e.g. to direct attention to particular stimuli. But how does the brain know which path the information should take? Researchers at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Frankfurt in Cooperation with Max Planck Society have now demonstrated that the visual cortex of human subjects uses different frequency channels depending on the direction in which information is being transported.

31 Jan 2016

Unobtrusive patch on the forehead provides relief from PTSD

An average of 30 years had passed since the traumatic events that had left them depressed, anxious, irritable, hypervigilant, unable to sleep well and prone to nightmares.

30 Jan 2016

Remicade co-developer funds new microscopy facility on Scripps Florida campus

The co-developer of Remicade, one of the three top-selling drugs in the world, has donated more than $500,000 to fund what will be known as the Iris and Junming Le Foundation Super-Resolution Microscopy Facility on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute.

30 Jan 2016

Neuroscience News and Research

Study provides window into the brain changes that link mindfulness meditation with health-related benefits

People with traumatic brain injuries may have buildup of plaques related to Alzheimer's disease

Study: Prior surgical abortion appears to increase risk of later preterm birth

Elder financial exploitation resulting from age-related cognitive decline pose major economic threats

CMU joins $12 million research project to reverse-engineer the brain's secret algorithms

Scientists explore how antidepressants affect fetuses during pregnancy

UCI researchers identify potential strategies to prevent cognitive decline

Study reveals fetal origin for social and repetitive behavior deficits

Seafood consumption may benefit older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

Study finds no evidence of genetic overlap between schizophrenia risk and subcortical brain volumes

New approach to investigate how neurodevelopment influences diseases in adulthood

Study: Young African-Americans often have distorted view of stroke risk

New way of using MRI scanners to diagnose multiple sclerosis

Understanding crucial role of 'healthy' brain in preventing memory failures linked to Alzheimer's disease

Vanderbilt study offers a glimmer of hope to alcoholics suffering from depression

Alternative splicing: a new approach to drug development? An interview with Lucy Donaldson

New partnership aims to study underlying neurobiology and genetics of PTSD, TBI

Human brain uses several frequency channels for communication

Unobtrusive patch on the forehead provides relief from PTSD

Remicade co-developer funds new microscopy facility on Scripps Florida campus

Event guide: 2nd Neuroscience Innovation Partnering & Licensing Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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