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Neurologists implant neurostimulator in brain to control seizures

It has been 30 days since neurologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham turned on the neurostimulator implanted in Sarah Conner's brain to control her seizures.

9 Sep 2014

Researchers open a kind of window into inner workings of lithium-ion battery

For the first time, researchers have been able to open a kind of window into the inner workings of a lithium-ion battery.

9 Sep 2014

New immuno-oncology drug helps body's own immune system to fend off cancer

According to an August 25 Reuters report, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve Merck & Co.'s highly anticipated immuno-oncology drug, pembrolizumab, as a treatment for melanoma well ahead of a late October deadline.

8 Sep 2014

Robotics engineers demonstrate viability of direct brain-to-brain communication in humans

In a first-of-its-kind study, an international team of neuroscientists and robotics engineers have demonstrated the viability of direct brain-to-brain communication in humans.

4 Sep 2014

Researchers examine role of blocking vagus nerve in weight loss

Among patients with morbid obesity, blocking the vagus nerve, which plays a role with appetite and metabolism, did not meet pre-specified efficacy objectives compared to a control group, although the intervention did result in greater weight loss, according to a study in the September 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Sep 2014

Study provides neural explanation for why some skills are easier to learn than others

Learning is easier when it only requires nerve cells to rearrange existing patterns of activity than when the nerve cells have to generate new patterns, a study of monkeys has found. The scientists explored the brain's capacity to learn through recordings of electrical activity of brain cell networks.

27 Aug 2014

TOBI project aims to improve quality of life for people with serious physical disabilities

People with serious physical disabilities are unable to do the everyday things that most of us take for granted despite having the will - and the brainpower - to do so. This is changing thanks to European projects such as TOBI (Tools for Brain-Computer Interaction). People with limited mobility can write emails and even regain control of paralysed limbs through thought alone.

26 Aug 2014

French Ministry of Health approves financial support for Second Sight Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System

Second Sight Medical Products Inc. today announces that the French Ministry of Health has officially approved financial support for the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Through the Forfait Innovation scheme, the French Government will pay for the first wave of groundbreaking treatment for 36 patients with severe to total sight loss due to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in France.

22 Aug 2014

Stimulating nerves in ear could improve heart health

Stimulating nerves in your ear could improve the health of your heart, researchers have discovered. A team at the University of Leeds used a standard TENS machine like those designed to relieve labour pains to apply electrical pulses to the tragus, the small raised flap at the front of the ear immediately in front of the ear canal.

20 Aug 2014

NIH-funded study explores how thalamic reticular nucleus influences consciousness

Ever wonder why it's hard to focus after a bad night's sleep? Using mice and flashes of light, scientists show that just a few nerve cells in the brain may control the switch between internal thoughts and external distractions.

16 Aug 2014

Researchers develop new way of using electricity to open blood-brain-barrier

A team of researchers from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences have developed a new way of using electricity to open the blood-brain-barrier (BBB).

13 Aug 2014

UH Case Medical Center implants new type of cochlear device in patients with hearing problem

University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the first in Cleveland to implant a new type of cochlear device for adults who have lost the high frequency range of their hearing, but have retained the low frequencies with or without a hearing aid.

7 Aug 2014

Brain responses of few individuals are remarkably strong predictor

Media and marketing experts have long sought a reliable method of forecasting responses from the general population to future products and messages. According to a study conducted at The City College of New York, it appears that the brain responses of just a few individuals are a remarkably strong predictor.

31 Jul 2014

New electrical pattern in brains predicts how well individual animals fare in stressful situations

Some people can handle stressful situations better than others, and it's not all in their genes: Even identical twins show differences in how they respond.

30 Jul 2014

Stimulating specific brain pathway may induce active emergence from anesthesia

Researchers may be one step closer to better understanding how anesthesia works. A study in the August issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists- (ASA-), found stimulating a major dopamine-producing region in the brain, the ventral tegmental area (VTA), caused rats to wake from general anesthesia, suggesting that this region plays a key role in restoring consciousness after general anesthesia.

23 Jul 2014

Automatic word processing skills are not fully developed in young readers, shows study

Teachers-in-training have long been taught that fourth grade is when students stop learning to read and start reading to learn.

22 Jul 2014

New way to protect crops from insect plagues in safe and environmentally responsible way

Using spider toxins to study the proteins that let nerve cells send out electrical signals, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have stumbled upon a biological tactic that may offer a new way to protect crops from insect plagues in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

11 Jul 2014

UCLA project receives $15M to restore lost memory functions in brain-injured people

The UCLA Program in Memory Restoration has been awarded up to $15 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for a four -year project aiming to help brain-injured people restore lost memory functions.

9 Jul 2014

Sleep deprivation can lead a healthy person to display symptoms similar to schizophrenia

Twenty-four hours of sleep deprivation can lead to conditions in healthy persons similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia. This discovery was made by an international team of researchers under the guidance of the University of Bonn and King's College London.

7 Jul 2014

Novel method to measure neuron response to transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain

Engineers and neuroscientists at Duke University have developed a method to measure the response of an individual neuron to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the brain. The advance will help researchers understand the underlying physiological effects of TMS -- a procedure used to treat psychiatric disorders -- and optimize its use as a therapeutic treatment.

30 Jun 2014