Neuroscience News and Research

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CUMC researchers clarify three fundamental issues about Alzheimer's disease

Using high-resolution functional MRI imaging in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in mouse models of the disease, Columbia University Medical Center researchers have clarified three fundamental issues about Alzheimer's: where it starts, why it starts there, and how it spreads. In addition to advancing understanding of Alzheimer's, the findings could improve early detection of the disease, when drugs may be most effective.

22 Dec 2013

Neuroscience researchers discover gene that controls response to cocaine

UT Southwestern neuroscience researchers have identified a gene that controls the response to cocaine by comparing closely related strains of mice often used to study addiction and behavior patterns.

22 Dec 2013

Study explains why suicide is stigmatized

Suicide is a major public health issue; it takes the lives of more than a million people each year. It is also widely believed to be immoral. Why do people so commonly believe it is wrong for people to take their own lives?

20 Dec 2013

Periodic meetings with lactation consultant improves chances of breastfeeding

In two separate clinical trials, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that periodic meetings with a lactation consultant encourages women traditionally resistant to breastfeeding to do so, at least for a few months—long enough for mother and child to gain health benefits.

20 Dec 2013

Coupling meditation-like practices with drug and behavior therapies more helpful in tackling addiction

Using a computational model of addiction, a literature review and an in silico experiment, theoretical computer scientist Yariv Levy and colleagues suggest in a new paper this week that rehabilitation strategies coupling meditation-like practices with drug and behavior therapies are more helpful than drug-plus-talk therapy alone when helping people overcome addiction.

20 Dec 2013

Parkinson's disease patients may find difficulties in recognizing emotions

Patients affected by Parkinson's disease may experience, in addition to the more obvious motor symptoms (such as tremors and stiffness), difficulties recognizing emotions in the facial expressions and speech prosody (intonation) of other people. A number of investigations have shown that even deep brain stimulation, a treatment that has become widely used in recent years, may cause similar disorders.

20 Dec 2013

USC's Keck Medicine becomes world's first center to implant responsive brain device to treat epilepsy

On Dec. 18, Keck Medicine of USC became the world's first medical center to implant a responsive brain device newly approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat epilepsy, with potential to help millions of people worldwide.

20 Dec 2013

Study investigates about emotions that affects patients with Parkinson's disease

Is it the disease itself or the treatment that impairs the perception of emotions? A study conducted with the collaboration of the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste investigates the origins of the difficulty recognizing certain emotions that affects patients with Parkinson's disease.

19 Dec 2013

Randomized control trials to study clinical effectiveness of high dose flu vaccine in nursing homes

One of the highest risk groups for developing pneumonia or even dying from the flu is the elderly, especially in group settings such as nursing homes.

19 Dec 2013

New program to help older adults live healthier, more independent lives

University Hospitals (UH) Bedford Medical Center, a campus of UH Regional Hospitals, has launched a new program to help older adults live healthier, more independent lives.

19 Dec 2013

Deep brain stimulation may have beneficial effect on driving ability for Parkinson's disease patients

Deep brain stimulation may have a beneficial effect on driving ability for people with Parkinson's disease, according to a new study published in the December 18, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Deep brain stimulation uses a surgical implant similar to a pacemaker to send electrical impulses to the brain.

19 Dec 2013

People with intermittent explosive disorder elevate levels of markers of systemic inflammation in blood

People with intermittent explosive disorder — a psychiatric illness characterized by impulsivity, hostility and recurrent aggressive outbursts — have elevated levels of two markers of systemic inflammation in their blood, according to a study involving nearly 200 subjects.

19 Dec 2013

With no place to puff, smokers are more likely to cut back or quit, say researchers

Completely banning tobacco use inside the home - or more broadly in the whole city - measurably boosts the odds of smokers either cutting back or quitting entirely, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the current online issue of Preventive Medicine.

18 Dec 2013

Studies suggest that stress-related disorders may be associated with hippocampal volume loss

Depression has been associated with reduced volume of the hippocampus in magnetic resonance imaging studies in humans. A new study just published in Biological Psychiatry now clarifies the cellular basis of these volumetric changes, which have been unclear until now.

18 Dec 2013

Researchers identify new technique to reduce postoperative pain in children

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18 Dec 2013

DCC gene involved in adolescent brain development may play a role in mental health vulnerability

As many parents of mentally ill adults will confirm anecdotally, the first symptoms of "something not quite right" with their children begin to appear during the teen years. It is known that during this teenaged phase of brain development, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, depression and drug addiction.

17 Dec 2013

Researchers hope for a pharmacological solution to treat cocaine addiction

Imagine kicking a cocaine addiction by simply popping a pill that alters the way your brain processes chemical addiction. New research from the University of Pittsburgh suggests that a method of biologically manipulating certain neurocircuits could lead to a pharmacological approach that would weaken post-withdrawal cocaine cravings. The findings have been published in Nature Neuroscience.

17 Dec 2013

Moderate drinking may bolster our immune system and help fight off infection: Study

Medical science has known for years that people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol actually have a reduced risk of death. In general, they are healthier and have better cardiovascular function that those who don't drink alcohol at all.

17 Dec 2013

New regulation for cancer-causing protein may help develop targeted therapies

Researchers with the Cincinnati Cancer Center (CCC) and the University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute have discovered a new regulation for the cancer-causing protein KRas which may help with the development of targeted therapies for patients with a KRas mutation.

17 Dec 2013

U-M researchers report novel approach for treating tinnitus in humans

For tens of millions of Americans, there's no such thing as the sound of silence. Instead, even in a quiet room, they hear a constant ringing, buzzing, hissing, humming or other noise in their ears that isn't real. Called tinnitus, it can be debilitating and life-altering.

17 Dec 2013

Neuroscience News and Research

CUMC researchers clarify three fundamental issues about Alzheimer's disease

Neuroscience researchers discover gene that controls response to cocaine

Study explains why suicide is stigmatized

Periodic meetings with lactation consultant improves chances of breastfeeding

Coupling meditation-like practices with drug and behavior therapies more helpful in tackling addiction

Parkinson's disease patients may find difficulties in recognizing emotions

USC's Keck Medicine becomes world's first center to implant responsive brain device to treat epilepsy

Study investigates about emotions that affects patients with Parkinson's disease

Randomized control trials to study clinical effectiveness of high dose flu vaccine in nursing homes

New program to help older adults live healthier, more independent lives

Deep brain stimulation may have beneficial effect on driving ability for Parkinson's disease patients

People with intermittent explosive disorder elevate levels of markers of systemic inflammation in blood

With no place to puff, smokers are more likely to cut back or quit, say researchers

Studies suggest that stress-related disorders may be associated with hippocampal volume loss

Researchers identify new technique to reduce postoperative pain in children

DCC gene involved in adolescent brain development may play a role in mental health vulnerability

Researchers hope for a pharmacological solution to treat cocaine addiction

Moderate drinking may bolster our immune system and help fight off infection: Study

New regulation for cancer-causing protein may help develop targeted therapies

U-M researchers report novel approach for treating tinnitus in humans

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