Neuroscience News and Research

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New measurement technologies provide scientists more complete look at neurological activity

In 1991, Carl Lewis was both the fastest man on earth and a profound long jumper, perhaps the greatest track-and-field star of all time in the prime of his career. On June 14th of that year, however, Carl Lewis was human. Leroy Burrell blazed through the 100-meters, besting him by a razor-thin margin of three-hundredths of a second. In the time it takes the shutter to capture a single frame of video, Lewis's three-year-old world record was gone.

12 Aug 2011

AANEM awards accreditation status to four UH Neuromuscular Center EMG labs

The American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) has awarded accreditation status to four electromyography (EMG) laboratories affiliated with the University Hospitals (UH) Neuromuscular Center in Northeast Ohio.

12 Aug 2011

Link between brain shrinkage, memory loss in Alzheimer's changes across age spectrum

A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum.

11 Aug 2011

Conference to explore new discoveries about origins, diagnosis and treatment of tinnitus

University at Buffalo research showing that a new drug that eliminated tinnitus with a single dose in animal models is among the advances that will be presented at the Fifth Tinnitus Research Initiative Conference, "The Neuroscience of Tinnitus," sponsored by UB's Center for Hearing and Deafness Aug. 19-21 in Grand Island, N.Y.

11 Aug 2011

Neurologist care may improve quality of life for people with Parkinson's

People with Parkinson's disease who go to a neurologist for their care are more likely to live longer, less likely to be placed in a nursing home and less likely to break a hip than people who go to a primary care physician, according to a study published in the August 10, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Aug 2011

Music therapy for cancer: Relieves anxiety and pain

According to a new analysis of previously published research singing, playing an instrument or even just listening to music may lessen anxiety in cancer patients and improve their overall quality of life.

11 Aug 2011

Researchers helps explain how the adult brain cleans out dead brain cells and produces new ones

Adult brains generate thousands of new brain cells called neurons each day; however only a small fraction of them survive. The rest die and are consumed by scavenger cells called phagocytes. Until now, scientists have not fully understood how this process works, which phagocytes are unique in the brain, and how the removal of dead neurons influences the production of new neurons.

10 Aug 2011

Nesfatin-1 protein may help reduce body weight and blood sugar

A newly-identified protein may hold the key to keeping appetite and blood sugar in check, according to a study by York University researchers.

10 Aug 2011

Scientist determines how nyctalopin gene makes night vision possible

A scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has determined how a particular gene makes night vision possible. The study, which was published in the August 10, 2011 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, focuses on a gene called nyctalopin. Mutations in the gene result in inherited "night blindness," a loss of vision in low-light environments.

10 Aug 2011

New technique can help scientists rapidly map myelination

Like explorers mapping a new planet, scientists probing the brain need every type of landmark they can get. Each mountain, river or forest helps scientists find their way through the intricacies of the human brain.

10 Aug 2011

First bioengineered anal sphincter for treatment of fecal and urinary incontinence

Researchers have built the first functional anal sphincters in the laboratory, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle and nerve cells, the sphincters developed a blood supply and maintained function when implanted in mice.

10 Aug 2011

Moderate exercise may help prevent cognitive decline after bacterial infection

A small amount of exercise shields older animals from memory loss following a bacterial infection, according to a study in the August 10 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

10 Aug 2011

NanoString launches nCounter Rat miRNA Expression Assay Kit

NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held provider of life science tools for translational research and developer of molecular diagnostics, today announced the availability of the nCounter Rat miRNA Expression Assay Kit for use on its nCounter Analysis System.

From NanoString Technologies 9 Aug 2011

Group Health study finds higher dementia risk with atrial fibrillation

The most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, is associated with a greater risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This discovery by scientists at Group Health Research Institute and their collaborators was published online in advance of print on August 1 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

8 Aug 2011

Schizophrenia not always inherited – Genetic links found

Researchers have found that more than half the cases of non-hereditary or sporadic schizophrenia are caused by “new” protein-altering gene mutations. These mutations are new genetic errors that appear in patients but not in either of their parents, the researchers explained in the report published in the Aug. 7 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

8 Aug 2011

Anisotropic encoding of three-dimensional space by place and grid cells

Animal's brains are only roughly aware of how high-up they are in space, meaning that in terms of altitude the brain's 'map' of space is surprisingly flat, according to new research.

8 Aug 2011

De novo mutations account for 50% of sporadic cases of schizophrenia

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have shown that new, or "de novo," protein-altering mutations—genetic errors that are present in patients but not in their parents—play a role in more than 50 percent of "sporadic" —i.e., not hereditary—cases of schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2011

Human brain cells created from skin cells: Potential for Alzheimer’s

This feat comes a year after researchers at Stanford University performed the same feat in mice, turning cells from the rodents' skin into neurons. The lab-created brain cells act the same as normal human brain cells, the researchers found. These cells have the same ability to send electric signals; they seem to express the same genes in the same ways; and they are able to communicate with other brain cells, as demonstrated in a lab dish and when implanted into mice.

5 Aug 2011

Scientists identify reasons behind why we are unable to recognise faces

The research, led by Dr Clea Warburton and Dr Gareth Barker in the University's School of Physiology and Pharmacology and published in the Journal of Neuroscience, has investigated why we can recognise faces much better if we have extra clues as to where or indeed when we encountered them in the first place.

5 Aug 2011

AAA journal secures number 1 rank in science education category

What began as a gleam in the eye of now co-editor Rick Drake and colleagues at the anatomy chairs' meeting in 2006, launched in 2008, and is now the highest ranking journal in science education? If you said Anatomical Sciences Education (ASE), you would be absolutely correct!

5 Aug 2011