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Electroconvulsive therapy releases opiate-like substances

Researchers used electricity on certain regions in the brain of a patient with chronic, severe facial pain to release an opiate-like substance that's considered one of the body's most powerful painkillers.

3 Jan 2013

Computer simulation can predict risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death

A computer model of the heart wall predicted risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death in patients, paving the way for the use of more complex cardiac models to calculate the consequences of genetic, lifestyle and other changes to the heart.

14 Dec 2012

Dendritic spines respond to and process synaptic inputs both chemically and electrically

It's the least understood organ in the human body: the brain, a massive network of electrically excitable neurons, all communicating with one another via receptors on their tree-like dendrites. Somehow these cells work together to enable great feats of human learning and memory. But how?

6 Dec 2012

Nerve stimulation improves hand use in spinal cord injury patients

A method combining transcranial magnetic stimulation with electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves in the wrist temporarily improves hand use in spinal cord injury patients, show research findings published in Current Biology.

5 Dec 2012

AliveCor receives FDA clearance on its mobile heart monitor

AliveCor, Inc. announced today at the start of the 4th annual mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C. that the company received FDA 510(k) clearance on its mobile Heart Monitor as well as CE Mark conformity. This clinical-quality, low-cost mobile ECG heart monitor, compatible with the iPhone® 4 and 4S, enables doctors to evaluate patient heart health easily, quickly and remotely.

3 Dec 2012

New laser surgical technique appears to be safe and effective in treating epilepsy

A developing new laser surgical technique for epilepsy appears to be safe and effective and reduces hospital stays to one or two days, according to two research reports presented today during the American Epilepsy Society 66th Annual Meting at the San Diego Convention Center.

3 Dec 2012

Long-term hippocampal DBS effectively reduces seizures in experimental models

The results of the first reported study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in an animal model for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) presented today at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 66th Annual Meeting suggests that DBS may have potential as therapy for this common and often difficult to treat form of epilepsy.

2 Dec 2012

Deficiencies in sensory information processing can explain complex symptoms of schizophrenia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System have found that deficiencies in the neural processing of simple auditory tones can evolve into a cascade of dysfunctional information processing across wide swaths of the brain in patients with schizophrenia.

30 Nov 2012

FDA clears NeuroMetrix’s SENSUS Pain Management System

NeuroMetrix, Inc., a medical device company focused on the diagnosis and treatment of the neurological complications of diabetes, reported that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the disposable electrode that is used in conjunction with its SENSUS device.

30 Nov 2012

Scientists discover synchronous brain activity between two guitarists

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin have shown that synchronization emerges between brains when making music together, and even when musicians play different voices. In a study published November 29th in Frontiers in Neuroscience, Johanna S-nger and her team used electrodes to record the brain waves of guitarists while they played different voices of the same duet.

29 Nov 2012

Chalmers researcher develops world's first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts

The world's first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts is being developed by Chalmers researcher Max Ortiz Catalan. The first operations on patients will take place this winter.

28 Nov 2012

Retinal reader helps blind to ‘see’ words

An implanted retinal prosthesis, consisting of an array of electrodes linked up to a video camera and wearable computer, allows blind patients to successfully “read” two-to-four letter braille words.

27 Nov 2012

UPC teams conduct research in biomedical engineering to improve people's health

Systems to improve patient rehabilitation, methods that help detect diseases, and smart biomaterials for optimising treatments—scientific advances in the field of biomedical engineering are unstoppable. A number of leading UPC teams are carrying out research aimed at harnessing technology to improve people's health.

23 Nov 2012

Researchers stream braille patterns directly into a blind patient's retina

For the very first time researchers have streamed braille patterns directly into a blind patient's retina, allowing him to read four-letter words accurately and quickly with an ocular neuroprosthetic device.

22 Nov 2012

Max Planck Institute develops neural event-triggered functional magnetic resonance imaging

While in deep dreamless sleep, our hippocampus sends messages to our cortex and changes its plasticity, possibly transferring recently acquired knowledge to long-term memory. But how exactly is this done? Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics have now developed a novel multimodal methodology called "neural event-triggered functional magnetic resonance imaging" (NET-fMRI) and presented the very first results obtained using it in experiments with both anesthetized and awake, behaving monkeys.

22 Nov 2012

ReFIT algorithm improves speed and accuracy of neural prosthetics

When a paralyzed person imagines moving a limb, cells in the part of the brain that controls movement still activate as if trying to make the immobile limb work again. Despite neurological injury or disease that has severed the pathway between brain and muscle, the region where the signals originate remains intact and functional.

19 Nov 2012

Novel electrotherapy reduces energy needed to re-establish normal rhythm in the heart

Implantable defibrillators currently on the market apply between 600 and 900 volts to the heart, almost 10 times the voltage from an electric outlet, says Ajit H. Janardhan, MD, PhD, a cardiac electrophysiology fellow at the Washington University's School of Medicine.

13 Nov 2012

Researchers simulate activity of cultured neural networks

After a short period of growth, cultured networks of neurons regularly exhibit major activity in the absence of external stimulation. These "bursts" are entirely related to growth. At this stage, they have little to do with learning behaviour, as the network is still too young to sustain a process of memory formation. This has now for the first time been simulated for networks ranging in size from 10,000 to 50,000 neurons. The simulations provide insight into the role of the growth process in initial activity.

8 Nov 2012

Aerobic exercise may offer new treatment option for ADHD

Research suggests that moderate aerobic exercise may offer a new treatment option for children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

1 Nov 2012

Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes among postmenopausal women

Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes and associated symptoms among postmenopausal women, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Baylor University's Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.