Neuroscience News and Research

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Irregular sleep patterns may trigger schizophrenia symptoms

Neuroscientists studying the link between poor sleep and schizophrenia have found that irregular sleep patterns and desynchronised brain activity during sleep could trigger some of the disease's symptoms. The findings, published in the journal Neuron, suggest that these prolonged disturbances might be a cause and not just a consequence of the disorder's debilitating effects.

15 Nov 2012

LanPercept to focus on advanced techniques for studying language and perception

LanPercept, a new Marie Curie Initial Training Network funded through the 7th EU Framework Programme, will develop cutting edge techniques to understand vision-language mapping across the life-span in typically and atypically developing populations. New tools and training software will be tested to help disabled and elderly people negotiate the translation between vision and language.

15 Nov 2012

Oscillation in brain activity influences listening process

Naturally, our brain activity waxes and wanes. When listening, this oscillation synchronizes to the sounds we are hearing. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have found that this influences the way we listen. Hearing abilities also oscillate and depend on the exact timing of one's brain rhythms. This discovery that sound, brain, and behaviour are so intimately coupled will help us to learn more about listening abilities in hearing loss.

15 Nov 2012

Princeton neuroscientists to explore how human brain accomplishes real-world tasks

Princeton neuroscientists have been awarded a $4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to explore how the human brain enables us to pursue goals and juggle priorities in an environment full of distractions.

14 Nov 2012

Research shows reduced plasticity in brains of preterm teens

New research at the University of Adelaide has demonstrated that teenagers born prematurely may suffer brain development problems that directly affect their memory and learning abilities.

14 Nov 2012

Study reveals how interneurons navigate during cerebral cortex development

As the brain develops, each neuron must find its way to precisely the right spot to weave the intricate network of links the brain needs to function. Like the wiring in a computer, a few misplaced connections can throw off functioning for an entire segment of the brain.

14 Nov 2012

Study evaluates benefits of HBO2 therapy on post-concussion symptoms in military personnel with TBI

The average incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among service members deployed in Middle East conflict zones has increased 117% in recent years, mainly due to proximity to explosive blasts. Therapeutic exposure to a high oxygen environment was hoped to minimize the concussion symptoms resulting from mild TBI, but hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) treatment may not offer significant advantages, according to an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

14 Nov 2012

MRI, EEG may predict children’s epilepsy risk after long febrile seizures

Children who have prolonged febrile seizures are at increased risk for magnetic resonance imaging observed hippocampal injury and abnormal hippocampal and temporal development, show results from the Consequences of Prolonged Febrile Seizures in Childhood study.

13 Nov 2012

Dopamine improves long-term memory

The feel-good hormone dopamine improves long-term memory. This is the finding of a team lead by Emrah D-zel, neuroscientist at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the University of Magdeburg.

9 Nov 2012

FDA accepts Merck’s suvorexant NDA for standard review

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for suvorexant, the company's investigational insomnia medicine, has been accepted for standard review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

9 Nov 2012

NYU-Poly professor selected to participate in 2012 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative conference

Polytechnic Institute of NYU (NYU-Poly) Assistant Professor of Technology Management Oded Nov has been selected to participate in the 2012 National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) conference, a prestigious think-tank-style gathering of researchers in science, engineering and medicine. Nov will join 100 colleagues for the conference, "The Informed Brain in a Digital World."

8 Nov 2012

Sensory substitution devices provide visual information to the blind via existing senses

Common wisdom has it that if the visual cortex in the brain is deprived of visual information in early infanthood, it may never develop properly its functional specialization, making sight restoration later in life almost impossible.

8 Nov 2012

Nanofiber technique to build new nerves from stem cells

Every week in his clinic at the University of Michigan, neurologist Joseph Corey, M.D., Ph.D., treats patients whose nerves are dying or shrinking due to disease or injury.

8 Nov 2012

BMI may not be best measure for estimation of cancer risk

A study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that body mass index (BMI)-the most commonly used weight-for-height formula for estimating fatness-may not be the best measure for estimating disease risk, and particularly the risk of certain types of cancer. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

8 Nov 2012

In silico drug design may lead to new approach in treatment of Alzheimer's

Researchers at Dalhousie University have discovered a new technique using "computer-aided" drug design that may lead to an entirely new approach in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

8 Nov 2012

Brain switches into special mode when pushed to make rapid decisions

Why do our brains make more mistakes when we act quickly? A new study demonstrates how the brain follows Ben Franklin's famous dictum, "Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste."

8 Nov 2012

UC Irvine researchers create new stem cell-derived cell type for treatment of Alzheimer's

UC Irvine researchers have created a new stem cell-derived cell type with unique promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

8 Nov 2012

Aspirin viable alternative to warfarin in preventing clots after joint replacement surgery

If you've had joint replacement surgery, it's likely you've been given warfarin, a common blood thinner and clot-preventer, prior to surgery. While effective, research from the Rothman Institute at Jefferson has shown aspirin to be just as effective in preventing clots, specifically pulmonary emboli, life-threatening blood clots that can develop in the arteries of the lungs following joint replacement surgery.

8 Nov 2012

Two-level cervical disc from LDR receives approvable letter from U.S. FDA

LDR, a privately held medical device company offering innovative spinal implants for both non-fusion and fusion applications, announced that it has received an Approvable Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Mobi-C® Cervical Disc (Mobi-C). Mobi-C is a metal and polyethylene mobile bearing prosthesis specifically designed as a low-profile cervical intervertebral disc replacement for both one and two level applications.

7 Nov 2012

Alpha-herpesvirus axon-to-cell spread involves limited virion transmission

New research suggests that just one or two individual herpes virus particles attack a skin cell in the first stage of an outbreak, resulting in a bottleneck in which the infection may be vulnerable to medical treatment.

7 Nov 2012