Neuroscience News and Research

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HOXA1 is a gene that's been looking for a disorder for a long time

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, who specialize in studying the genetics of rare eye-movement disorders, have found a rare genetic syndrome whose implications go far beyond the eye, raising intriguing questions about human cardiovascular and brain development.

12 Sep 2005

New tool to measure coma depth

Mayo Clinic neurologists have created the first new, reliable and easy-to-use clinical tool in 30 years for measuring coma depth, a proposed replacement for the Glasgow Coma Scale. The new scoring system, called the FOUR (Full Outline of UnResponsiveness) Score, will be described in the October issue of Annals of Neurology.

10 Sep 2005

Sugar-coated markers of brain cell development may help success of stem cell transplants

Four sugar-coated faces made by stem cells as they differentiate into brain cells during development have been identified by scientists.

10 Sep 2005

Researchers discover discrete region of the monkey brain that processes pitch

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a discrete region of the monkey brain that processes pitch, the relative high and low points of sound, by recognizing a single musical note played by different instruments.

7 Sep 2005

Release of the neurotransmitter GABA halts stem cell production in the brain

Release of the neurotransmitter GABA by adult neuronal precursor cells that develop into neurons limits stem cell proliferation, according to a study at Yale School of Medicine in the September issue of Nature Neuroscience.

1 Sep 2005

Researchers link individual preferences to neuronal activity in brain

Life is full of choices. But how do individuals know what their preferences are and how do they act on them? And what leads mothers to make choices that benefit or lead to neglect of her offspring? Based on research performed using laboratory rats, a team of neuroscience researchers at Rutgers University-Newark suggest that an intricate system exists within the brain for establishing individual preferences, which ultimately impacts choices.

1 Sep 2005

Stress leads to drugs, leads to more stress and more drugs - part of a vicious cycle

According to a new Australian study, opiate drugs such as morphine have been found to leave animals more vulnerable to stress, and this could mean stress and opiates are caught in a vicious cycle.

1 Sep 2005

Unique Internet test to test genetic disposition to depression

The team, based at the Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit (NPU), in the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, has set up a website (www.newmood.co.uk) where would-be volunteers can see how prone they may be to depression by identifying the emotions on people's faces and taking a gambling test.

From The University of Manchester 30 Aug 2005

Opiate drugs such as morphine leave animals more vulnerable to stress

A new study has found that opiate drugs such as morphine leave animals more vulnerable to stress. This means that stress and opiates are in a vicious cycle: Not only does stress trigger drug use, but in return the drug leaves animals more vulnerable to stress.

30 Aug 2005

Daydreaming linked to Alzheimer's disease

According to new research, Alzheimer's disease may be due to abnormalities in the regions of the brain that operate the "default state", a term used to describe the cognitive state people defer to when musing, daydreaming, or thinking to themselves.

30 Aug 2005

Study shows humans have ability to track odors

Though humans may never match the tracking ability of dogs, we apparently have the ability to sniff out and locate odors, according to a new study by scientists from the University of California, Berkeley.

29 Aug 2005

Subtle effects of hearing loss on memory and cognitive function in older adults

In a new study, Brandeis University researchers conclude that older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss may expend so much cognitive energy on hearing accurately that their ability to remember spoken language suffers as a result.

29 Aug 2005

Study reveals functional link between emotion processing centers in the brain and certain physiological processes relevant to disease

The mere mention of a stressful word like "wheeze" can activate two brain regions in asthmatics during an attack, and this brain activity may be associated with more severe asthma symptoms, according to a study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and collaborators.

29 Aug 2005

Protein snapin has potential as a drug target in therapies aimed at learning and memory disorders

Rutgers' Bonnie Firestein likens nerve cells to trees -- some are short and bushy with many branches while others are tall with a few branches coming out of one or two main trunks. Different branching patterns correlate with specific disorders and Firestein's quest is to discover how these dissimilar patterns come about and why.

25 Aug 2005

Parts of the brain used in daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have Alzheimer's disease

Researchers who used five different medical imaging techniques to study the brain activity of 764 people, including those with Alzheimer's disease, those on the brink of dementia, and healthy individuals, have found that the areas of the brain that young, healthy people use when daydreaming are the same areas that fail in people who have Alzheimer's disease.

25 Aug 2005