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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Research on mysterious gene may lead to new treatments for Parkinson’s disease

More than 20 years after the discovery of the parkin gene linked to young-onset Parkinson's disease, researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa may have finally figured out how this mysterious gene protects the brain.

8 Apr 2021

Addiction experts seek to understand why people engage in 'extreme' drinking

It's a health crisis often hidden in plain sight. While binge drinking behaviors -- drinking alcohol to a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08% or higher -- have been studied before, relatively little research has focused on people's behaviors and the consequences surrounding "extreme" drinking, or drinking alcohol to a blood alcohol concentration level of more than 0.16%.

7 Apr 2021

Memory and executive function symptoms are valuable for predicting CTE pathology, suggests study

Diagnosing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) during life is crucial for developing therapies and for determining how common the disease is among individuals exposed to repetitive head impacts from contact sports, military service and physical violence.

7 Apr 2021

Mouse model provides new understanding about Folling Disease

In Norway, all newborn children are tested for 25 rare genetic diseases through the Newborn Screening program, and the most common of these is phenylketonuria (abbreviated to PKU), known as Folling Disease.

7 Apr 2021

$15.7 million NIMH grant to renew UC Davis Conte Center studying the origins of mental illness

Discovering how infections during pregnancy, such as COVID-19 and influenza, can lead to psychiatric illness and developmental disorders in offspring years later, and how to detect, prevent or treat these disorders, is the subject of a $15.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to the Conte Center at the University of California, Davis.

7 Apr 2021

Finding ways to reverse a genetic cause of poor stress responses in mice

Everyone faces stress occasionally, whether in school, at work, or during a global pandemic. However, some cannot cope as well as others.

7 Apr 2021

USF wins $44.4 million NIH grant to test whether computerized brain training can prevent dementia

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of South Florida total expected funds of $44.4 million over the next five years to study whether computerized brain training exercises can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementias like Alzheimer's disease, in older adults.

7 Apr 2021

Study: Disparities persist in prescribing comfort care for ischemic stroke patients

Receiving palliative or hospice care services was found to improve quality of life for hospitalized ischemic stroke patients, however, disparities persist in which patients are prescribed or have access to these holistic comfort care options, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

7 Apr 2021

Study indicates an amyloid link between melanoma and Parkinson’s disease

On the surface, Parkinson's disease - a neurodegenerative disorder - and melanoma - a type of skin cancer - do not appear to have much in common.

7 Apr 2021

Dramatic cuts to UK foreign aid budgets undermine global research partnerships

Dramatic cuts to UK foreign aid budgets have left the future of hundreds of research projects in developing countries hanging in the balance and trusted partnerships severely undermined, say leading scientists.

7 Apr 2021

Computer-based approach helps diagnose neurological disorders based on motor impairment

The way we move says a lot about the state of our brain. While normal motor behavior points to a healthy brain function, deviations can indicate impairments owing to neurological diseases.

7 Apr 2021

Study reveals sex-differences in aging of the brain stem cell niche

Ageing and age-related brain disease do not affect women and men in the same way. The adult brain constantly generates new brain cells called neurons from stem cells, a process called neurogenesis.

7 Apr 2021

Neurotechnology combined with saliva testing improves accuracy in measuring psychoactive effects of cannabis

A new study, released today in the scientific journal Advances in Therapy is providing critical evidence that neurotechnology combined with saliva testing can drastically reduce the likelihood of falsely determining cannabis impairment due to THC residual detection.

7 Apr 2021

Documentary chronicles a 10-year quest to simulate the entire human brain

With major funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the film IN SILICO is bringing the opportunities and challenges of "big data" neuroscience to virtual screens across North America on April 30th.

7 Apr 2021

Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder have accelerated cellular aging

Cells from individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) were found to have higher than expected rates of methylation at specific sites on their DNA, when compared to cells from healthy individuals without MDD, according to a study by a multidisciplinary team of UC San Francisco scientists, in collaboration with others.

7 Apr 2021

Study shows how leptin suppresses appetite

Since the discovery of leptin in the 1990s, researchers have wondered, how does leptin, a hormone made by body fat, suppress appetite? Despite tremendous gains in the intervening three decades, many questions still remain.

7 Apr 2021

COVID-19 infection linked to neurological and mental health conditions

One in three COVID-19 survivors received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, an observational study of more than 230,000 patient health records published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal estimates. The study looked at 14 neurological and mental health disorders.

7 Apr 2021

Late-week surgery, discharge to specialty care related to higher costs and longer hospital stay after elective spine surgery

New research by a team from the Cleveland Clinic and the London School of Economics and Political Science has determined that surgeries performed late in the workweek, and those culminating in discharge to a specialty care facility, are associated with higher costs and unnecessarily longer stays in the hospital following a common elective spine surgery.

7 Apr 2021

Researchers determine key protein structure that may lead to effective treatments for schizophrenia

Glycine is the smallest amino acid - one of the building blocks of proteins. It acts also as a neurotransmitter in the brain, enabling neurons to communicate with each other and modulating neuronal activity.

7 Apr 2021

UNC scientists identify a molecule as powerful controller of brain maturation in mammals

A team led by scientists at the UNC School of Medicine identified a molecule called microRNA-29 as a powerful controller of brain maturation in mammals. Deleting microRNA-29 in mice caused problems very similar to those seen in autism, epilepsy, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

7 Apr 2021

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Research on mysterious gene may lead to new treatments for Parkinson’s disease

Addiction experts seek to understand why people engage in 'extreme' drinking

Memory and executive function symptoms are valuable for predicting CTE pathology, suggests study

Mouse model provides new understanding about Folling Disease

$15.7 million NIMH grant to renew UC Davis Conte Center studying the origins of mental illness

Finding ways to reverse a genetic cause of poor stress responses in mice

USF wins $44.4 million NIH grant to test whether computerized brain training can prevent dementia

Study: Disparities persist in prescribing comfort care for ischemic stroke patients

Study indicates an amyloid link between melanoma and Parkinson’s disease

Dramatic cuts to UK foreign aid budgets undermine global research partnerships

Computer-based approach helps diagnose neurological disorders based on motor impairment

Study reveals sex-differences in aging of the brain stem cell niche

Neurotechnology combined with saliva testing improves accuracy in measuring psychoactive effects of cannabis

Documentary chronicles a 10-year quest to simulate the entire human brain

Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder have accelerated cellular aging

Study shows how leptin suppresses appetite

COVID-19 infection linked to neurological and mental health conditions

Late-week surgery, discharge to specialty care related to higher costs and longer hospital stay after elective spine surgery

Researchers determine key protein structure that may lead to effective treatments for schizophrenia

UNC scientists identify a molecule as powerful controller of brain maturation in mammals

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st Edition) eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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