Brain News and Research

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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.

Scientists identify a brain structure important for decision making

Our minds can help us make decisions by contemplating the future and predicting the consequences of our actions.

5 Nov 2020

Researchers explore how different birth experience affect the developing nervous system

It is an experience we all share, as miraculous as it is mysterious. Birth. Today, roughly one in three births in the United States occurs via cesarean section or C-section.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists study the multiscale spatial organization of the brain

The architecture of the brain supports cognitive and behavioral functions and it is extremely complex with connections at multiple layers that interact with each other.

5 Nov 2020

Scientists pin down a brain area crucial for predicting the consequences of choices

Predicting the outcomes of actions in order to make good decisions is a critical role of brain function. This process is thought to work through two fundamentally different mechanisms called "model-free" and "model-based" learning.

4 Nov 2020

App-delivered computerized brain-training helps prevent alcohol relapse

A recent study has shown that it may be possible to dampen the workings of the subconscious brain to prevent alcohol relapse, the results leading to a world-first trial of a personalised smartphone app called "SWiPE".

4 Nov 2020

Chikungunya can infect central nervous system and impair cognitive, motor functions

A study conducted by an international team of researchers with FAPESP's support shows that infection by chikungunya virus can produce even more severe manifestations than the typical symptoms of the disease, such as acute fever, headache, rash, and intense joint and muscle pain.

4 Nov 2020

Cesarean delivery’s effects on birth hormones may lead to neurodevelopmental consequences

Cesarean section delivery and vaginal delivery lead to different hormonal exposures that may affect a newborn's development, according to an article published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.

4 Nov 2020

Delirium accompanied by fever could be an early symptom of COVID-19

Delirium accompanied by fever could bean early symptom of COVID-19. This is the main conclusion drawn by a scientific research review carried out by researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

4 Nov 2020

Study identifies structural, functional brain differences in people with occupational blast exposure

Military and law enforcement personnel with extensive occupational blast exposure had statistically significant differences in brain imaging measures compared to nonexposed control personnel.

3 Nov 2020

Swelling may be important for protecting the brain after injury, study reveals

Following a brain-injuring bump or blow to the head, brain cells and blood vessels typically swell. This can lead to a potentially life-threatening increase in pressure inside the skull, and managing swelling is critical for patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).

3 Nov 2020

Beta-blockers could be used to treat COVID-19, study finds

Beta-blockers could potentially be used to treat COVID-19, according to a new international study by Italian and Australian scientists.

3 Nov 2020

Blood vessel malformations originate in vein cells

In the condition known as cavernoma, lesions arise in a cluster of blood vessels in the brain, spinal cord or retina. Researchers from Uppsala University can now show, at molecular level, that these changes originate in vein cells.

3 Nov 2020

New treatment method could be more effective for Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease, a protein (peptide) forms clumps in the brain and causes sufferers to lose their memory. In a recently published article, a research group at Uppsala University described a new treatment method that increases the body's own degradation of the building blocks that lead to these protein clumps.

3 Nov 2020