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.

PTSD linked with onset of cognitive impairment in 911 World Trade Center responders

Cognitive impairment with the potential for early-onset dementia in 911 World Trade Center responders is continuing to be investigated by researchers monitoring the health of thousands of responders.

10 Sep 2019

New oral splint can reduce tics in children and adults with Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by vocal and motor tics, which can contribute to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

10 Sep 2019

Kessler Foundation scientists awarded NIH grant to study effects of post stroke robotic intervention

Karen Nolan, PhD, senior research scientist, and Soha Saleh, PhD, research scientist, in the Center for Mobility and Rehabilitation Engineering Research at Kessler Foundation, were awarded a $3,547,908 R01 grant by the National Institutes of Health.

10 Sep 2019

UH associate professor awarded NIH grant to test new treatment for epilepsy patients

University of Houston associate professor of biomedical engineering Nuri Ince, who pioneered a dramatic decrease in the time it takes to detect the seizure onset zone in the brain, has been awarded $2.3 million by the National Institutes of Health to expand his testing in a large number of adult and pediatric epilepsy cases.

10 Sep 2019

Salk researchers develop method to reveal epigenetic features of brain cells

The brain's prefrontal cortex, which gives us our ability to solve problems and plan ahead, contains billions of cells. But understanding the large diversity of cell types in this critical region, each with unique genetic and molecular properties, has been challenging.

10 Sep 2019

Study sheds light on how 'flight-or-flight' response impairs long-term health

Research from the lab of Mark Alkema, PhD, professor of neurobiology, sheds light on how the "flight-or-flight" response impairs long-term organism health.

10 Sep 2019

Fatty food changes the brain to affect homeostasis and metabolism

While we all know that eating fatty food pushes up our body weight, a new study now shows it also affects the way the brain keeps track of and corrects all metabolic irregularities in the body. Soon after tucking into a high-fat, high-carb meal – as soon as three days later – the hypothalamus shows inflammation.

10 Sep 2019

Brain networks develop differently in boys and girls at puberty, research shows

Scientists have found that brain networks develop differently in males and females at puberty, with boys showing an increase in connectivity in certain brain areas, and girls showing a decrease in connectivity as puberty progresses.

9 Sep 2019

Researchers investigate how to prevent the onset of schizophrenia using mouse model

Although predisposing processes occur earlier, schizophrenia breaks out at young adulthood, suggesting it might involve a pathological transition during late brain development in predisposed individuals.

9 Sep 2019

Neuroscientists discover how brain rhythms organize our visual perception

To investigate how information of different visual features is processed in the brain, the neuroscientists from the German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute of Primate Research in Göttingen, Germany, the Iran University of Science and Technology and the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences in Tehran, Iran measured the activity of individual nerve cells in the brain of rhesus monkeys, while the animals performed a visual perception task.

9 Sep 2019

Reports that vegetarians and vegans at higher risk for stroke are misleading

Meat does not offer any protection against stroke, says Neal Barnard, MD, nutrition researcher and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine--a national health nonprofit with more than 12,000 doctor members.

9 Sep 2019

Hemophilia much more prevalent than previously thought

More than 1,125,000 men around the world have the inherited bleeding disorder of hemophilia, and 418,000 of those have a severe version of the mostly undiagnosed disease, says a new study led by McMaster University researchers.

9 Sep 2019

Maternal anxiety increases child's risk for ADHD

A large study has shown that children of mothers who are anxious during pregnancy and in the first few years of the child's life have twice the risk of having hyperactivity symptoms at age 16. This work is being presented for the first time at the ECNP Congress in Copenhagen.

9 Sep 2019

Schizophrenia and brain noise filtering

The sheer abundance of noise that surrounds us makes it necessary for the brain to filter out selective components so that we can focus on what we need or want to hear. This is called filtering. When we hear two sounds that are exactly the same, the brain filters out the second sound by simply reducing the amount of nerve circuits that participate in its reception.

9 Sep 2019

Study offers hope for people suffering from chronic pain

When you experience severe pain, like breaking or shattering a bone, the pain isn't just felt at the sight of the injury.

9 Sep 2019

High-fat diets contribute to irregularities in hypothalamus region of the brain

Much research has pointed to how an unhealthy diet correlates to obesity, but has not explored how diet can bring about neurological changes in the brain.

9 Sep 2019

First potential biomarker identified for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome

New research from The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences strongly suggests postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, is an autoimmune disorder and may help pave the way for a simple blood test that could help physicians diagnose the condition.

9 Sep 2019

Children of anxious mothers have double the risk of hyperactivity in adolescence

A large study has shown that children of mothers who are anxious during pregnancy and in the first few years of the child's life have twice the risk of having hyperactivity symptoms at age 16.

9 Sep 2019

Eradicating malaria by 2050 would be 'an achievement of historic proportions', say experts

According to a major report by 41 leading scientists, health-policy experts and economists, the world could be free of malaria by 2050.

9 Sep 2019

Treating high blood pressure may slow cognitive decline

High blood pressure appears to accelerate cognitive decline among middle-aged and older adults, but treating high blood pressure may slow this down, according to a preliminary study presented by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public at the American Heart Association's Hypertension 2019 Scientific Sessions.

9 Sep 2019