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.

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting to highlight innovations in medicine, physics, and more

Honeybee silk-inspired materials; a deconstruction of the Ebola virus; how microbes evolve resistance to antibiotics; and a possible connection between Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes are just some of the intriguing topics that will be presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS).

22 Jan 2013

Older adults with hearing loss more likely to develop thinking and remembering problems

Older adults with hearing loss are more likely to develop problems thinking and remembering than older adults whose hearing is normal, according to a new study by hearing experts at Johns Hopkins.

22 Jan 2013

Study finds high ADHD diagnosis rates among non-Hispanic children between 2001 and 2010

The rate of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder rose dramatically between 2001 and 2010 with non-Hispanic white children having the highest diagnosis rates, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics (formerly Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine).

22 Jan 2013

Management of hospital-onset seizures lacks standards

Seizures in patients admitted to hospital for nonseizure reasons – hospital-onset seizures – largely affect those without any history of seizures, often recur, and are linked to a high mortality, according to a study in JAMA Neurology.

21 Jan 2013

Itch-specific nerve cells: an interview with Associate Professor Xinzhong Dong

Itch was actually defined by a German physician more than 350 years ago. His name was Samuel Hafenreffer. He defined itch as an unpleasant sensation that makes people want to scratch. You probably think this is a very simple definition but itch is really a very complex sensory modality.

21 Jan 2013

Scientists identify a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes.

21 Jan 2013

Researchers identify and test first blood-based circulating miRNA biomarkers for Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. At present, it is usually diagnosed only when motor features are present. Hence, there is a need to develop objective and measurable biomarkers to improve PD diagnostics during its earlier stage, prior to its motor onset. In this pilot study, researchers identified and tested the first blood-based circulating microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for PD.

21 Jan 2013

Low blood flow to the premature brain disrupts cells' ability to fully mature

Physician-scientists at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital are challenging the way pediatric neurologists think about brain injury in the pre-term infant. In a study published online in the Jan. 16 issue of Science Translational Medicine, the OHSU Doernbecher researchers report for the first time that low blood and oxygen flow to the developing brain does not, as previously thought, cause an irreversible loss of brain cells, but rather disrupts the cells' ability to fully mature.

19 Jan 2013

St. Jude Medical’s AMPLATZER Amulet device receives European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced European CE Mark approval of its AMPLATZER Amulet Left Atrial Appendage Occluder.

19 Jan 2013

Possible connection between mitochondrial CYP2D6 and Parkinson's

With a new insight into a model of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a novel target for mitigating some of the disease's toll on the brain.

19 Jan 2013

New model of tau pathology spread

Brain diseases associated with the misformed protein tau, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tau pathologies, are characterized by neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) comprised of pathological tau filaments.

19 Jan 2013

Leprosy bacteria able to change the make-up of Schwann cells

A discovery about the way in which bugs spread throughout the body could help to develop stem cell treatments.

19 Jan 2013

New insight into personality psychology

Extraversion does not just explain differences between how people act at social events. How extraverted you are may influence how the brain makes choices - specifically whether you choose an immediate or delayed reward, according to a new study. The work is part of a growing body of research on the vital role of understanding personality in society.

19 Jan 2013

Study confirms brain differences between people with BPD and those without

New work by University of Toronto Scarborough researchers gives the best description yet of the neural circuits that underlie a severe mental illness called Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and could lead to better treatments and diagnosis.

19 Jan 2013

Research provides unique insight into the often misunderstood world of addiction

People who take cocaine over many years without becoming addicted have a brain structure which is significantly different from those individuals who developed cocaine-dependence, researchers have discovered.

18 Jan 2013

Study finds evidence of how daily changes in temperature affect the fruit fly's internal clock

New research led by a team at Queen Mary, University of London, has found evidence of how daily changes in temperature affect the fruit fly's internal clock.

18 Jan 2013

Stress in adolescence can cause severe mental illness in young adulthood

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers have established a link between elevated levels of a stress hormone in adolescence — a critical time for brain development — and genetic changes that, in young adulthood, cause severe mental illness in those predisposed to it.

18 Jan 2013

Race bias decreases similarities in the brain's representations of faces

Racial stereotypes have been shown to have subtle and unintended consequences on how we treat members of different race groups. According to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, race bias also increases differences in the brain's representations of faces.

18 Jan 2013

Sabutoclax appears to selectively target leukemia stem cells that are responsible for relapses

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that hard-to-reach, drug-resistant leukemia stem cells (LSCs) that overexpress multiple pro-survival protein forms are sensitive - and thus vulnerable - to a novel cancer stem cell-targeting drug currently under development.

18 Jan 2013

UC Riverside research: Exercise-loving mice have larger midbrains

Is athleticism linked to brain size? To find out, researchers at the University of California, Riverside performed laboratory experiments on house mice and found that mice that have been bred for dozens of generations to be more exercise-loving have larger midbrains than those that have not been selectively bred this way.

18 Jan 2013

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Biophysical Society Annual Meeting to highlight innovations in medicine, physics, and more

Older adults with hearing loss more likely to develop thinking and remembering problems

Study finds high ADHD diagnosis rates among non-Hispanic children between 2001 and 2010

Management of hospital-onset seizures lacks standards

Itch-specific nerve cells: an interview with Associate Professor Xinzhong Dong

Scientists identify a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes

Researchers identify and test first blood-based circulating miRNA biomarkers for Parkinson's

Low blood flow to the premature brain disrupts cells' ability to fully mature

St. Jude Medical’s AMPLATZER Amulet device receives European CE Mark approval

Possible connection between mitochondrial CYP2D6 and Parkinson's

New model of tau pathology spread

Leprosy bacteria able to change the make-up of Schwann cells

New insight into personality psychology

Study confirms brain differences between people with BPD and those without

Research provides unique insight into the often misunderstood world of addiction

Study finds evidence of how daily changes in temperature affect the fruit fly's internal clock

Stress in adolescence can cause severe mental illness in young adulthood

Race bias decreases similarities in the brain's representations of faces

Sabutoclax appears to selectively target leukemia stem cells that are responsible for relapses

UC Riverside research: Exercise-loving mice have larger midbrains

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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