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.

Combination of novel drug therapy and PSA test can effectively detect prostate cancer

Researchers have successfully developed and tested a new prostate cancer screening method that uses the combined power of a novel drug therapy and changes in PSA levels over time to identify men with a high PSA who are more likely to have aggressive prostate cancer despite negative biopsies.

12 Aug 2012

West Virginia University ICRC receives CDC grant to continue injury prevention research

The West Virginia University Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) has just been awarded a five-year grant totaling $4.1 million to continue as one of 11 such federally funded centers of excellence for injury prevention research, education and outreach in the nation, according to the funding agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

12 Aug 2012

Migraines not associated with cognitive decline

Migraines currently affect about 20 percent of the female population, and while these headaches are common, there are many unanswered questions surrounding this complex disease. Previous studies have linked this disorder to an increased risk of stroke and structural brain lesions, but it has remained unclear whether migraines had other negative consequences such as dementia or cognitive decline.

12 Aug 2012

Effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcoholism are different for men and women

(Boston) - Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have demonstrated that the effects on white matter brain volume from long-term alcohol abuse are different for men and women. The study, which is published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also suggests that with abstinence, women recover their white matter brain volume more quickly than men.

12 Aug 2012

Scientists take step toward developing blood test for Alzheimer's

The possibility of an inexpensive, convenient test for Alzheimer's disease has been on the horizon for several years, but previous research leads have been hard to duplicate.

12 Aug 2012

Manipulating hormone-producing cells in the brain may help control blood sugar levels

Manipulating a group of hormone-producing cells in the brain can control blood sugar levels in the body - a discovery that has dramatic potential for research into weight-loss drugs and diabetes treatment.

10 Aug 2012

Molecular missteps disrupt brain function in adult-onset muscular dystrophy

The molecular missteps that disrupt brain function in the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy have been revealed in a new study published by Cell Press. Myotonic dystrophy is marked by progressive muscle wasting and weakness, as well as excessive daytime sleepiness, memory problems, and mental retardation.

10 Aug 2012

Boys are little more susceptible to both bad and good exposures

A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys had greater difficulty with working memory, a key component of IQ, than girls with similar exposures.

10 Aug 2012

Less sleep leads to more offspring in male pectoral sandpipers

During the breeding season, polygynous male pectoral sandpipers that sleep the least sire the most young. A team of researchers headed by Bart Kempenaers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen has now discovered this extraordinary relationship.

10 Aug 2012

Allergies appear to lower brain tumor risk

Testing positive for immunoglobulin E, a biomarker of allergy, reduces a person’s risk for developing glioma, show study findings.

10 Aug 2012

Hydrocephalus dictates age-related SAH outcomes

Age is only predictive of poor outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage because of its association with hydrocephalus, say researchers.

10 Aug 2012

Trauma: spending more money doesn’t translate to higher survival rates

A large-scale review of national patient records reveals that although survival rates are the same, the cost of treating trauma patients in the western United States is 33 percent higher than the bill for treating similarly injured patients in the Northeast. Overall, treatment costs were lower in the Northeast than anywhere in the United States.

10 Aug 2012

Early junk food habit may impact IQ

Children who eat a healthy diet before the age of 2 years are more likely to have a higher IQ at age 8 years than those who eat a less healthy diet, show results published in the European Journal of Epidemiology.

9 Aug 2012

Frontal-amygdala connectivity alterations in BDI patients

Results from a US study suggest there is dysfunction in the neural networks responsible for emotion regulation among patients with bipolar I disorder, even during periods of euthymia.

9 Aug 2012

Stressed individuals use different brain regions and strategies

Stressed and non-stressed persons use different brain regions and different strategies when learning. This has been reported by the cognitive psychologists PD Dr. Lars Schwabe and Professor Oliver Wolf from the Ruhr-Universit-t Bochum in the Journal of Neuroscience.

9 Aug 2012

Study sheds more light on diet and home ranges of early hominins in South Africa

An international team of researchers, including Professor Francis Thackeray, Director of the Institute for Human Evolution at Wits University, will be publishing their latest research on what our early ancestors ate, online in the prestigious journal, Nature, on Wednesday, the 8th of August 2012 at 19:00 (SAST).

9 Aug 2012

Sirtuins help fight off obesity-linked diseases

A protein that slows aging in mice and other animals also protects against the ravages of a high-fat diet, including diabetes, according to a new MIT study.

9 Aug 2012

Two major classes of brain cells repress neural activity in specific mathematical ways

The brain has billions of neurons, arranged in complex circuits that allow us to perceive the world, control our movements and make decisions. Deciphering those circuits is critical to understanding how the brain works and what goes wrong in neurological disorders.

9 Aug 2012

Clinical trials to test safety of 3K3A-APC in patients with ischemic stroke

Clinical trials start this week for a stroke drug initially created by a team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of Southern California (USC), and further developed by biotech company ZZ Biotech.

9 Aug 2012

Novel model may allow clinicians to predict potential for recovery after SCI

For more than 1 million people in the U.S. living with spinal cord injury, the frightening days and weeks following the injury are filled with uncertainty about their potential for recovery and future independence. A new model based on motor scores at admission and early imaging studies may allow clinicians to predict functional outcomes and guide decision-making for therapy and care-giving needs, as described in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

9 Aug 2012