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.

Newly enhanced version of Brain Swaggle released

"The newly enhanced version 2 of Brain Swaggle, the quick thinking word game that requires strategy and offers 12 levels of play has just been released," said Gary Downing, founder of the game and company of the same name. This new version is literally explosive from the first page and will challenge people of all ages and skill levels. Plus, we guarantee that the more difficult levels will take even the most adept wordsmiths to task, Downing continues.

26 Mar 2012

Synthetic pasta-like objects are major chemistry advances for regenerative medicine

Medicine's recipe for keeping older people active and functioning in their homes and workplaces - and healing younger people injured in catastrophic accidents - may include "noodle gels" and other lab-made invisible filaments that resemble uncooked spaghetti with nanoscale dimensions, a scientist said here today at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

26 Mar 2012

Top SPRG priorities for future NINDS stroke rehabilitation research

In 2011, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) convened the Stroke Progress Review Group (SPRG) to conduct a final 10-year review of the state of stroke research.

26 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI is safe in patients with MS

Researchers who investigated the connection between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (a reported condition characterized as a blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain and spinal cord and returns it to the heart) and multiple sclerosis indicate that a minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI, is safe and may produce "significant," short-term improvement in physical- and mental health-related quality of life in individuals with MS.

26 Mar 2012

High-fat, low-carb foods linked with increased risk of heart attack in obese people

High-fat, low-carb foods are a popular choice for dieters, but new laboratory research by University of Alabama at Birmingham cardiologists indicates these may be detrimental to the health of people who have ischemic cardiovascular disease or a predisposition to heart attacks.

26 Mar 2012

Unique clinic gives new lease of life – solves a family mystery

Isobel Dickinson, 62, of Wadsley, Sheffield, suffers from gluten ataxia – a neurological condition that can affect balance, co-ordination and speech. Until her diagnosis six years ago, little did she know that her difficulty balancing was being caused by sensitivity to gluten.

26 Mar 2012

Court's review of Medicaid expansion could affect other federal programs

A major issue in the Supreme Court battle over the new health care law is whether Congress can force states to make a huge expansion of Medicaid, to add millions of low-income people to the rolls. States say the federal law is unconstitutionally coercive because all their Medicaid money would be at risk if they flout the new requirement. The states argument has implications that go far beyond health care.

26 Mar 2012

Insulin resistance occurs in the brains of people with Alzheimer's

Insulin resistance in the brain precedes and contributes to cognitive decline above and beyond other known causes of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Insulin is an important hormone in many bodily functions, including the health of brain cells.

26 Mar 2012

Medtronic announces results from two Symplicity system trials on treatment-resistant hypertension

Medtronic, Inc., announced that the Symplicity renal denervation system provides safe, significant and sustained blood pressure reduction up to three years in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension, according to data from two clinical trials presented at the 2012 American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting.

From Medtronic 26 Mar 2012

S. gordonii may trigger infective endocarditis

Oral bacteria that escape into the bloodstream are able to cause blood clots and trigger life-threatening endocarditis. Further research could lead to new drugs to tackle infective heart disease, say scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Dublin this week.

26 Mar 2012

New IVIG trial can reduce OCD symptoms in children with PANDAS

Criteria for a broadened syndrome of acute onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have been proposed by a National Institutes of Health scientist and her colleagues. The syndrome, Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), includes children and teens that suddenly develop on-again/off-again OCD symptoms or abnormal eating behaviors, along with other psychiatric symptoms - without any known cause.

26 Mar 2012

New method for measurement of aggregated beta-amyloid in AD

An international team of researchers have developed a new method for measurement of aggregated beta-amyloid - a protein complex believed to cause major nerve cell damage and dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. The new method might facilitate diagnosis and detection as well as development of drugs directed against aggregated beta-amyloid.

26 Mar 2012

International Alzheimer's experts unite for global effort

The world’s leading Alzheimer’s disease researchers and clinicians will gather in Melbourne this week to agree on standardisation and validation of important diagnostic and prognostic parameters used in Alzheimer’s research centres around the globe.

25 Mar 2012

Obesity in later life linked to decreased mental faculties

The study found said out of 250 test subjects involving people over 59 years old, people between 60 and 70 who had the highest BMIs also had the lowest cognitive function. There was also a connection between visceral fat -- otherwise known as the belly fat around the torso - and poor mental abilities. The study, which was published in the British journal Age and Aging, measured the subjects fat-related measures including BMI, waist circumference and the amount of visceral - which could be close to organs - and subcutaneous -under the skin - fat using a abdominal CT scan. Cognitive ability was determined by a test called a Mini-Mental State Examination.

25 Mar 2012

Paul Allen pledges $300 million to better understand the brain’s inner workings

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen is donating $300 million to his Allen Institute for Brain Science to fund new projects to map and observe the human brain and, in Allen’s words, “to one day understand the essence of what makes us human.” That brings the total amount Allen has invested in the Institute to half a billion.

25 Mar 2012

State highlights: Mass. enforcing individual mandate; Improving kids' dental coverage; Health 'navigators'

Getting the word out is half the battle, and the state is well into a $3 million media campaign ... [E]very adult must have insurance by December. If they don't and if the state determines that insurance was affordable for them, they will be fined $219 next year. The penalty increases substantially in 2009.

23 Mar 2012

European Commission grants marketing authorization for use of BYETTA with basal insulin

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization to BYETTA (exenatide twice-daily) as an adjunctive therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or Actos (pioglitazone), for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults who have not achieved adequate glycemic control with these agents.

23 Mar 2012