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.

Longer looks: Conservatives vs. liberals on Medicare - who's winning?

What you really need to know is that Tuesday was a great day in court for supporters of the Care Act and a very tough one for its opponents. That dynamic could easily change within the next six weeks or so when the 11th Circuit, the 6th Circuit, and the 3rd Circuit also hold their oral arguments on Care Act appeals. Either way, we are one step closer to the end of all of this, and you can bet that the justices were paying attention up the road a bit from Richmond.

13 May 2011

New computational model can analyze living cells, social networks

At first glance, a diagram of the complex network of genes that regulate cellular metabolism might seem hopelessly complex, and efforts to control such a system futile. However, an MIT researcher has come up with a new computational model that can analyze any type of complex network - biological, social or electronic - and reveal the critical points that can be used to control the entire system.

13 May 2011

Study provides evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells

A single adult cell from one of the most impressive masters of regeneration in the animal kingdom - the planarian - is all it takes to build a completely functional new worm, researchers have learned. The study provides the first hard evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells - cells capable of producing the diverse range of tissue types necessary to build a complete animal.

13 May 2011

New method for mapping myelin sheaths of nerve cells

Researchers including members from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have developed a new method for making detailed X-ray images of brain cells.

13 May 2011

ETI finalizes proprietary progesterone formulations for Traumatic Brain Injury

Encore Therapeutics, Inc. today reported finalizing its proprietary phospholipid nanoemulsion formulation of progesterone.

12 May 2011

German doctors among first to treat ischemic stroke patients with new blood clot retrieval device

Doctors in Germany are among the first to treat ischemic stroke patients outside the United States with the REVIVE SE, a new self-expanding blood clot retrieval and removal device designed to remove blood clots and restore blood flow to the brain in patients having a stroke.

12 May 2011

Copper intake linked to increased probability of developing Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Banner Sun Health Research Institute has found further evidence linking copper to the increased probability of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the current issue of the International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 2011, Article ID 987023.

12 May 2011

New research may help explain how post-traumatic stress syndrome develops in some people

Adversity, we are told, heightens our senses, imprinting sights and sounds precisely in our memories. But new Weizmann Institute research, which appeared in Nature Neuroscience this week, suggests the exact opposite may be the case: Perceptions learned in an aversive context are not as sharp as those learned in other circumstances.

12 May 2011

Study finds link between high prenatal BPA levels and infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities

A new case study examining an infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities and extremely high bisphenol A concentration of the baby's mother suggests a link between the two.

12 May 2011

Conference to discuss process of synaptic plasticity in Alzheimer's disease

Optimal functioning of neural networks is critical to the complex cognitive processes of memory, language, emotion and reasoning that deteriorate in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

12 May 2011

New research sheds light on common pathogenic mechanisms underlying Huntington's disease

New research sheds light on common pathogenic mechanisms shared by Huntington's disease (HD) and HD-like disorders. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 12, 2011, issue of the journal Neuron, uses a new transgenic mouse model for an HD-like disorder to unravel complex molecular events that drive disease pathology.

12 May 2011

Two new research studies on schizophrenia

Two new research studies published in Biological Psychiatry point to progressive abnormalities in brain development that emerge as vulnerable individuals develop schizophrenia.

12 May 2011

Neuroscientists document deliberate control of touch sensations in human working memory

Neuroscientists of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now been able for the first time to document deliberate control of touch sensations in human working memory. It has been shown that the human brain can remember several touch sensations at the same time and consciously retrieve the touch if concentration is focused on these touches.

12 May 2011

Being mildly overweight benefits ALS patients

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be an exception to the rule that being overweight is a health hazard. In a retrospective study of over 400 ALS patients, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found that those who were mildly obese survived longer than patients who were normal weight, underweight or even overweight.

12 May 2011

Visual perception and attention can be changed by passive stimulation

What was previously known from animal studies has thus for the first time been demonstrated for human individuals too. "The findings open new perspectives in the intervention and treatment of visual perceptual disorders, because the changes can be induced quite simply" said Dr. Christian Beste of the RUB Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

12 May 2011

Scientists to discuss latest autism research findings at IMFAR meeting

The 10th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research will host more than 1900 researchers, delegates, autism specialists, and students in the world's largest gathering of researchers and clinicians devoted to a better understanding of autism. The meeting will be held at the Manchester Grand Hyatt from May 12-14, 2011.

12 May 2011

TSA, Psyadon Pharmaceuticals partner for ecopipam clinical trial in Tourette Syndrome

The national Tourette Syndrome Association and Psyadon Pharmaceuticals Inc. are pleased to announce their collaboration on a clinical trial to determine the potential efficacy of a novel drug, ecopipam, for managing the symptoms of the neurological disorder Tourette Syndrome.

11 May 2011

NAA calls for immediate Congressional hearings and scientific investigation into autism-vaccine link

Despite numerous studies cited repeatedly by federal officials as proof that vaccines do not cause autism, a new study released today in the Pace Environmental Law Review revealed that over the last two decades, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has been quietly compensating dozens of vaccine injury cases involving a child with autism.

11 May 2011

Research provides insight into brain reorganization following sensory loss

The part of the brain that uses hearing to determine sound location is reorganized in deaf animals to locate visual targets, according to a new study by a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

11 May 2011

Novel two-drug combination cures young patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis

Belgian physicians report they have cured a young patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) using a novel two-drug combination developed by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The report, published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, marks the first known clinical use of this treatment for XDR-TB, the most deadly form of the disease.

11 May 2011

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Longer looks: Conservatives vs. liberals on Medicare - who's winning?

New computational model can analyze living cells, social networks

Study provides evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells

New method for mapping myelin sheaths of nerve cells

ETI finalizes proprietary progesterone formulations for Traumatic Brain Injury

German doctors among first to treat ischemic stroke patients with new blood clot retrieval device

Copper intake linked to increased probability of developing Alzheimer's disease

New research may help explain how post-traumatic stress syndrome develops in some people

Study finds link between high prenatal BPA levels and infant's neurobehavioral abnormalities

Conference to discuss process of synaptic plasticity in Alzheimer's disease

New research sheds light on common pathogenic mechanisms underlying Huntington's disease

Two new research studies on schizophrenia

Neuroscientists document deliberate control of touch sensations in human working memory

Being mildly overweight benefits ALS patients

Visual perception and attention can be changed by passive stimulation

Scientists to discuss latest autism research findings at IMFAR meeting

TSA, Psyadon Pharmaceuticals partner for ecopipam clinical trial in Tourette Syndrome

NAA calls for immediate Congressional hearings and scientific investigation into autism-vaccine link

Research provides insight into brain reorganization following sensory loss

Novel two-drug combination cures young patient with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis

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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