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.

HRI to host healthy hearing teen initiative at DGA Theatre in NYC

The House Research Institute announced that it will host "Sound Rules! A Sound & Hearing Celebration" for teens at the Director's Guild of America Theatre in New York City on May 4.

31 Mar 2011

Boceprevir drug can help cure hard-to-treat hepatitis C

The drug boceprevir helps cure hard-to-treat hepatitis C, says Saint Louis University investigator Bruce R. Bacon, M.D., author of the March 31 New England Journal of Medicine article detailing the study's findings.

31 Mar 2011

20-year data shows bariatric surgery to reduce risk of heart attack and stroke in diabetics

In the longest study of its kind, bariatric surgery has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with diabetes. These results and other groundbreaking research were presented at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, hosted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

31 Mar 2011

IAN launches major survey to study elopement, wandering behavior in individuals with ASD

Today, the Interactive Autism Network, with support from leading autism advocacy groups, launches the first major survey to study the experience of wandering and elopement, or escaping, among individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

31 Mar 2011

Amyloid plaques in normal older individuals may be early signs of Alzheimer's

Researchers using two brain-imaging technologies have found that apparently normal older individuals with brain deposits of amyloid beta - the primary constituent of the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients - also had changes in brain structure similar to those seen in Alzheimer's patients.

31 Mar 2011

Positive mood can negatively impact working memory storage capacity

Most people have had trouble remembering something they just heard. Now, a University of Missouri researcher found that forgetfulness may have something to do with being in a good mood. Elizabeth Martin, a doctoral student of psychology in the College of Arts and Science, has found that being in a good mood decreases your working memory capacity.

31 Mar 2011

Tips on neurobiology of learning

Everyone would like MDs to have the best education - and to absorb what they are taught. The lead article in the April 4 issue of the journal Academic Medicine connects research on how the brain learns to how to incorporate this understanding into real world education, particularly the education of doctors.

31 Mar 2011

Eating disorders - hitting early and hard

Children as young as seven have been admitted to hospitals for eating disorders. A peak support group has reported a doubling of calls about children under the age of 12 in the past decade. Being hit so early with these disorders also means malnutrition leading to retarded growth, osteoporosis, infertility and changes in brain structure say experts.

30 Mar 2011

New stereo-EEG method can detect epileptic foci during surgeries

The neurosurgery department of HUCH has started to utilize stereo-EEG method for localizing the epileptic focus in severe epilepsy for epilepsy surgery purposes. The department is also getting ready to introduce the so-called deep brain stimulation therapy in the treatment of epilepsy.

30 Mar 2011

Navy sonar experts develop new medical device for stroke detection

A medical device developed by retired U.S. Navy sonar experts, using submarine technology, is a new paradigm for the detection, diagnosis and monitoring of stroke, says a team of interventional radiologists at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 36th Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, Ill.

30 Mar 2011

Multiple drugs bonded to 'transport vehicle' bypass healthy cells to attack breast cancer from inside

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have employed a strategy using a mouse model to target important mechanisms inside the most challenging breast cancer cells. Earlier studies at Cedars-Sinai found a similar approach effective in attacking malignant brain tumor targets.

30 Mar 2011

Patients with dystonia can benefit from deep brain stimulation therapy

Patients suffering from dystonia, an uncommon yet potentially crippling movement disorder, get better results if they begin deep brain stimulation therapy sooner rather than later, according to an international study published in the March issue of the Journal of Neurology.

30 Mar 2011

Porter Adventist Hospital inaugurates new clinic to treat TIA

A transient ischemic attack is a form of minor stroke that can last just minutes, often without any lingering symptoms. But if left untreated, those who have one are at an estimated 25 percent greater risk of having another stroke or other complication within 90 days.

30 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: N.Y. malpractice 'solution'?; tap Texas rainy-day fund?; Ariz. transplant dilemma solution?

Almost every other product Americans encounter is subject to laws that guarantee that the producer suffers when its product is subpar. There's no reason medical guidelines should be any different. With the proper incentives, these private regulators could help President Obama carry out the health care reform he signed into law a year ago.

30 Mar 2011

Stanford professor receives AFER Ludwig von Sallman Clinician-scientist Award

Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, has been named the first recipient of the Ludwig von Sallman Clinician-scientist Award, presented by the ARVO Foundation for Eye Research to a clinician-scientist under age 40.

30 Mar 2011

EC grants marketing authorization for GSK, Valeant's Trobalt to treat epilepsy

GlaxoSmithKline and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Trobalt as an adjunctive treatment of partial onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation in adults aged 18 years and above with epilepsy.

30 Mar 2011

Study: Thyroid hormone deficiency can affect cone opsins and colour vision

Thyroid hormone controls the eye's visual pigments throughout life. What part does the thyroid gland have in vision? Thyroid hormone is crucially involved in controlling which visual pigment is produced in the cones. Previously, it was assumed that the colour sensitivity of the cones is fixed in the adult retina.

30 Mar 2011

Welsh CJD alert after two years of exposure

Thirty-eight people have been told they may have been put at risk of contracting the fatal brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) following surgery. All the patients were operated on between 2007 and 2009 at either Swansea's Morriston or Singleton hospital, Neath Port Talbot or Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

29 Mar 2011

Breakups and rejection hurts physically: Study

The latest study has shown that social and romantic rejections and heartbreaks trigger activity in the brain that's similar to when people suffer physical pain.

29 Mar 2011

Bariatric surgery highly cost-effective treatment for obese type 2 diabetics

Bariatric surgery is an especially cost-effective therapy for managing Type 2 diabetes in moderately and severely obese patients. These findings and others were presented today at the 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, hosted by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

29 Mar 2011