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.

HRT shows promise in helping visual memory of postmenopausal women

Many women experience declines in their memory during and after menopause, a change thought to be due, in part, to the rapid hormonal changes they weather during that time.

20 Nov 2006

Risk to childhood cancer survivors for late-occurring strokes

Children who are successfully treated for brain tumors or leukemia are more likely to have strokes later in life, according to new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

20 Nov 2006

Yeast model system may provide a means for treating the earliest stage of Alzheimer's

A century ago this month, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer formally described characteristics of the neurodegenerative disease which ultimately came to bear his name. While international efforts to learn about Alzheimer's disease and develop treatments have progressed significantly in recent years, a cure remains an elusive goal.

19 Nov 2006

Virtual reality helps amputees

Academics from the University of Manchester School of Computer Science and School of Psychological Sciences have developed a virtual reality system, which gives the illusion that a person's amputated limb is still there.

From The University of Manchester 14 Nov 2006

Pioglitazone may help slow progression of artery wall thickening

A medication given to diabetics to improve their body's sensitivity to insulin also appears to slow the thickening of their artery walls, according to a study posted online by JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Nov 2006

Thiazolidinediones may reduce cardiovascular risks

A drug commonly used to increase the body's sensitivity to insulin may slow the progression of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

13 Nov 2006

Researchers use gene therapy to reduce the development of epileptic seizures

For the first time, researchers have inhibited the development of epilepsy after a brain insult in animals. By using gene therapy to modify signaling pathways in the brain, neurology researchers found that they could significantly reduce the development of epileptic seizures in rats.

8 Nov 2006

Research sheds light on episodic memory

Memories of events comprise many components--including sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Somehow the many features of an episodic memory are woven together into a coherent whole, and researchers have had little understanding of how this binding takes place as the memories are processed by the brain's memory center, the hippocampus.

8 Nov 2006

Shaped-beam radiosurgery treats tiniest lung tumors

Patients with metastatic cancer tumors in their lungs are much more likely to live disease-free if they have an experimental treatment involving shaped-beam radiosurgery rather that conventional treatment, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

8 Nov 2006

Artificial pancreas promises to transform life for young diabetics

A team of scientists in Britain are in the process of developing an artificial pancreas for children and teens with type 1 diabetes.

8 Nov 2006

Chronic fatigue syndrome begins with childhood trauma and stress

According to the latest research traumatic events in childhood, and stress or emotional instability at any period in life, may be linked to the development of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

8 Nov 2006

Toxic chemicals affecting childrens brains

According to a new report toxic chemicals may be causing a pandemic of brain disorders because of inadequate regulation.

8 Nov 2006

Researchers show brain injury may occur within one millisecond after head hits windshield

Research by a Sandia National Laboratories engineer and a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center neurologist shows that brain injury may occur within one millisecond after a human head is thrust into a windshield as a result of a car accident.

7 Nov 2006