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UC Berkeley scientists reveal how humans have excelled at 'relational reasoning'

When it comes to getting out of a tricky situation, we humans have an evolutionary edge over other primates. Take, as a dramatic example, the Apollo 13 voyage in which engineers, against all odds, improvised a chemical filter on a lunar module to prevent carbon dioxide buildup from killing the crew.

4 Dec 2014

Frontal lesions predict better improvement in people with spatial neglect after prism therapy

Stroke researchers have found that the presence of frontal lesions predicts better functional improvement in individuals with spatial neglect who received prism adaptation therapy. "Integrity of medial temporal structures may predict better improvement of spatial neglect with prism adaptation treatment" was published in September in the Neuroimaging and Rehabilitation Special Issue of Brain Imaging & Behavior.

3 Dec 2014

Monash Vision Group moves a step closer to Bionic Eye clinical trials

The Monash Vision Groupmoves a step closer to clinical trials of its Bionic Eye, thanks to landmark donations from two respected business leaders.

3 Dec 2014

Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day may protect against Alzheimer’s Disease

Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day may help to protect against Alzheimer’s Disease, according to research highlighted in an Alzheimer Europe session report published by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee, a not-for-profit organisation devoted to the study and disclosure of science related to coffee and health.

29 Nov 2014

Researchers discover molecular switch that triggers stress processes in the brain

At the Center for Brain Research at the MedUni Vienna an important factor for stress has been identified in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (Sweden). This is the protein secretagogin that plays an important role in the release of the stress hormone CRH and which only then enables stress processes in the brain to be transmitted to the pituitary gland and then onwards to the organs.

28 Nov 2014

Functional connectivity loss may underlie Parkinson’s cognitive decline

Patients with Parkinson’s disease have deceases in functional connectivity over time and these correlate closely with cognitive decline, research shows.

27 Nov 2014

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center releases November tip sheet of story ideas

Following is the November 2014 tip sheet of story ideas from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

27 Nov 2014

Research findings highlight power of expectations to drive brain activity in Parkinson's patients

Learning-related brain activity in Parkinson's patients improves as much in response to a placebo treatment as to real medication, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Columbia University.

26 Nov 2014

Ohio State researchers study repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are trying to help patients who have suffered a stroke to improve arm movement by stimulating the brain using a device called a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS). By using TMS to reduce brain activity on the side that was not injured by the stroke, the injured side may have a better chance of recovering.

25 Nov 2014

NOS1AP gene may help explain biological process of schizophrenia

A gene associated with schizophrenia plays a role in brain development and may help to explain the biological process of the disease, according to new Rutgers research.

24 Nov 2014

Successful antipsychotic treatment may alter striatal connectivity

Connectivity within the striatum changes as psychotic symptoms improve in patients treated with second-generation antipsychotics, a study shows.

20 Nov 2014

Findings offer insight on mechanism reputed for triggering cell death

Synapse, the name for the signal-receiving site on a neuron, comes from the Greek word for contact. Neuroscientists used to maintain that neurons form one-to-one relationship to contact one another. Yet more researchers are finding evidence that shows how neurons function as part of a network. An incoming excitation does not always provoke an outgoing signal.

18 Nov 2014

Study underlines critical role of Fragile X mental retardation protein in brain development

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability (ID), as well as the most frequent monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by the absence or incorrect production of the protein FMRP (Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein).

17 Nov 2014

Cue processing altered in siblings of schizophrenia patients

The siblings of patients with schizophrenia have altered activity in the ventral striatum during reward anticipation and receipt, a study shows.

6 Nov 2014

Study provides answers regarding scientific controversies about brain anatomy in autism research

In the largest MRI study to date, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Carnegie Mellon University have shown that the brain anatomy in MRI scans of people with autism above age six is mostly indistinguishable from that of typically developing individuals and, therefore, of little clinical or scientific value.

6 Nov 2014

Researchers reconstruct early stages of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have managed to reconstruct the early stage of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells, showing that a critical mass of cells – not too few, but not too many – is needed for the cells to being self-organising into the correct structure for an embryo to form.

6 Nov 2014

New study finds link between conflict and reinforcement learning

We celebrate our triumphs over adversity, but let's face it: We'd rather not experience difficulty at all. A new study ties that behavioral inclination to learning: When researchers added a bit of conflict to make a learning task more difficult, that additional conflict biased learning by reducing the influence of reward and increasing the influence of aversion to punishment.

6 Nov 2014

Smokers are three times more likely to develop chronic back pain than nonsmokers, study finds

If you want to avoid chronic back pain, put out the cigarette. A new Northwestern Medicine study has found that smokers are three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop chronic back pain, and dropping the habit may cut your chances of developing this often debilitating condition.

4 Nov 2014

Teen binge drinking effects may last a lifetime, suggests UMass Amherst study

Binge drinking can have lasting effects on brain pathways that are still developing during adolescence, say neuroscience researcher Heather N. Richardson and her colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Louisiana State University.

29 Oct 2014

Engineered cells reveal changes associated with learning, memory and reward

Scientists have created cells with fluorescent dyes that change color in response to specific neurochemicals. By implanting these cells into living mammalian brains, they have shown how neurochemical signaling changes as a food reward drives learning, they report in Nature Methods online October 26.

27 Oct 2014

Cortex News and Research

UC Berkeley scientists reveal how humans have excelled at 'relational reasoning'

Frontal lesions predict better improvement in people with spatial neglect after prism therapy

Monash Vision Group moves a step closer to Bionic Eye clinical trials

Drinking 3-5 cups of coffee per day may protect against Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers discover molecular switch that triggers stress processes in the brain

Functional connectivity loss may underlie Parkinson’s cognitive decline

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center releases November tip sheet of story ideas

Research findings highlight power of expectations to drive brain activity in Parkinson's patients

Ohio State researchers study repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

NOS1AP gene may help explain biological process of schizophrenia

Successful antipsychotic treatment may alter striatal connectivity

Findings offer insight on mechanism reputed for triggering cell death

Study underlines critical role of Fragile X mental retardation protein in brain development

Cue processing altered in siblings of schizophrenia patients

Study provides answers regarding scientific controversies about brain anatomy in autism research

Researchers reconstruct early stages of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells

New study finds link between conflict and reinforcement learning

Smokers are three times more likely to develop chronic back pain than nonsmokers, study finds

Teen binge drinking effects may last a lifetime, suggests UMass Amherst study

Engineered cells reveal changes associated with learning, memory and reward

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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