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Irregular sleep patterns may trigger schizophrenia symptoms

Neuroscientists studying the link between poor sleep and schizophrenia have found that irregular sleep patterns and desynchronised brain activity during sleep could trigger some of the disease's symptoms. The findings, published in the journal Neuron, suggest that these prolonged disturbances might be a cause and not just a consequence of the disorder's debilitating effects.

15 Nov 2012

Brevetoxin-2 stimulates nerve cell growth and plasticity in cultured mouse neurons

A new study using brevetoxin-2, a compound produced naturally by marine algae, stimulated nerve cell growth and plasticity in cultured mouse neurons. This research advances a potentially new pharmacological treatment to aid recovery of brain function following a stroke or other traumatic brain injury.

14 Nov 2012

Study reveals how interneurons navigate during cerebral cortex development

As the brain develops, each neuron must find its way to precisely the right spot to weave the intricate network of links the brain needs to function. Like the wiring in a computer, a few misplaced connections can throw off functioning for an entire segment of the brain.

14 Nov 2012

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder worry considerably more than general population

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder are characterised by persistent thoughts and repetitive behaviours. A new study reveals that sufferers worry considerably more than the general population in the face of morality problems.

9 Nov 2012

Communications down in anesthetized brain

Two studies indicate that inhaled anesthetics disrupt communication between distant cortical areas before directly activating sleep-inducing neuronal circuitry.

8 Nov 2012

Sensory substitution devices provide visual information to the blind via existing senses

Common wisdom has it that if the visual cortex in the brain is deprived of visual information in early infanthood, it may never develop properly its functional specialization, making sight restoration later in life almost impossible.

8 Nov 2012

Brain switches into special mode when pushed to make rapid decisions

Why do our brains make more mistakes when we act quickly? A new study demonstrates how the brain follows Ben Franklin's famous dictum, "Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste."

8 Nov 2012

Blind people’s brain can learn to process visual input with sounds

Areas of the brain in blind people can learn to process visual input through the use of sound, even after years or perhaps even lifelong blindness, according to new research reported in the November issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron. The findings challenge the common belief that if the visual cortex of the brain is deprived of information in early life, it may never develop functional specialization.

7 Nov 2012

Scientists decipher the brain's code for visual working memory in monkeys

The brain holds in mind what has just been seen by synchronizing brain waves in a working memory circuit, an animal study supported by the National Institutes of Health suggests. The more in-sync such electrical signals of neurons were in two key hubs of the circuit, the more those cells held the short-term memory of a just-seen object.

3 Nov 2012

XJB-5-131 compound suppresses symptoms of Huntington's in mice

There's new hope in the fight against Huntington's disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating disease in mice.

2 Nov 2012

Study explores impact of IL1β on brain function alterations associated with schizophrenia

There are a growing number of clues that immune and inflammatory mechanisms are important for the biology of schizophrenia. In a new study in Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Mar Fatjó-Vilas and colleagues explored the impact of the interleukin-1β gene (IL1β) on brain function alterations associated with schizophrenia.

2 Nov 2012

Brain's infralimbic cortex can switch between new and old habits

Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner.

1 Nov 2012

Empathetic and analytic thinking mutually exclusive in the brain

New research shows a simple reason why even the most intelligent, complex brains can be taken by a swindler's story - one that upon a second look offers clues it was false.

31 Oct 2012

Lateral intraparietal area in the brain activates internal sensors to help keep time

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) have found a small population of neurons that is involved in measuring time, which is a process that has traditionally been difficult to study in the lab.

31 Oct 2012

Scientists identify grid cells in the brains of rhesus monkeys

Primates' brains see the world through triangular grids, according to a new study published online Sunday in the journal Nature.

29 Oct 2012

Researchers find that children's brains are more affected by inhaled anesthetic

Stony Brook University School of Medicine researchers have found that children's brains are more affected by an inhaled anesthetic than an intravenous anesthetic with increased levels of brain lactate.

29 Oct 2012

ADHD linked to altered neural activation in bipolar patients

Bipolar disorder patients with and without comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder differ in neural activation patterns during response inhibition, results from a US study show.

26 Oct 2012

Sevoflurane, propofol produce different metabolic patterns in brains of unconscious children

Two commonly used anesthetics produce different metabolic patterns in the brains of unconscious children, according to a study from the November issue of a Anesthesiology.

26 Oct 2012

Anterior insular cortex associated with human empathy

An international team led by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York has for the first time shown that one area of the brain, called the anterior insular cortex, is the activity center of human empathy, whereas other areas of the brain are not. The study is published in the September 2012 issue of the journal Brain.

25 Oct 2012

Novel insight into impact that Huntington's disease has on the brain

A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides novel insight into the impact that Huntington's disease has on the brain.

19 Oct 2012