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ALS damages neurons in parts of the brain responsible for cognition and behaviour

Recently published studies by a researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry demonstrate that ALS - known as Lou Gehrig's disease - damages neurons in parts of the brain responsible for cognition and behaviour.

17 Sep 2011

Scientists investigate how rhythmic activity of nerve cells supports spatial navigation

Prof. Dr. Motoharu Yoshida and colleagues from Boston University investigated how the rhythmic activity of nerve cells supports spatial navigation.

16 Sep 2011

U of C researchers create new model of obsessive-compulsive disorder

A new model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that mirrors both symptoms of the disease and the timing of its treatment in humans has been created by University of Chicago researchers, according to a new study.

16 Sep 2011

New insight into why some individuals may be more aggressive than others

Fluctuations of serotonin levels in the brain, which often occur when someone hasn't eaten or is stressed, affects brain regions that enable people to regulate anger, new research from the University of Cambridge has shown.

16 Sep 2011

Electron microscope reveals minute morphology of dendritic trees

Neurons in the brain play a role as an electric wire conveying an electrical signal. Because this electric wire is connected with various joints, various brain functions can occur. A neuron which has dendritic trees on it, receives the signals with many synapses located on those dendritic trees, and carries out functions by combining the received signals.

14 Sep 2011

UC Berkeley scientists offer treatment hope for patients with tinnitus

Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are offering hope to the 10 percent of the population who suffer from tinnitus - a constant, often high-pitched ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be annoying and even maddening, and has no cure.

13 Sep 2011

Tics are not a rare or uncommon disorder

Experts have confirmed it: tics are not a rare or uncommon disorder. It is the second study to be conducted in Spain to date, and the first of great importance, revealing that the prevalence of these motor disorders in the child population is 16.86%. The incidence is greater in boys than girls, and they tend to disappear or reduce with age.

9 Sep 2011

Excitation and inhibition remain balanced, even when the brain undergoes reorganization

Every second, the brain's nerve cells exchange many billions of synaptic impulses. Two kinds of synapses ensure that this flow of data is regulated: Excitatory synapses relay information from one cell to the next, while inhibitory synapses restrict the flow of information.

8 Sep 2011

Human brain places more value on winning in a social setting

A new USC study explains why people take stupid chances when all of their friends are watching that they would never take by themselves. According to the study, the human brain places more value on winning in a social setting than it does on winning when you're alone.

7 Sep 2011

Scientists discover two opposing neuronal regulatory circuits for generation, elimination of fear

Emotional balance is regulated by molecular factors behind stress response. When healthy people are faced with threatening situations, they react with a suitable behavioural response and do not descend into a state of either panic or indifference, as is the case, for example, with patients who suffer from anxiety.

7 Sep 2011

Study: K-complexes control effects of noise on sleep

During sleep, our perception of the environment decreases. However the extent to which the human brain responds to surrounding noises during sleep remains unclear. In a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from University of Liège used brain imaging to study responses to sounds during sleep.

7 Sep 2011

Novel analysis of MRI scans reveals distinct features of autistic brain

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have used a novel method for analyzing brain-scan data to distinguish children with autism from typically developing children.

3 Sep 2011

New medicines to target LPA receptors may prevent serious developmental brain diseases

Examining brain damage that occurs when fetuses in the womb are deprived of oxygen, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that damage does not occur randomly but is linked to the specific action of a naturally occurring fatty molecule called LPA, acting through a receptor that transfers information into young brain cells.

2 Sep 2011

Age-related declines in hearing may accelerate brain atrophy

A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that declines in hearing ability may accelerate gray mater atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.

31 Aug 2011

New study pinpoints areas of the brain used exclusively for language

New research from MIT suggests that there are parts of our brain dedicated to language and only language, a finding that marks a major advance in the search for brain regions specialized for sophisticated mental functions.

31 Aug 2011

Latest Perspectives in General Physiology series examines sensory mechanisms

The latest Perspectives in General Physiology series examines the mechanisms of visual, aural, olfactory, and tactile processes that inform us about the environment. The series appears in the September 2011 issue of the Journal of General Physiology.

30 Aug 2011

Research: Brains of older adults are wiser than younger ones

The brains of older people are not slower but rather wiser than young brains, which allows older adults to achieve an equivalent level of performance, according research undertaken at the University Geriatrics Institute of Montreal by Dr. Oury Monchi and Dr. Ruben Martins of the Univeristy of Montreal.

26 Aug 2011

New mouse brain atlas provides insight into how genes work in cerebral cortex

A new atlas of gene expression in the mouse brain provides insight into how genes work in the outer part of the brain called the cerebral cortex. In humans, the cerebral cortex is the largest part of the brain, and the region responsible for memory, sensory perception and language.

25 Aug 2011

USPTO issues Notice of Allowance for Cortex AMPAKINE molecules to treat respiratory depression

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patent that protects the use of AMPAKINE molecules for the treatment or prevention of respiratory depression.

25 Aug 2011

Scientists identify brain-circuit defect that triggers absence seizures

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a brain-circuit defect that triggers absence seizures, the most common form of childhood epilepsy.

23 Aug 2011