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New understanding of neural basis for decision making, or free will

The area of the brain responsible for self-control, where the decision not to do something occurs after thinking about doing it, is separate from the area associated with taking action, scientists say in the August 22 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

22 Aug 2007

Memory storage molecule PKMzeta stores memories in neocortex

The memory storage molecule PKMzeta maintains long-term memories in the neocortex and its presence is continually required in order for the memory to endure, according to a finding by researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.

17 Aug 2007

Brain imaging reveals breakdown of normal emotional processing

Brain imaging has revealed a breakdown in normal patterns of emotional processing that impairs the ability of people with clinical depression to suppress negative emotional states.

17 Aug 2007

New avenues for the treatment of amblyopia

Contrary to accepted dogma, a University of Maryland researcher has developed a method that allows an adult to recover function in an eye that has been damaged and dysfunctional throughout life.

13 Aug 2007

Variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with ADHD

A variant of the dopamine receptor gene may be associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and with thinner tissue in areas of the brain that handle attention, but also appears associated with better clinical outcomes among individuals with the disorder, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry , one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

7 Aug 2007

Brain areas that control attention thinnest in children with ADHD

Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

7 Aug 2007

As we mature, we are able to create more contextually rich memories

MIT neuroscientists exploring how memory formation differs between children and adults have found that although the two groups have much in common, maturity brings richer memories.

6 Aug 2007

Ibuprofen improves cognitive function in rats induced with chronic liver failure

Cognitive impairment is one of the neurological effects in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (abnormal brain function due to severe liver disease).

2 Aug 2007

Region of brain for processing visual 3D shapes indentified

In studies with monkeys, researchers have identified in detail the brain regions responsible for the unique ability of primates, including humans, to process visual 3D shapes to guide their sophisticated manipulation of objects.

2 Aug 2007

Schizophrenia improved by mental and physical exercise

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have shown that mental and physical exercise can improve behavioural deficits in schizophrenia and repair damaged chemical transmitter pathways in the brain.

1 Aug 2007

New findings on how brain processes visual information

Neuroscientists have long believed that vision is processed in the brain along circuits made up of neurons, similar to the way telephone signals are transferred through separate wires from one station to another.

31 Jul 2007

Severe trauma affect kid's brain function

The first study to examine brain activity patterns in severely traumatized children showed their brains function differently than those of healthy children, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

30 Jul 2007

Brain regions that regulate different aspects of behavior may affect an adolescent's response to peer influence

Brain regions that regulate different aspects of behavior are more interconnected in children with high resistance to peer influence than those with low resistance, according to a new study published in the July 25 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience .

27 Jul 2007