Functional MRI News and Research

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Wavelet transform approach could improve medical imaging

An approach to converting the data from MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines, mammograms and other medical equipment gives doctors a much clearer picture of your insides and a chance to detect disease and other problems earlier, according to research published in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

14 Sep 2015

Study shows food craving may be hard-wired into the brain of overweight patients

An international group of researchers have found that food craving activates different brain networks between obese and normal weight patients.

31 Aug 2015

Brain scans may help predict patients' response to antipsychotic drug treatment

Investigators at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that brain scans can be used to predict patients' response to antipsychotic drug treatment. The findings are published online in the latest issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.

28 Aug 2015

Young adults diagnosed with ADHD in adolescence show differences in brain structure, memory

Young adults diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescence show differences in brain structure and perform poorly in memory tests compared to their peers, according to new research from the University of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Oulu, Finland.

27 Aug 2015

Study shows how difficulty making good decisions can make certain people vulnerable to suicide

Not even close to every person who faces challenges or lives with severe depression commits suicide. Some people are more vulnerable than others.

27 Aug 2015

Physical activity improves cognitive flexibility in older adults

One day soon, doctors may determine how physically active you are simply by imaging your brain. Physically fit people tend to have larger brain volumes and more intact white matter than their less-fit peers. Now a new study reveals that older adults who regularly engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity have more variable brain activity at rest than those who don't. This variability is associated with better cognitive performance, researchers say.

25 Aug 2015

New research may aid in treatment of vision problems like lazy eye

If you have two working eyes, you are live streaming two images of the world into your brain. Your brain combines the two to produce a view of the world that appears as though you had a single eye -- like the Cyclops from Greek mythology.

25 Jul 2015

Studies using MRI techniques can reveal brain connectivity differences in people with ASD

Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are beginning to reveal differences in brain connectivity--the ways that different parts of the brain are connected to each other and work together--in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reports a review in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

15 Jul 2015

Discovery reveals possibility of using water for finer analysis of the brain's functioning

To observe the brain in action, scientists and physicians use imaging techniques, among which functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the best known. These techniques are not based on direct observations of electric impulses from activated neurons, but on one of their consequences. Indeed, this stimulation triggers physiological modifications in the activated cerebral region, changes that become visible by imaging.

3 Jul 2015

Brain-imaging studies may help predict promiscuity, problem drinking in young adults

A pair of brain-imaging studies suggest researchers may be able to predict how likely young adults are to develop problem drinking or engage in risky sexual behavior in response to stress.

2 Jul 2015

Angiography and MPI: an interview with Professor Mauro Magnani University of Urbino

I am Mauro Magnani, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Urbino, Italy. My background is essentially the transition of activity from the lab to application. I am also the founder of a spin-off company called EryDel, which uses technology to load materials or drugs inside cells.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 30 Jun 2015

INS announces winners of inaugural best abstract competition at 12th World Congress

The International Neuromodulation Society (INS) announced winners today of its inaugural best abstract competition at the 12th World Congress in Montreal.

10 Jun 2015

Surprising link found between creative problem-solving and increased activity in the cerebellum

Investigators at Stanford University have found a surprising link between creative problem-solving and heightened activity in the cerebellum, a structure located in the back of the brain and more typically thought of as the body's movement-coordination center.

29 May 2015

Major breakthrough provides new insights into how tinnitus develops

Tinnitus is the most common service-related disability for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Often described as a ringing in the ears, more than 1.5 million former service members, one out of every two combat veterans, report having this sometimes debilitating condition, resulting in more than $2 billion dollars in annual disability payments by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

13 May 2015

UC Irvine study opens door to novel treatments for people with retinal damage

Driving down a dimly lit road at midnight can tax even those with 20/20 vision, but according to a recent UC Irvine study, the brain processes the experience no differently than if it were noon. The same study also reveals how quickly the brain adapts to vision loss, contradicting earlier research and opening the door to novel treatments.

12 May 2015

BYU researchers shed new light on why people tend to snack at night

After gobbling the fourth Oreo in a row while bathed in refrigerator light, have you ever thought, "That wasn't enough," and then proceeded to search for something more? Researchers at BYU have shed new light on why you, your friends, neighbors and most everyone you know tend to snack at night: some areas of the brain don't get the same "food high" in the evening.

6 May 2015

Researchers use fast-scanning PAM to see blood oxygenation, other functions inside living brain

Researchers studying cancer and other invasive diseases rely on high-resolution imaging to see tumors and other activity deep within the body's tissues. Using a new high-speed, high-resolution imaging method, Lihong Wang, PhD, and his team at Washington University in St. Louis were able to see blood flow, blood oxygenation, oxygen metabolism and other functions inside a living mouse brain at faster rates than ever before.

31 Mar 2015

New methodology isolates functional differences between autistic, non-autistic brains

The functional differences between autistic and non-autistic brains have been isolated for the first time, following the development of a new methodology for analysing MRI scans.

20 Mar 2015

Neuroscientist to discuss teenage brain development at AAAS meeting in California

Teenage exploration and risk taking could be explained by dramatic changes in the brain that allow elaborate planning and are driven by the need for immediate reward, according to a University of Pittsburgh neuroscientist who will be talking about her research in a panel discussion and press briefing at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, Feb. 13 to 16, in San Jose, Calif.

17 Feb 2015

New Penn Medicine study reveals how sleep deprivation increases intake of fat

Experts have warned for years that insufficient sleep can lead to weight gain. A new Penn Medicine study found that not only do we consume more food following a night of total sleep deprivation, but we also we consume more fat and less carbohydrates and a region of the brain known as the salience network is what may lead us to eat more fat.

15 Feb 2015