Functional MRI News and Research

RSS

Brain connections break down as we age

It's unavoidable: breakdowns in brain connections slow down our physical response times as we age, a new study suggests.

17 Aug 2010

Functional MRI can be used to assess tumor viability

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (the disease commonly referred to as pancreatic cancer) carries the worst prognosis of any cancer. As current treatments offer minimal benefit, entirely new approaches are needed. Given the success of local therapies, as opposed to intravenous systemic therapies, for liver diseases (such as hepatocellular carcinoma), it is thought that similar local therapies may benefit patients with pancreatic cancer. To develop such therapies, it would be useful to devise targets that are easy to obtain and can indicate the efficacy of these new therapies in models of pancreatic cancer.

31 Jul 2010

Blind people and people with vision think about manipulating tools in same brain regions

Blind people think about manipulating tools in the same regions of the brain as do people who can see, according to a new study. The researchers say this adds to evidence that the brain has a fairly defined organization, while still being able to adapt to unusual conditions, such as not having any vision.

30 Jun 2010

Can familiar voices heal traumatic brain injuries?

In January 2009, Ryan, a 21-year-old college student from Huntley, Ill., was in a coma after he had been flung from his snowmobile into a tree during an ice storm. He had a traumatic brain injury; the fibers of his brain had been twisted and stretched from the impact.

11 May 2010

UCL scientists explore decision-making process of human brain

The more difficult the decision we face, the more likely we are not to act, according to new research by UCL scientists that examines the neural pathways involved in 'status quo bias' in the human brain.

16 Mar 2010

New generation of marketing experts may be able to test products' appeal with neuromarketing

Using advanced tools to see the human brain at work, a new generation of marketing experts may be able to test a product's appeal while it is still being designed, according to a new analysis by two researchers at Duke University and Emory University.

4 Mar 2010

MRI pioneer honored with MRC Millennium Medal

Sir Peter Mansfield, The University of Nottingham's Nobel Laureate for Physiology and Medicine, is to be recognised, once again, for his part in one of the most important breakthroughs in medical science.

2 Dec 2009

Findings could lead to new neurological treatments

The power of the imagination is well-known: it's no surprise that scary music is scarier with your eyes closed. But now neuroscientist and psychiatrist Prof. Talma Hendler of Tel Aviv University's Functional Brain Center says that this phenomenon may open the door to a new way of treating people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases.

16 Sep 2009

Playing Tetris may increase brain efficiency

Brain imaging shows playing Tetris leads to a thicker cortex and may also increase brain efficiency, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes. A research team based in New Mexico is one of the first to investigate the effects of practice in the brain using two image techniques.

2 Sep 2009

Research reveals that practicing Tetris increases brain efficiency

Researchers at the Mind Research Network today announced the findings of a scientific study that used brain imaging and Tetris to investigate whether practice makes the brain efficient because it increases gray matter. Over a three-month period, adolescent girls practiced Tetris, a computer game requiring a combination of cognitive skills. The girls who practiced showed greater brain efficiency, consistent with earlier studies. Compared to controls, the girls that practiced also had a thicker cortex, but not in the same brain areas where efficiency occurred.

1 Sep 2009

Brain research reveals that juggling practice increased gray matter in the motor areas of the brain

1 Sep 2009

Brain activation can predict strategies people use to make risky decisions

Watching people's brains in real time as they handle a set of decision-making problems can reveal how different each person's strategy can be, according to neuroscientists at the Duke University Medical Center.

27 May 2009

Impaired ability to monitor behavior, emotions may underlie vulnerability to drugs; suggests new targets for treatment

Parts of the brain involved in monitoring behaviors and emotions show different levels of activity in cocaine users relative to non-drug users, even when both groups perform equally well on a psychological test.

25 May 2009

Potential molecular target for new schizophrenia treatments

A study on schizophrenia has implicated machinery that maintains the flow of potassium in cells and revealed a potential molecular target for new treatments. Expression of a previously unknown form of a key such potassium channel was found to be 2.5 fold higher than normal in the brain memory hub of people with the chronic mental illness and linked to a hotspot of genetic variation.

5 May 2009

$Adult brain processes fractions easier than child's$

Adult brain processes fractions easier than child's

Although fractions are thought to be a difficult mathematical concept to learn, the adult brain encodes them automatically without conscious thought, according to new research in the April 8 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

8 Apr 2009

Modified magnetic resonance imaging technique shows disease metabolism in action

Duke University chemists are using modified magnetic resonance imaging to see molecular changes inside people's bodies that could signal health problems such as cancer.

29 Mar 2009

Listening to pleasant music could help restore vision in stroke patients, suggests study

Patients who have lost part of their visual awareness following a stroke can show an improved ability to see when they are listening to music they like, according to a new study published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Mar 2009

Fetal alcohol syndrome testing expands

Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

20 Mar 2009

A blood test for Alzheimer's on the horizon

Researchers have revealed a direct relationship between two specific antibodies and the severity of Alzheimer's disease symptoms, raising hopes that a diagnostic blood test for the devastating disorder is within reach.

11 Mar 2009

Why stopping smoking is hard

Just seeing someone smoke can trigger smokers to abandon their nascent efforts to kick the habit, according to new research conducted at Duke University Medical Center.

5 Jan 2009