Functional MRI News and Research

RSS

Study identifies areas of the brain involved in alien hand syndrome

Alien hand syndrome (AHS) is a rare neurological disorder that causes hand movement without the person being aware of what is happening or having control over the action.

18 Jul 2007

Dual-imaging technique improves functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery

Brain specialists associated with the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and University Hospital say the ability to incorporate in real time two high-tech imaging tools into the operating room can improve the functional abilities of patients who undergo brain surgery.

14 Jun 2007

What the brain does while idle

Indiana University neuroscientists Olaf Sporns and Christopher Honey find the 98 percent of brain activity that other researchers consider just background noise to be fascinating and important.

5 Jun 2007

Key source of chronic pain appears to be an old memory trace stuck in the prefrontal cortex

Why do so many people continue to suffer from life-altering, chronic pain long after their injuries have actually healed"

5 Jun 2007

World's first PET/MR images of the human brain

The world's first PET/MR images of the human brain, taken simultaneously by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and magnetic resonance (MR), debuted during the 54th Annual Meeting of SNM, the world's largest society for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine professionals, June 2-6 in Washington, D.C.

From Siemens Healthineers 5 Jun 2007

White matter tracts in brain play a significant role in the rapid control of behavior

As wise as the counsel to "finish what you've started" may be, it is also sometimes critically important to do just the opposite -- stop.

4 Apr 2007

How the brain processes pain location

Is that pain in your chest a heart attack or indigestion? New research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals that more areas of the brain than previously thought are involved in determining the location of pain.

2 Apr 2007

Severe stress can damage a child's brain

According to researchers in the U.S. children who suffer severe stress may also suffer damage to their brains.

5 Mar 2007

Scans show hysteria is caused by a brain dysfunction

Hysteria is an unexplained neurological disorder in which a patient complains of symptoms, ranging from numbness in a limb, to paralysis, memory loss and seizures, that cannot be traced to any known medical problem and doctors fail to find anything medically wrong with them.

12 Dec 2006

HRT shows promise in helping visual memory of postmenopausal women

Many women experience declines in their memory during and after menopause, a change thought to be due, in part, to the rapid hormonal changes they weather during that time.

20 Nov 2006

Resolution of uncertainty in prefrontal cortex

Whether finding your way through an unfamiliar neighborhood to a friend's house or deciding on a political candidate, your brain is adept at adapting.

9 Jun 2006

Visual word forming area (VWFA) of the cortex demonstrated to have an effect on word recognition

Humans have an uncanny ability to skim through text, instantly recognizing words by their shape--even though writing developed only about 6000 years ago--long after humans evolved. Thus, neuroscientists have hotly debated whether an area of the cortex called the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) is truly a specific and necessary area for recognizing words.

28 Apr 2006

That mistake will cost you and your brain knows staight away!

According to a team of researchers in the U.S.a particular part of the brain called the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, or rACC, becomes much more active when a person realizes he or she has made an error that carries consequences - for instance, losing money.

12 Apr 2006

Gene linked to impulsive violence weakens brain circuits that regulate thinking in humans

A version of a gene previously linked to impulsive violence appears to weaken brain circuits that regulate impulses, emotional memory and thinking in humans, researchers at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found.

21 Mar 2006

Researchers see individual differences in brain activation depending on person's preferences or aversions to risk

Distinct regions of the human brain are activated when people are faced with ambiguous choices versus choices involving only risk, Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered.

7 Mar 2006

Better tests needed for fuller view of head injuries

Concussion patients with a normal head CT scan may believe they are free of brain injury, but CT scans often miss damage at the molecular level, warns a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

1 Mar 2006

Discovery puts scientists closer to understanding how visual awareness is generated

How do you know when you see something? Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix have made a breakthrough discovery that puts scientists closer to understanding how visual awareness is generated.

23 Jan 2006

Astrocytes play a direct role in controlling blood flow in the brain - influencing Alzheimer's

New findings that long-overlooked brain cells play an important role in regulating blood flow in the brain call into question one of the basic assumptions underlying today's most sophisticated brain imaging techniques and could open a new frontier when it comes to understanding Alzheimer's disease.

6 Jan 2006

Mirror neurons in autistic children abnormal

Researchers have found, through the use of functional MRI scans that looked at the brain, that there is an abnormal activity in the some of the neurons in the brains of autistic children.

5 Dec 2005

Violent video games lead to brain activity pattern that may be characteristic for aggressive thoughts

A Michigan State University researcher and his colleagues have shown that playing violent video games leads to brain activity pattern that may be characteristic for aggressive thoughts.

11 Oct 2005