Neuroimaging News and Research

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Brain starts shrinking in Alzheimer’s disease a decade earlier: Study

According to American researchers, brain scans of healthy people showed signs that the brain was shrinking in Alzheimer's-affected areas nearly a decade before the disease was diagnosed. This comes in the latest issue of the journal Neurology and it may offer a new way to detect the disease early, an advance that could help in the development of effective treatments for Alzheimer's, a brain-wasting disease that affects up to 26 million people globally.

13 Apr 2011

Positive outcomes from Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in posterior fossa meningiomas

Meningiomas are the most common benign intracranial tumors, and in individuals ages 35 and older, the most common type of brain tumor diagnosed. They most often occur in people between the ages of 40 and 70.

12 Apr 2011

MRIs can help predict MCI individuals at greatest risk for developing Alzheimer's disease

Using MRI, researchers may be able to predict which adults with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to progress to Alzheimer's disease, according to the results of a study published online and in the June issue of Radiology.

6 Apr 2011

Autistic individuals have strong visual abilities

Researchers directed by Dr. Laurent Mottron at the University of Montreal's Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders have determined that people with autism concentrate more brain resources in the areas associated with visual detection and identification, and conversely, have less activity in the areas used to plan and control thoughts and actions.

5 Apr 2011

First MR images to show complete borders in human cerebral cortex

Understanding functional properties of the brain’s structural units is one of the main aims of brain research. Until now only fragmentary borders of brain areas could be identified in vivo since the resolution in MR images was not high enough.

31 Mar 2011

Penn neurologist develops new approach for brain activity study

By combining sophisticated mathematical techniques more commonly used by spies instead of scientists with the power and versatility of functional magnetic resonance imaging, a Penn neurologist has developed a new approach for studying the inner workings of the brain.

29 Mar 2011

Geriatrician provides latest Alzheimer drug research developments at International conference

Drugs that can stop or reverse Alzheimer's disease progression are not available yet, but a number of potentially promising clinical trials could hold the key for modifying the treatment of the disease.

28 Mar 2011

New research provides evidence that brain's sensory recalibration can occur instantly

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration - the brain's automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems - can occur instantly.

24 Mar 2011

Brain's pleasure and reward circuitry gets a big boost after a sleepless night

A sleepless night can make us cranky and moody. But a lesser known side effect of sleep deprivation is short-term euphoria, which can potentially lead to poor judgment and addictive behavior, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

24 Mar 2011

New research on brain plasticity may delay onset of Alzheimer's disease

The human brain loses 5 to 10% of its weight between the ages of 20 and 90 years old. While some cells are lost, the brain is equipped with two compensatory mechanisms: plasticity and redundancy.

23 Mar 2011

Experts to discuss on Alzheimer's disease prevention and treatment at ADI conference

From drug therapies to the right type of diet, the world's leading dementia experts will focus on the most effective methods for preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease and related dementias at the 26th Annual Conference of Alzheimer's Disease International.

15 Mar 2011

New study reveals brain networks are involved in 'cross-modal' person recognition

Human social interactions are shaped by our ability to recognise people. Faces and voices are known to be some of the key features that enable us to identify individual people, and they are rich in information such as gender, age, and body size, that lead to a unique identity for a person.

11 Mar 2011

Text messaging effectively intervenes during smoking urges

A pair of related studies on smoking cessation by researchers at the University of Oregon and other institutions have isolated the brain regions most active in controlling urges to smoke and demonstrated the effectiveness of text-messaging to measure and intervene in those urges.

9 Mar 2011

Grey matter volume in cerebellum predicts general intelligence

Research suggests that intelligence in humans is controlled by the part of the brain known as the 'cortex', and most theories of age-related cognitive decline focus on cortical dysfunction.

9 Mar 2011

Study: Rare genetic mutations may provide clues to improve treatment for schizophrenia

Scientists are eyeing a rare genetic glitch for clues to improved treatments for some people with schizophrenia - even though they found the mutation in only one third of 1 percent of patients.

25 Feb 2011

Erik Parens to speak on behavioral genetics at Presidential Commission meeting

Hastings Center Scholar Erik Parens, PhD, will speak about behavioral genetics to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on Monday, February 28. The meeting kicks off the Commission’s examination of the ethical and policy issues raised by genetics and neuroscience. Topics will include the use of genetics, neuroscience, and neuroimaging for testing, research, diagnosis, risk identification, and health promotion. Parens was invited to discuss what he considers the most pressing ethical and social issues that behavioral genetics research raises.

24 Feb 2011

New research: Alzheimer's disease may be easily misdiagnosed in elder people

New research shows that Alzheimer's disease and other dementing illnesses may be easily misdiagnosed in the elderly, according to early results of a study of people in Hawaii who had their brains autopsied after death. The research is being released today and will be presented as part of a plenary session at the American Academy of Neurology's 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu April 9 to April 16, 2011.

23 Feb 2011

New study provides insight into brain activity of depressed women responding to crying infants

Mothers who are depressed respond differently to their crying babies than do non-depressed moms. In fact, their reaction, according to brain scans at the University of Oregon, is much more muted than the robust brain activity in non-depressed moms.

23 Feb 2011

Scientist to present neuroimaging evidence on impact of cognitive functions in bilingual processing at AAAS

Sonja Kotz leads the Minerva research group "Neurocognition of Rhythm in Communication" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig. She will present evidence from neuroimaging on the impact of cognitive functions on bilingual processing at the AAAS symposium "Crossing Borders in Language Science: What Bilinguals Tell Us About Mind and Brain".

21 Feb 2011

Physical therapy at home as good as body-weight supported treadmill program for stroke rehabilitation

In the largest stroke rehabilitation study ever conducted in the United States, stroke patients who had physical therapy at home improved their ability to walk just as well as those who were treated in a training program using a body-weight supported treadmill device, followed by walking practice.

15 Feb 2011