Neuroscience News and Research

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TPJ in brain carries information for decisions during social interactions

Although many areas of the human brain are devoted to social tasks like detecting another person nearby, a new study has found that one small region carries information only for decisions during social interactions. Specifically, the area is active when we encounter a worthy opponent and decide whether to deceive them.

6 Jul 2012

Important insight into association between childhood maltreatment and suicide

Exposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk for most psychiatric disorders as well as many negative consequences of these conditions. This new study, by Dr. Gustavo Turecki and colleagues at McGill University, Canada, provides important insight into one of the most extreme outcomes, suicide.

4 Jul 2012

Early childhood adversity linked with depression and inflammation

When a person injures their knee, it becomes inflamed. When a person has a cold, their throat becomes inflamed. This type of inflammation is the body's natural and protective response to injury. Interestingly, there is growing evidence that a similar process happens when a person experiences psychological trauma. Unfortunately, this type of inflammation can be destructive.

4 Jul 2012

Nottingham scientists to develop world's first atlas of the Asian brain

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are leading research that will develop the world's first 'atlas' of the Asian brain.

4 Jul 2012

Botulinum toxin may help prevent arm tremor in people with MS

Botulinum toxin may help prevent shaking or tremor in the arms and hands of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in the July 3, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

3 Jul 2012

EvergreenHealth, King County EMS collaborate to prevent future falls among older adults

The risk of suffering a serious injury from a fall is an unfortunate reality for many elderly people in King County, with more than 14 percent of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responses for patients age 65 and older attributed to falls in the home. In order to prevent future falls, EvergreenHealth and King County EMS are collaborating to provide assistance to elderly community members.

3 Jul 2012

Transcranial direct current stimulation can enhance outcome of swallowing therapy for post-stroke dysphagia

After stroke, patients often suffer from dysphagia, a swallowing disorder that results in greater healthcare costs and higher rates of complications such as dehydration, malnutrition, and pneumonia.

2 Jul 2012

Janssen seeks accelerated FDA approval for bedaquiline to treat MDR-TB

Janssen Research & Development, LLC today announced it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking accelerated approval for the use of the investigational drug bedaquiline (TMC207) as an oral treatment, to be used as part of combination therapy for pulmonary, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in adults.

2 Jul 2012

Early brain changes predict chances of developing chronic pain

When people have similar injuries, why do some end up with chronic pain while others recover and are pain free? The first longitudinal brain imaging study to track participants with a new back injury has found the chronic pain is all in their heads -- quite literally.

2 Jul 2012

Researchers demonstrate power of single-molecule sequencing

The next "next-gen" technology in genome sequencing has gotten a major boost.

2 Jul 2012

Bristol-Myers Squibb to acquire Amylin

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire Amylin for $31.00 per share in cash, pursuant to a cash tender offer and second step merger, or an aggregate purchase price of approximately $5.3 billion.

2 Jul 2012

Rapamycin enhances learning and memory in young mice

Cognitive skills such as learning and memory diminish with age in everyone, and the drop-off is steepest in Alzheimer's disease. Texas scientists seeking a way to prevent this decline reported exciting results this week with a drug that has Polynesian roots.

30 Jun 2012

Scientists successfully tag serotonin transporter to track movements of single molecules

In a process akin to belling an infinitesimal cat, scientists have managed to tag a protein that regulates the neurotransmitter serotonin with tiny fluorescent beads, allowing them to track the movements of single molecules for the first time.

29 Jun 2012

Study explains why memory improves on a high-DHA diet

We've all heard that eating fish is good for our brains and memory. But what is it about DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, that makes our memory sharper? Medical researchers at the University of Alberta discovered a possible explanation and just published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

29 Jun 2012

DFG to set up new CRC/Transregio that focuses on multiple sclerosis research

On July 1, 2012, the German Research Foundation (DFG) will set up a new Transregional Collaborative Research Center (CRC/Transregio) to be coordinated by the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

29 Jun 2012

Researchers create 'Huntington's disease in a dish' to enable search for treatment

Johns Hopkins researchers, working with an international consortium, say they have generated stem cells from skin cells from a person with a severe, early-onset form of Huntington's disease (HD), and turned them into neurons that degenerate just like those affected by the fatal inherited disorder.

29 Jun 2012

Potential risk factors for disorder that causes people to kick or punch during sleep

Smoking, head injury, pesticide exposure, farming and less education may be risk factors for a rare sleep disorder that causes people to kick or punch during sleep, according to a study published in the June 27, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

28 Jun 2012

Scientists identify abnormal gene that leads to Parkinson's

An international team including scientists from the University of Saskatchewan-Saskatoon Health Region and University of British Columbia, with the help of Saskatchewan Mennonite families, has identified an abnormal gene which leads to Parkinson's disease.

28 Jun 2012

BPI clinical study to evaluate computerized, brain-plasticity-based program for schizophrenia

Researchers at San Francisco-based Brain Plasticity, Inc. (BPI) have begun a multi-center study to evaluate the effects of a computerized, brain-plasticity-based program designed to address the cognitive issues associated with schizophrenia.

28 Jun 2012

Study offers new clues for early autism diagnosis

A new study shows significant differences in brain development in high-risk infants who develop autism starting as early as age 6 months. The findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry reveal that this abnormal brain development may be detected before the appearance of autism symptoms in an infant's first year of life. Autism is typically diagnosed around the age of 2 or 3.

28 Jun 2012