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Sweetness depends on molecular interactions between specific sugars and water in saliva

A cranberry, honey or a candy bar - which tastes the sweetest? These foods contain sugars that humans can perceive differently.

19 Jul 2018

Study reveals how the brain coordinates complex articulatory movements during natural speech

When we speak, we engage nearly 100 muscles, continuously moving our lips, jaw, tongue, and throat to shape our breath into the fluent sequences of sounds that form our words and sentences. A new study by UC San Francisco scientists reveals how these complex articulatory movements are coordinated in the brain.

1 Jun 2018

Pfizer announces Phase 3 study results of LYRICA Oral Solution CV for pediatric epilepsy patients

Pfizer Inc. announced today positive top-line results of a Phase 3 study examining the use of LYRICA® Oral Solution CV as adjunctive therapy for partial onset seizures in pediatric epilepsy patients one month to less than four years of age.

17 May 2018

Higher aerobic fitness levels linked to lower incidence of age-related language failures

Healthy older people who exercise regularly are less inclined to struggle to find words to express themselves, research led by the University of Birmingham has discovered.

30 Apr 2018

Direct electrical current can be delivered to nerves for blocking pain signals

Using computer models and laboratory rats, Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that "direct electrical current" can be delivered to nerves preferentially, blocking pain signals while leaving other sensations undisturbed.

18 Apr 2018

High carbohydrate and sugar linked to disease recurrence, death in head and neck cancer patients

Consuming high amounts of carbohydrates and various forms of sugar during the year prior to treatment for head and neck cancer may increase patients' risks of cancer recurrence and mortality, a new study reports.

12 Apr 2018

Researchers aim to accurately identify aggressive oropharyngeal cancers

The Case Western Reserve-led research team will analyze computerized images of tissue samples for patterns which could become "biomarkers," or predictors, for determining relative risk for recurrence in one particularly common type of head and neck cancers.

27 Mar 2018

Obesity kills taste buds and dulls taste sensation finds study

According to a new study from researchers at the Cornell University, obesity can actually dull the taste buds as has been suspected for a long time. The study appeared in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Biology yesterday (20th of March 2018).

20 Mar 2018

American Football players face risk of future sleep breathing issues, study finds

The forthcoming study in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation reveals that college football players undergo sleep apnea–a serious breathing problem during sleep often found in football players, and particularly in linemen.

22 Feb 2018

Intermountain Medical Center launches rooming-in program to support bonding between mothers and newborns

Mothers and babies belong together -; which is why Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City has launched a rooming-in program to support early bonding between mothers and newborns.

15 Feb 2018

Researchers discover specific taste neurons necessary for protein craving in fruit flies

A team of neuroscientists from the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, Portugal, has discovered that were it not for specific taste neurons located in the fruit fly's proboscis (the equivalent of our tongue), the fly would not develop a craving for protein even when in excruciating need of it.

5 Feb 2018

HPV may hide in small pockets on the tonsil surface

Human papilloma virus, the culprit behind cervical cancer and some forms of head and neck cancer may hide in small pockets on the surface of tonsils in people not known to carry the virus.

31 Jan 2018

Children with cochlear implant learn words faster than kids with normal hearing

For many years scientists tinkered to find a perfect replacement for the damaged or dysplastic inner ear. Cochlear implants receive a sound, convert it into electrical stimuli and send these impulses directly to the auditory nerve, thereby giving hearing impaired children the chance to connect to the world of sounds and noises.

23 Jan 2018

Home care agencies often wrongly deny Medicare help to the chronically ill

Colin Campbell needs help dressing, bathing and moving between his bed and his wheelchair. He has a feeding tube because his partially paralyzed tongue makes swallowing "almost impossible," he said.

18 Jan 2018

CAP releases new guideline for HPV testing in patients with head and neck cancers

Certain head and neck cancers that are positive for high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) have a better prognosis and may need less aggressive treatment.

11 Jan 2018

Study identifies potential markers for early diagnosis, treatment of oral tongue cancer

Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, also known as oral tongue cancer, is an aggressive form of cancer that generally affects older people. Patients with the disease often find it difficult to eat, swallow food, or speak.

19 Dec 2017

Rare gene mutation gives rise to low sensitivity to pain

Researchers at University College London have identified a rare gene mutation in an Italian family who have little sensitivity to some forms of pain. Chronic pain caused by conditions such as lower back pain and osteoarthritis is one of the most prominent causes of disability worldwide, as assessed by the Global Burden of Disease reviews.

15 Dec 2017

Performing surgery on virtual patient could provide valuable insight into consequences

Is surgery the best option or not, in the case of cancer in the head and neck? As the consequences for speaking and swallowing may be severe, some way of predicting these consequences would help in the decision-making.

13 Dec 2017

UM psychologist defends science of neonatal imitation

Since the 1970s, studies have suggested that infants can imitate facial gestures, finger movements, and other actions just hours after birth. University of Miami Assistant Professor Elizabeth Simpson studies this phenomenon, known as neonatal imitation, in babies from birth to one year of life in her Social Cognition Lab in the Department of Psychology's Child Division.

30 Nov 2017

New study finds huge disparities in survival for patients with HPV-related cancers

A new study found large disparities by sex, race, and age in survival for patients diagnosed with different cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).

6 Nov 2017