Feature Channels: Neuro

• share
• favorite_border

Food advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry, with approximately $1.8 billion annually aimed at children and adolescents, who view between 1,000 and 2,000 ads per year. Some studies have shown that there is a relationship between receptivity to food commercials and the amount and type of food consumed. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers studied the brain activity of children after watching food commercials and found that the commercials influence children's food choices and brain activity.

• share
• favorite_border

UAB presents New Frontiers of Pain Research in the 21st Century, Oct. 14-15.

• share
• favorite_border

Virtual brains reconstructed from ancient, kiwi-sized primate skulls could help resolve one of the most intriguing evolutionary mysteries: how modern primates developed large brains.

• share
• favorite_border

A research project has shown that an experimental model of Alzheimer's disease can be successfully treated with a commonly used anti-inflammatory drug.

• share
• favorite_border

Kennedy Krieger Institute will administer a new pediatric neurology research career development program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and designed to train doctors to conduct research aimed at learning how to treat childhood brain disorders. With a $15.9 million grant (#1K12NS098482) from the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the new Child Neurologist Career Development K-12 Award Program (CNCDP) will train a national group of 30 physicians over the next five years.

• share
• favorite_border

Eight people who have spent years paralyzed from spinal cord injuries have regained partial sensation and muscle control in their lower limbs after training with brain-controlled robotics, according to a study published Aug. 11 in Scientific Reports.

• share
• favorite_border

MINNEAPOLIS – Starting medication for multiple sclerosis (MS) in people who show the beginning signs of the disease is associated with prolonging the time before the disease is definitively diagnosed, according to a long-term study published in the August 10, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

New study has determined that the total number of neurons, not an enlarged prefrontal region, differentiates the human brain from those of other primates.

• share
• favorite_border

Loyola Medicine neurologist José Biller, MD is a co-author, editor and co-editor of new editions of four major neurology textbooks that are helping physicians keep abreast with the ever expanding knowledge of neurological diseases and disorders.

• share
• favorite_border

In a study spanning molecular genetics, stem cells and the sciences of both brain and behavior, researchers at University of California San Diego, with colleagues at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and elsewhere, have created a neurodevelopmental model of a rare genetic disorder that may provide new insights into the underlying neurobiology of the human social brain.

• share
• favorite_border

As many as 25,000 people a year worldwide lose limbs from land mine blasts, and a new study, published in The Journal of Pain, shows that transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) administered to the scalp can stimulate the brain and provide significant reductions in phantom limb pain.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Helsinki researchers have previously demonstrated that a point mutation in a gene of serotonin 2B receptor can render the carrier prone to impulsive behaviour, particularly when drunk. Now the research group has established that the same mutation may shield its bearers from obesity and insulin resistance, both of which are associated with type 2 diabetes.

• share
• favorite_border

A briefing featuring short presentations on key data shared at the 5th International Symposium on Focused Ultrasound. Experts will highlight clinical outcomes and advances in the use of focused ultrasound – a non-invasive therapeutic technology – to treat brain disorders, cancers, pain and hypertension. A Q&A and opportunity for interviews will follow.

• share
• favorite_border

Eating a Mediterranean diet can slow down cognitive decline.

• share
• favorite_border

Schizophrenic psychoses are a frequently occurring group of psychiatric disorders caused by a combination of biological, social and environmental factors. These disorders are associated with changes to the brain structure: for example, the hippocampus in the temporal lobe is usually smaller in affected individuals than in healthy ones. It is not yet known whether these changes to the brain structure are a result of the disorders and their accompanying medications, or whether they are already present before the onset of symptoms.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study in mice suggests that in a tumor’s pre-clinical stages, long before a human tumor would be clinically recognizable, certain immune cells can recognize changes that make these cells behave as cancerous cells and attempt to launch an immune attack. However, the T cells that are recognizing these “driver” mutations in the tumor are rapidly turned off and then permanently silenced, making the cells non-functional and thereby protecting the tumor from an immune attack. If researchers can find a way to reverse that silencing, the tumor-recognizing T cells could be rescued and could potentially improve the performance of certain immunotherapies, including that of so-called checkpoint inhibitor drugs that release some of cancer’s brakes on the immune system.

• share
• favorite_border

By recognizing a drug's ability to stop cancer's energy overuse, doctors may be able to determine a patient's response to a new, targeted therapy far earlier and with far more precision than watching and waiting for a tumor to shrink.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Wisconsin utilised a TMS-EEG device, which combines transcranial magnetic stimulation and EEG, to examine how the brain activity of people in the restful non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep is affected by whether they dream or do not dream.

• share
• favorite_border

Among patients with severe aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation, the use of a cerebral protection device (a filter that captures debris [tissue and plaque] dislodged during the procedure) reduced the number and volume of brain lesions, according to a study appearing in the August 9 issue of JAMA.

• share
• favorite_border

More than a hundred years ago, Ivan Pavlov conducted what would become one of the most famous and influential psychology studies — he conditioned dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell. Now, scientists are able to see in real time what happens in the brains of live animals during this classic experiment with a new technique. Ultimately, the approach could lead to a greater understanding of how we learn, and develop and break addictions.

• share
• favorite_border

Though the health systems in Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama have considerable strengths, citizens still reported gaps in the way primary care is organized, financed and delivered in those countries. Those who had better experiences were less likely to say that their health system needed major reforms.

• share
• favorite_border

They’re two of the biggest mysteries in Parkinson’s disease research—where does the disease start? And how can it be stopped early in the process?

• share
• favorite_border

Whether or not they aced the subject in high school, human beings are physics masters when it comes to understanding and predicting how objects in the world will behave. Cognitive scientists have found the source of that intuition, the brain’s “physics engine.”

• share
• favorite_border

Hay fever may do more than give you a stuffy nose and itchy eyes, seasonal allergies may change the brain, says a study published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.

• share
• favorite_border

Wistar scientists have identified a novel mechanism that selectively operates in hypoxic tumors to enable tumor cells to thrive and continue to proliferate despite a low oxygen environment. Dario C. Altieri, M.D., Wistar’s President and CEO and lead author of the study, and colleagues showed how the activation of this pathway leads to an unfavorable prognosis for patients with gliomas – a type of brain tumor – and how the pathway could be a valuable therapeutic target in cancer.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have clarified details in understanding the beneficial function of a type of protein normally associated with prion diseases of the brain, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) and its human counterpart, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Warfarin prescribed to prevent strokes in atrial fibrillation may not adequately control blood clotting over the long-term, even when patients have been historically stable on the drug, according to a study from the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Wistar scientists have identified a marker that distinguishes PMN-MDSCs from neutrophils in the blood of patients with a variety of cancers.

• share
• favorite_border

As humans evolved over many thousands of years, our bodies developed a system to help us when we start running and suddenly need more oxygen. Now, using that innate reflex as inspiration, UCLA researchers have developed a noninvasive way to treat potentially harmful breathing problems in babies who were born prematurely.

• share
• favorite_border

Long before Zika virus made it a household word, the birth defect called microcephaly puzzled scientists and doctors -- even as it changed the lives of the babies born with it during the pre-Zika era. But new discoveries may help explain what happens in the developing brains that causes babies to be born with small brains and heads.

• share
• favorite_border

The botulinum toxins are among the deadliest substances on Earth, and two specific toxins — including the popular drug Botox — have multiple uses for treating many neuromuscular conditions, including frown lines, disabling muscle spasms and migraine headaches.

• share
• favorite_border

While many companies have long promised that their brain-training products can sharpen aging minds, only one type of computerized brain training so far has been shown to improve people’s mental quickness and significantly reduce the risk of dementia, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention.

• share
• favorite_border

There is growing evidence that sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea are related to stroke risk and recovery from stroke, according to a recent literature review. The review is published in the August 3, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

The Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University has won a federal grant to study the relationship between nature walks and behaviors associated with autism stress responses in children.

• share
• favorite_border

Schizophrenia goes hand in hand with brain chemicals out of kilter, and treatment options for a major symptom aren't great. Biomedical engineers data-mined the collective scientific knowledge about working memory disturbance to build a brain chemistry simulator that lets researchers and doctors test out treatment ideas accurately.

• share
• favorite_border

Iowa State University researchers have identified a protein essential for building memories that appears to predict the progression of memory loss and brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients. Their findings suggest there is a link between brain activity and the presence of this protein.

• share
• favorite_border

People suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related dementia sometimes have trouble recognizing friends and family or knowing what to talk about when they visit. A new app created by a group of Cornell University students offers to help patients stay connected to their memories – and thus to their friends and family – and perhaps will even help them keep a conversation going.

• share
• favorite_border

Patients suffering from so-called immune-mediated neuropathies frequently have a long medical record. As there are no diagnostic tests available to reliably diagnose the disease, the diagnosis is frequently made belatedly and patients can be misdiagnosed. Accordingly, many years often pass before an effective therapy is started. However, not all patients respond to first-choice drugs even when treated immediately.

• share
• favorite_border

A groundbreaking scientific study has found one way an RNA binding protein may contribute to ALS disease progression.

• share
• favorite_border

Research has found that exercise causes more new neurons to be formed in a critical brain region, and contrary to an earlier study, these new neurons do not cause the individual to forget old memories, according to research by Texas A&M College of Medicine scientists, in the Journal of Neuroscience.

• share
• favorite_border

CaptiView is a microscope image injection system that overlays critical virtual reality imaging directly onto the brain when viewed through the eyepiece during surgery.

• share
• favorite_border

The grant will support research of the gene known as robo2 in the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.

• share
• favorite_border

A new cross-professional program in which theater students learn to portray patients is providing real-world experience to Occupational Therapy students who need to learn to care for them. The former get to test their chops acting out a key diagnosis, and OT students get hands-on experience before advancing to fieldwork.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers today unveiled results from a new blood test to help identify which patients are at an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The findings, presented at the 68th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in Philadelphia, showed that the biochip test, which allows multiple tests to be run on one blood sample, was as accurate as existing molecular tests that analyze DNA.

• share
• favorite_border

CHLA researchers report that glucose transporters, which transfer glucose from the blood to the brain, are inhibited by E. coli K1 during bacterial meningitis, leaving insufficient fuel for immune cells to fight off infection. Their findings may lead to a novel way of treating children with meningitis and reducing long-term neurological problems.

• share
• favorite_border

U.S. News & World Report ranked Sinai Hospital of Baltimore as one of the country’s best hospitals in neurology and neurosurgery (#36 in the top 50) as well as “high performing” in four other medical specialties for 2016-2017.

• share
• favorite_border

In a recent study, combat exposure among Army enlisted women was associated with an increased likelihood of developing behavioral health problems post-deployment, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and at-risk drinking.

• share
• favorite_border

A study of the impact of "boomerang fathers" -- those who cycle in and out of their children's lives -- yielded surprising results for researchers. "Boomerang fathering" provided a type of stability in a daughter's life that staved off her depressive symptoms compared to those adolescent girls whose fathers were completely absent.

• share
• favorite_border

Neurologist Vladimir Klinov, M.D. has joined the team of respected physicians at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, NJ. He has extensive training in the area of neurology, and specializes in the treatment of Epilepsy.