A study, published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is the first to find that immune cells are more active in the brains of people at risk of schizophrenia* as well as those already diagnosed with the disease.
Vestigial organs, such as the wisdom teeth in humans, are those that have become functionless through the course of evolution. Now, a psychologist at the University of Missouri studying vestigial muscles behind the ears in humans has determined that ancient neural circuits responsible for moving the ears, still may be responsive to sounds that attract our attention. Neuroscientists studying auditory function could use these ancient muscles to study positive emotions and infant hearing deficits.
Researchers in the Epilepsy Genetics Program of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre have discovered a gene mutation that increases the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in patients with mild forms of the disease.
Findings reveal a key role of the BET protein family in the regulation of selected genes that control normal development and function of nerve cells
U-M Health System researchers are testing technology that gives brain surgeons real-time microscopic vision of tumors. “It allows the surgical decision-making process to become data driven instead of relying on the surgeon’s best guess,” said Daniel Orringer, MD, the U-M neurosurgeon piloting the technology with a team of physicians and medical school students.
Having a high stress job may be linked to a higher risk of stroke, according to an analysis of several studies. The meta-analysis is published in the October 14, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
PHILADELPHIA – Epilepsy affects more than 65 million people worldwide. One-third of these patients have seizures that are not controlled by medications. In addition, one-third have brain lesions, the hallmark of the disease, which cannot be located by conventional imaging methods. Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have piloted a new method using advanced noninvasive neuroimaging to recognize the neurotransmitter glutamate, thought to be the culprit in the most common form of medication-resistant epilepsy. Their work is published today in Science Translational Medicine.
Using advanced brain imaging, researchers have matched certain behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia to features of the brain’s anatomy. The findings, from a research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis could be a step toward improving diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia.
A team of UCLA scientists has found that brain areas linked to social behaviors are both underdeveloped and insufficiently networked in youths with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to study participants without ASD.
New studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify how two crucial features of audition are managed by the brain.
A pioneering surgical technique has restored some hand and arm movement to patients immobilized by spinal cord injuries in the neck, reports a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers assessed outcomes of nerve-transfer surgery in nine quadriplegic patients with spinal cord injuries in the neck. Every patient in the study reported improved hand and arm function.
A unique study at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles of newborns treated with hypothermia for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) – a condition that occurs when the brain is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply – confirms its neuroprotective effects on the brain.
The new technique allows scientists to study diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using cells from human patients
The Nantz National Alzheimer Center at Houston Methodist Hospital is part of a landmark clinical trial that looks at removing a key protein from the brain to prevent memory loss at least a decade before symptoms are noticed in healthy older adults.
Why are there gender-specific roles in caring for offspring? Weizmann Institute scientists used optogenetics to change maternal behavior and levels of male aggression in mice – work that could reveal how male and female brains function in conventional gender-related activities and shed new light on disorders such as postpartum depression and autism.
A study of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) found that those who spent time in the sun every day during the summer as teens developed the disease later than those reporting not spending time in the sun every day. The study, which was published in the October 7, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, also found that people who were overweight at age 20 developed the disease earlier than those who were average weight or underweight.
A multi-institutional team led by scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered an immune system gene associated with higher rates of amyloid plaque buildup in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and older adults at risk for the disease.
Women with a gene variant (APOEe4 allele) associated with Alzheimer’s disease experience a steeper decline in body mass index (BMI) after age 70 than those women without the version of the gene, whether they go on to develop dementia or not.
A diet high in processed fructose sabotages rat brains’ ability to heal after head trauma, UCLA neuroscientists report. Revealing a link between nutrition and brain health, the finding offers implications for the 5.3 million Americans living with a traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
A study by scientists at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has shown that tissue-engineered colon derived from human cells is able to develop the many specialized nerves required for function, mimicking the neuronal population found in native colon.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a significant—and potentially treatable—relationship between a chemical that helps transmit signals in the brain and genetic mutations present in a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
Stroke is very rare in children, but colds, flu and other minor infections may temporarily increase stroke risk in children, according to a study published in the September 30, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found routine childhood vaccines may decrease the risk of stroke.
Latest Research Highlights from ACSM— September 2015
The brain uses similar computations to calculate the direction and speed of objects in motion whether they are perceived visually or through the sense of touch.
Chimpanzees’ personality traits are linked to the anatomy of specific brain structures, according to researchers at Georgia State University, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and University of Copenhagen.
Scientists at Duke Medicine are using transparent fish to watch in real time as Cryptococcal meningitis takes over the brain. The resulting images are worthy of a sci-fi movie teaser, but could be valuable in disrupting the real, crippling brain infection that kills more than 600,000 people worldwide each year.
Researchers at the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center (VSCC) are using novel sound wave technology as part of an attempt to more rapidly and accurately diagnose sports concussions on the sidelines during games.
Brittany Brown has watched her daughter, Amaree, 6, struggle with hundreds of seizures every day for the past six years. Now, a new treatment is providing hope.
A new science called Neurogastronomy brings chefs and neuroscientists together to improve quality of life for patients with taste & smell deficits. The inaugural International Society of Neurogastronomy symposium is November 7, 2015, featuring internationally-renowned chefs, scientists, and food technologists.
Researchers at UCSF have succeeded in mapping the genetic signature of a unique group of stem cells in the human brain that seem to generate most of the neurons in our massive cerebral cortex.
Novel brain-computer interface technology created by University of California, Irvine researchers has allowed a paraplegic man to walk for a short distance.
People who get dizzy several minutes after standing up may be at risk of more serious conditions and even an increased risk of death, according to new research published in the September 23, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Neuroscientists have uncovered the brain malady responsible for tinnitus and for chronic pain — the uncomfortable, sometimes agonizing sensations that persist long after an initial injury.
Like scratchy-sounding old radio dials that interfere with reception, circuits in the brain that grow noisier over time may be responsible for ways in which we slow mentally as we grow old, according to the results of new studies from UC San Francisco on young and older adults.
Researchers led by Bradley S. Peterson, MD, director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, have shown that lower levels of conflict-related brain activity are associated with a higher risk for later psychosis. The study, in conjunction with colleagues at Columbia University, is available via PubMed in advance of publication by the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
For adults, memories tend to fade with time. But a new study has shown that there are circumstances under which the opposite is true for small children: they can remember a piece of information better days later than they can on the day they first learned it.
A new animal study shows that traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects the body as well as the brain and that treatment with hypertension drugs blocks the production of proteins related to inflammation.
Salk researchers find correlation between declining ability to smell and lifespan in worms
"This study has let us characterize the parameters of decline in people who will eventually develop Alzheimer's, which means we can better identify both benign symptoms and those that warrant particular attention." - Sylvie Belleville
Birth control pills cause a small but significant increase in the risk of the most common type of stroke, according to a comprehensive report in the journal MedLink Neurology.
An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the National University of Singapore, has identified a protein that regulates the growth of neurons by transporting key metabolic enzymes to the tips of neural cells. Their findings open up new avenues for design of drugs for ataxia, a motor coordination disorder.
University at Buffalo researchers and their colleagues at other institutions are publishing a paper online in Nature Communications on Sept. 18 about a new method they developed to more precisely capture how brain cells interact.
Scientists have identified the precise nerve cells that allow the brain to make a split-second change of course, like jamming on the brakes.
Parkinson’s patients often become sedentary because of motor symptoms such as gait, balance problems or falls. However, new U-M research finds that non-exercise physical activity, more than occasional trips to the gym, is linked to less severe motor symptoms.
University of Florida Health researchers have uncovered more evidence of a link between the brain’s stress response and a protein related to Alzheimer’s disease.
MINNEAPOLIS – Being overweight or obese may be tied to an increased risk of a type of brain tumor called meningioma, according to a new meta-analysis published in the September 16, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Meningiomas occur at a rate of about five to eight cases per 100,000 people per year. The five-year survival rate for meningioma is 63 percent.
Alzheimer’s disease, long thought to be a single disease, really consists of three distinct subtypes, according to a UCLA study.
Juries in criminal cases typically decide if someone is guilty, then a judge determines a suitable level of punishment. New research confirms that these two separate assessments of guilt and punishment – though related -- are calculated in different parts of the brain. In fact, researchers found that they can disrupt and change one decision without affecting the other. New work by researchers at Vanderbilt University and Harvard University confirms that a specific area of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is crucial to punishment decisions. Researchers predicted and found that by altering brain activity in this brain area, they could change how subjects punished hypothetical defendants without changing the amount of blame placed on the defendants.
New technique to selectively and noninvasively turn on groups of neurons in worms could be boon to science and medicine
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