Neuroscience
Epigenetic Changes Shed Light on Autism
April 23, 2013 1:13 pm | News | CommentsScientists have identified patterns of epigenetic changes involved in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by studying genetically identical twins who differ in autism traits. The study is the largest of its kind and may shed light on the biological mechanism by which environmental influences regulate the activity of certain genes and in turn contribute to the development of ASD and related behavior traits.
Stem Cells Transformed into Brain Cells
April 23, 2013 12:37 pm | News | CommentsIn a serendipitous discovery, scientists have found a way to turn bone marrow stem cells directly into brain cells. Current techniques for turning patients’ marrow cells into cells of some other desired type are relatively cumbersome, risky and effectively confined to the lab dish.
Gone, But Not Forgotten
April 23, 2013 12:16 pm | News | CommentsAn international team of neuroscientists has described for the first time in exhaustive detail the underlying neurobiology of an amnesiac who suffered from profound memory loss after damage to key portions of his brain. In a new paper, researchers recount the case of EP, a man who suffered radical memory loss and dysfunction following a bout of viral encephalitis.
Stem Cell Transplant Restores Memory, Learning
April 22, 2013 12:21 pm | News | CommentsFor the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that helped mice regain the ability to learn and remember. A new study shows that human stem cells can successfully implant themselves in the brain and then heal neurological deficits.
Finding the Needle in a Haystack
April 22, 2013 12:13 pm | News | CommentsA contact lens on the bathroom floor, an escaped hamster in the backyard, a car key in a bed of gravel: How are we able to focus so sharply to find that proverbial needle in a haystack? Scientists ave discovered that when we embark on a targeted search, various visual and non-visual regions of the brain mobilize to track down a person, animal or thing.
Hologram-like 3-D Brain Decodes Migraine Pain
April 19, 2013 11:00 am | News | CommentsWielding a joystick and wearing special glasses, pain researcher Alexandre DaSilva rotates and slices apart a large, colorful, 3-D brain floating in space before him. Despite the white lab coat, it appears DaSilva's playing the world's most advanced virtual video game.
Individual Neurons Linked to Aggression Regulation in Flies
April 18, 2013 3:51 pm | by Harvard Medical School | News | CommentsScientists have long pondered the roots of aggression—and ways to temper it. Now, new research is beginning to illuminate the cellular-level circuitry responsible for modulating aggression in fruit flies, with the hope of someday translating the findings to humans.
Memory Loss Reversed in Animal Brains
April 18, 2013 11:09 am | News | CommentsNeuroscientists have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Using sea snail nerve cells, the scientists reversed memory loss by determining when the cells were primed for learning.
Rat Brain ‘GPS’ Maps Routes to Rewards
April 17, 2013 12:46 pm | News | CommentsWhile studying rats’ ability to navigate familiar territory, scientists found that one particular brain structure uses remembered spatial information to imagine routes the rats then follow. Their discovery has implications for understanding why damage to that structure, called the hippocampus, disrupts specific types of memory and learning in people with Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline.
Acute Stress is Good for the Brain
April 17, 2013 11:42 am | News | CommentsOverworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side: Some stress is good for you. New research has uncovered exactly how acute stress– short-lived, not chronic– primes the brain for improved performance. In studies on rats, researchers found that significant, but brief stressful events caused stem cells in their brains to proliferate into new nerve cells.
Colic May be Early Form of Migraines
April 16, 2013 4:49 pm | by LINDSEY TANNER - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe distressing nonstop crying in babies with colic is often blamed on tummy trouble, but a new study says the problem could be linked with migraine headaches in at least some infants. Children and teens treated for migraine headaches at three hospitals in Italy and France were much more likely than other kids to have had colic in infancy.
Junk DNA Isn’t Really Junk
April 16, 2013 12:24 pm | News | CommentsSpecific DNA once dismissed as junk plays an important role in brain development and might be involved in several devastating neurological diseases, scientists have found. Their discovery in mice is likely to further fuel a recent scramble by researchers to identify roles for long-neglected bits of DNA within the genomes of mice and humans alike.
New Organizational Brain Model Can Benefit Stroke Rehab
April 16, 2013 11:44 am | News | CommentsA new model of brain lateralization for movement could dramatically improve the future of rehabilitation for stroke patients, according to researchers who proposed and confirmed the model through novel virtual reality and brain lesion experiments.
Anxious About Life? Tylenol May do the Trick
April 16, 2013 11:38 am | News | CommentsResearchers have found a new potential use for the over-the-counter pain drug Tylenol. Typically known to relieve physical pain, the study suggests the drug may also reduce the psychological effects of fear and anxiety over the human condition, or existential dread.
Doctors Can ‘See’ Pain
April 10, 2013 5:02 pm | by MARILYNN MARCHIONE - AP Chief Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsIn a provocative new study, scientists reported Wednesday that they were able to “see” pain on brain scans and, for the first time, measure its intensity and tell whether a drug was relieving it. Though the research is in its early stages, it opens the door to a host of possibilities.
Mouse Brains Made Transparent
April 10, 2013 1:29 pm | by MALCOLM RITTER - AP Science Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsTalk about clearing your head: Stanford University scientists have found a way to make see-through mouse brains. You take the brain out of the mouse, soak it in chemicals for a couple of days, and voila: It becomes transparent. That's not just a parlor trick.
Researchers Create Next-gen Alzheimer’s Model
April 10, 2013 10:18 am | News | CommentsA new genetically engineered lab rat that has the full array of brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease supports the idea that increases in a molecule called beta-amyloid in the brain causes the disease, according to a new study.
Resetting the Addicted Brain
April 9, 2013 2:29 pm | by Christina Smith | Articles | CommentsA drug-induced similarity between the brains of rats and the brains of humans led National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) researchers to a procedure that effectively wipes away compulsive cocaine addiction in rats—and they discovered a similar approach to curing human drug addiction along the way.
New Brain Cancer Treatment is More Effective, Less Toxic
April 9, 2013 10:00 am | News | CommentsA Phase 2 clinical trial, described this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, tested a new protocol for treating a relatively rare form of brain cancer, primary CNS lymphoma, that may change the standard of care for this disease, according to doctors who led the research.
NFL, Ex-players Prep for Concussion Battle
April 8, 2013 3:09 am | by MARYCLAIRE DALE - Associated Press - Associated Press | News | CommentsWith perhaps billions of dollars at stake, a hearing Tuesday over concussion litigation filed against the NFL promises to be a brawl between legal heavyweights. About 4,200 former players have sued the league. Some suffer from dementia, depression, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological problems. Others simply want their health monitored.
Genetic Markers ID Second Alzheimer’s Pathway
April 5, 2013 10:32 am | News | CommentsResearchers have identified a new set of genetic markers for Alzheimer’s that point to a second pathway through which the disease develops.
Lead Poisoning Stats Hiked to 1 in 38 Kids
April 4, 2013 1:31 pm | by MIKE STOBBE - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsMore than half a million U.S. children are now believed to have lead poisoning, roughly twice the previous high estimate, health officials reported Thursday.
Brain Decline Signs Found Before Dementia Symptoms
April 4, 2013 10:31 am | News | CommentsResearchers have used a brain-imaging tool and stroke risk assessment to identify signs of cognitive decline early on in individuals who don't yet show symptoms of dementia.
Obama Proposes $100M For Brain Mapping Project
April 3, 2013 8:50 am | by NEDRA PICKLER AND MALCOLM RITTER | News | CommentsPresident Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed an effort to map the brain's activity in unprecedented detail, as a step toward finding better ways to treat such conditions as Alzheimer's, autism, stroke and traumatic brain injuries.
New Brain Cancer Treatment Uses Bone Marrow Cells
April 2, 2013 10:22 am | News | CommentsIn a first-of-its-kind experiment using microvesicles generated from mesenchymal bone marrow cells (MSCs) to treat cancer, neurological researchers have discovered a novel approach for treatment of tumors.
