http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new study led by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers is the first to identify a genetic risk factor for persistent pain after traumatic events such as motor vehicle collision and sexual assault. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-persistent-pain-stressful-events-neurobiological.html Medical research Thu, 02 May 2013 13:37:35 EST news286720647 One of the defining characteristics of autism is difficulty communicating with others. However, it is unclear whether those struggles arise only from the poor social skills commonly associated with autism, or whether autistic children suffer from more specific linguistic impairments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-reveals-linguistic-deficits-autistic-children.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:34:51 EST news285928484 Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of South Florida have found that when given together, a two-drug combination acts synergistically in test animals modeled with sarcoma tumors. They report that the drug combination of MK-1775 and gemcitabine resulted in a 70 percent decrease in the tumor volume when compared to receiving one drug or the other. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-two-drug-combo-effective-sarcomas.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:54:47 EST news284738079 Newborn babies' immune system development and levels of vitamin D have been found to vary according to their month of birth, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-month-birth-impacts-immune.html Neuroscience Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:00:03 EST news284645156 People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have cognitive problems, or problems with memory, attention, and concentration, have more damage to areas of the brain involved in cognitive processes than people with MS who do not have cognitive problems, according to a study published in the March 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-ms-related-memory-attention-problems.html Neuroscience Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:01:37 EST news281808088 Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a genetic mutation that may underlie common behaviors seen in some people with autism, such as difficulty communicating and resistance to change. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-autism-behaviors-linked-gene.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:18:40 EST news279911901 Asthmatic children in New York City neighborhoods with high rates of asthma make many more visits to the emergency room (ER) than those who live in other parts of the city. While socioeconomic factors such as lack of adequate preventive care are part of the equation (high-asthma neighborhoods tend to be lower income), new research points to a possible biological basis for the disparity. Asthmatic children living in asthma hotspots were twice as likely to experience a common symptom known as exercise-induced wheeze than were those in neighborhoods with lower asthma rates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-kids-asthma-hotspots-nyc-er.html Pediatrics Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:20:01 EST news274903068 A doctor-patient relationship built on trust and empathy doesn't just put patients at ease – it actually changes the brain's response to stress and increases pain tolerance, according to new findings from a Michigan State University research team. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-doc-empathy-patients-pain-tolerance.html Health Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:03:38 EST news273773004 In a column appearing in the current issue of the journal Nature, McLean Hospital biostatistician Nicholas Lange, ScD, cautions against heralding the use of brain imaging scans to diagnose autism and urges greater focus on conducting large, long-term multicenter studies to identify the biological basis of the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-brain-imaging-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:17:34 EST news271077435 Teenage girls with severe antisocial behaviour show abnormal changes in the structure of their brains, according to a study published today. The findings support previous studies in boys that suggested the brains of teenagers with behaviour problems may operate differently, and they could also explain why boys are more likely than girls to develop behaviour problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-brain-teenage-girls-severe.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:10:50 EST news270285013 A University of Utah survey of judges in 19 states found that if a convicted criminal is a psychopath, judges consider it an aggravating factor in sentencing, but if judges also hear biological explanations for the disorder, they reduce the sentence by about a year on average. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-psychopaths-biology.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:00:01 EST news264343934 (HealthDay) -- One out of 11 school-aged children is diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and up to 40 percent of those kids may display symptoms in preschool, an expert says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-adhd-evident-preschool-expert.html Attention deficit disorders Wed, 01 Aug 2012 19:10:01 EST news263057939 Researchers at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) and several collaborating institutions have linked mutations in specific genes to each of the four recognized subtypes of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor of children. The discovery, reported July in the journal Nature, provides doctors with potential biomarkers for guiding and individualizing treatment and reveals prospective therapeutic opportunities for countering this devastating malignancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-key-mutations-medulloblastoma-common.html Cancer Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:00:12 EST news262178469 Neuroscience might seem to have little to do with economics, but over the last decade researchers have begun combining these disparate fields, mining the latest advances in brain imaging and genetics to get a better understanding of the biological basis for human behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-science-economics.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:33:08 EST news250255977 A gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-treatment-tuberculosis-patients-genetics.html Genetics Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:15:31 EST news247850117 Over the first few years of life, human cognition continues to develop, soaking up information and experiences from the environment and far surpassing the abilities of even our nearest primate relatives. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified extended synaptic development in the human brain relative to other primates, a finding that sheds new light on the biology and evolution of human cognition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-synaptic-cognitive-edge-primates.html Genetics Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:08 EST news247337372 Hispanic children are more likely than those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and are more likely to die of their disease. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has pinpointed genetic factors behind the grim statistics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-inherited-factors-childhood-leukemia-common.html Cancer Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:02:48 EST news247165360 Auditory working memory and attention, for example the ability to hear and then remember instructions while completing a task, are a necessary part of musical ability. But musical ability is also related to verbal memory and literacy in childhood. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions shows how auditory working memory and musical aptitude are intrinsically related to reading ability, and provides a biological basis for this link. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-musical-aptitude-ability.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:00:01 EST news238044344 New research provides the best evidence to date that the late-day anxiety and agitation sometimes seen in older institutionalized adults, especially those with dementia, has a biological basis in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-sundowning-anxiety-syndrome-elderly-dementia.html Medical research Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:00:06 EST news228393340 (Medical Xpress) -- In the last couple of years scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research have developed new strategies to stimulate individual brain cells with light. Optogenetic technologies were named "Method of the Year" by the leading scientific journal Nature Methods in 2010. FMI scientists not only apply this to meet their biomedical needs but refine the tool as well. A recent publication in PNAS is further testimony to this distinctive expertise at the FMI. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-forefront-optogenetics.html Medical research Tue, 24 May 2011 12:39:02 EST news225459527