http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The stimulant drug methylphenidate "normalizes" activation of several brain areas in young patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a review published in the May Harvard Review of Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-methylphenidate-key-brain-areas-kids.html Attention deficit disorders Thu, 09 May 2013 16:09:08 EST news287334538 (Medical Xpress)—Distinct patterns of brain activity are linked to greater rates of relapse among alcohol dependent patients in early recovery, a study has found. The research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, may give clues about which people in recovery from alcoholism are most likely to return to drinking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-brain-patterns-relapse-alcoholism.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 02 May 2013 06:50:02 EST news286695340 It is possible to tell who a person is thinking about by analyzing images of his or her brain. Our mental models of people produce unique patterns of brain activation, which can be detected using advanced imaging techniques according to a study by Cornell University neuroscientist Nathan Spreng and his colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mental-picture-fmri.html Neuroscience Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:04:13 EST news281696642 Most serious traffic accidents occur when drivers are making a left-hand turn at a busy intersection. When those drivers are also talking on a hands-free cell phone, "that could be the most dangerous thing they ever do on the road," said Dr. Tom Schweizer, a researcher at St. Michael's Hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-brain-cope-left-hand-hands-free-cell.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:16:50 EST news281276204 Bipolar disorder is a severe mood disorder characterized by unpredictable and dramatic mood swings between the highs of mania and lows of depression. These mood episodes occur among periods of 'normal mood', termed euthymia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-happiness-sadness-circuits-contribute-bipolar.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:40:04 EST news277369918 (Medical Xpress)—New research from Western University provides brain imaging evidence that students well-versed in very basic single digit arithmetic (5+2=7 or 7-3=4) are better equipped to score higher on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), an examination sat by millions of students in the United States each year in preparation for college admission tests.   In findings published today in The Journal of Neuroscience (http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/1.abstract.pdf) research led by Daniel Ansari, Associate Professor in Western's Department of Psychology and a principal investigator at the Brain and Mind Institute, showed by utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on high school seniors that there was a significant link between their brain responses while solving extremely basic, single digit calculation problems and standard scores on the PSAT. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-neuroscience-reveals-link-basic-math.html Neuroscience Fri, 04 Jan 2013 07:27:11 EST news276506818 (HealthDay)—There is a significant difference in the brain's response to stress among patients with epilepsy who believe stress is an important factor in seizure control compared to those who do not, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 in San Diego. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-aes-brain-stress-response-differs.html Neuroscience Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:20:03 EST news273861547 (HealthDay)—Scientists have long thought that stress plays a role in epileptic seizures, and new evidence suggests that epilepsy patients who believe this is the case experience a different brain response when faced with a nerve-wracking situation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-link-stress-epileptic-seizures.html Neuroscience Tue, 04 Dec 2012 12:40:02 EST news273845725 Rates of childhood obesity have tripled in the past 30 years, and food marketing has been implicated as one factor contributing to this trend. Every year, companies spend more than $10 billion in the US marketing their food and beverages to children; 98% of the food products advertised to children on television are high in fat, sugar, or sodium. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers used neuroimaging to study the effects of food logos on obese and healthy weight children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-obese-children-vulnerable-food-advertising.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:00:04 EST news273435411 (Medical Xpress)—A gene that confers a higher risk for dementia in old age could also promote better-than-average memory and verbal skills in youth, according to a new University of Sussex-led study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-alzheimer-gene-boost-young-brains.html Neuroscience Tue, 13 Nov 2012 07:20:01 EST news272009657 There are a growing number of clues that immune and inflammatory mechanisms are important for the biology of schizophrenia. In a new study in Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Mar Fatjó-Vilas and colleagues explored the impact of the interleukin-1β gene (IL1β) on brain function alterations associated with schizophrenia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-inflammation-cognition-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:49:59 EST news270985603 Mathematics anxiety can prompt a response in the brain similar to when a person experiences physical pain, according to new research at the University of Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-people-math-brain-pain.html Neuroscience Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:10:02 EST news270931390 An Indiana University study has provided preliminary evidence that by measuring brain activity through the use of neuroimaging, researchers can predict who is likely to have an easier time getting off drugs and alcohol, and who will need extra help. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-relapse-recovery-neuroimaging-substance-addiction.html Neuroscience Sun, 14 Oct 2012 12:19:06 EST news269435938 A new study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience by researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas and UT Southwestern found brain-based differences in how women with and without anorexia perceive themselves. The findings shed light on how brain pathways function in ill and fully recovered individuals who have had anorexia nervosa. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-brain-function-differences-women-anorexia.html Neuroscience Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:40:29 EST news267090011 Managers and non-managers show distinctly different brain activation patterns when making decisions, according to research published Aug. 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-managerial-role-automatic-decision-making.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:13:09 EST news264874371 Researchers at the Mayo Clinic say a common condition called leukoaraiosis, made up of tiny areas in the brain that have been deprived of oxygen and appear as bright white dots on MRI scans, is not a harmless part of the aging process, but rather a disease that alters brain function in the elderly. Results of their study are published online in the journal Radiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-harmless-condition-shown-brain-function.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 Aug 2012 03:36:09 EST news264047756 Neuroscientists have found strong evidence that vivid memory and directly experiencing the real moment can trigger similar brain activation patterns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-vivid-memory-real-perceptual-mental.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:26:51 EST news262265200 What can explain extreme differences in altruism among individuals, from Ebenezer Scrooge to Mother Teresa? It may all come down to variation in the size and activity of a brain region involved in appreciating others' perspectives, according to a study published in the July 12th issue of the journal Neuron. The findings also provide a neural explanation for why altruistic tendencies remain stable over time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-individual-differences-altruism-brain-region.html Neuroscience Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:00:02 EST news261222914 (HealthDay) -- Children with autism given a squirt of a nasal spray containing the hormone oxytocin showed more activity in brain regions known to be involved with processing social information, a small study found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-nasal-hormone-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:02 EST news256399301 Obesity is increasing worldwide in adults and children and is currently viewed by many as one of the most serious threats to public health. It is likely that solutions to the obesity pandemic will require changes in public policy and that scientific insight into obesity will be invaluable for guiding those changes. Now, a new review of human brain imaging studies published by Cell Press in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests that a major reason for the dramatic increase in obesity may be a heightened sensitivity to heavily advertised and easily accessible high-calorie foods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-heightened-sensitivity-cheap-high-calorie-food.html Medical research Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:00:01 EST news252845334 A pioneering new study finds that a specific type of computerized cognitive training can lead to significant neural and behavioral improvements in individuals with schizophrenia. The research, published by Cell Press in the February 23 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that 16 weeks of intensive cognitive training is also associated with improved social functioning several months later and may have far-reaching implications for improving the quality of life for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric illness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-reality-brain-behavior-schizophrenia.html Neuroscience Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:01:41 EST news249138056 Only by employing complex machine-learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans were researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, in her way, communicate accurately. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-cognitive-abilities-severely-brain-injured-patients.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:40:01 EST news248372678 People visit social networking sites such as Facebook for many reasons, including the positive emotional experience that people enjoy and want to repeat, according to an article in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-facebook-elevates-mood.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:08:35 EST news247842468 Researchers have long known that specific parts of the brain activate when people view particular images. For example, a region called the fusiform face area turns on when the eyes glance at faces, and another region called the parahippocampal place area does the same when a person looks at scenes or buildings. However, it's been unknown whether such specialization also exists for visual working memory, a category of memory that allows the brain to temporarily store and manipulate visual information for immediate tasks. Now, scientists have found evidence that visual working memory follows a more general pattern of brain activity than what researchers have shown with initial visual activity, instead activating a more diffuse area in the front of the brain for all categories of visual stimuli. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-visual-memory-specialized-brain-encoding.html Neuroscience Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:17:21 EST news247767426 Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have identified abnormalities in the brains of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that may serve as a biomarker for the disorder, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-functional-brain-pathways-disrupted-children.html Attention deficit disorders Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:56:55 EST news241664185 Women who survive breast cancer show significant neurological impairment, and outcomes appear to be significantly poorer for those treated with chemotherapy, according to a report in the November issue of the Archives of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-neurological-function-impairment-breast-cancer.html Neuroscience Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:25:53 EST news240510346 Carriers of the so-called KIBRA T allele have better memories than those who don't have this gene variant. This means we can reject the theory that the brain of a non-bearer compensates for this. This is shown by researchers from Umea University in The Journal of Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-variant-memory-brain.html Neuroscience Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:23:47 EST news238065794 A low level of response (LR) to alcohol is a genetically influenced characteristic, or phenotype, that reflects at least in part a low brain response to alcohol, and carries significant risk for the later development of alcoholism. This study addressed the physiological underpinnings of a low and high LR, finding significant differences in brain activation during a cognitive task, possibly reflecting differences in the amount of brain activity used to deal with a cognitive challenge. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-genetically-responses-alcohol-affect-brain.html Medical research Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:30:15 EST news237828606 Seeing and exploring both are necessary for stability in a person's episodic memory when taking in a new experience, say University of Oregon researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-personal-memory.html Neuroscience Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:28:06 EST news233245674 A University of Colorado Boulder research team has developed a new software program allowing neuroscientists to produce single brain images pulled from hundreds of individual studies, trimming weeks and even months from what can be a tedious, time-consuming research process. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-software-advance-brain-image.html Medical research Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:51:36 EST news228387066