http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have determined the precise anatomical coordinates of a brain "hot spot," measuring only about one-fifth of an inch across, that is preferentially activated when people view the ordinary numerals we learn early on in elementary school, like "6" or "38." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-scientists-brain-area-numeral-recognition.html Neuroscience Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:28:32 EST news285352105 A compact, self-contained sensor recorded and transmitted brain activity data wirelessly for more than a year in early stage animal tests, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to allowing for more natural studies of brain activity in moving subjects, this implantable device represents a potential major step toward cord-free control of advanced prosthetics that move with the power of thought. The report is in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Neural Engineering. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-wireless-implanted-sensor-broadens-range.html Neuroscience Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:03:13 EST news282909706 The Human Connectome Project, a five-year endeavor to link brain connectivity to human behavior, has released a set of high-quality imaging and behavioral data to the scientific community. The project has two major goals: to collect vast amounts of data using advanced brain imaging methods on a large population of healthy adults, and to make the data freely available so that scientists worldwide can make further discoveries about brain circuitry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-human-connectome-major-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:00:01 EST news281701740 The brain adds new cells during puberty to help navigate the complex social world of adulthood, two Michigan State University neuroscientists report in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-brain-cells-puberty-adult-world.html Neuroscience Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:08 EST news281623908 Hunger, thirst, stress and drugs can create a change in the brain that transforms a repulsive feeling into a strong positive "wanting," a new University of Michigan study indicates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-repulsive-desires.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:45:37 EST news279391526 (Medical Xpress)—Imagine you are driving a car, and the harder you press on the accelerator, the harder an invisible foot presses on the brake. That's what happens when obese people diet – the less food they eat, the less energy they burn, and the less weight they lose. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-brain-circuit-hard-obese-people.html Medical research Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:59:07 EST news279370741 Addiction may result from abnormal brain circuitry in the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls decision-making. Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science in Japan collaborating with colleagues from the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University in Canada report today that the lateral and orbital regions of the frontal cortex interact during the response to a drug-related cue and that aberrant interaction between the two frontal regions may underlie addiction. Their results are published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fmri-uncovers-neural-mechanism-underlying.html Neuroscience Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:00:12 EST news278590198 A new finding in neuroscience for the first time points to a developmental mechanism linking the disease-causing mutation in an autism-related disorder, Timothy syndrome, and observed defects in brain wiring, according to a study led by scientist Ricardo Dolmetsch and published online yesterday in Nature Neuroscience. These findings may be at the heart of the mechanisms underlying intellectual disability and many other brain disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-discovery-autism-related-disorder-reveals-key.html Neuroscience Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:08:08 EST news277376881 A specific pattern of neuronal firing in a brain reward circuit instantly rendered mice vulnerable to depression-like behavior induced by acute severe stress, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has found. When researchers used a high-tech method to mimic the pattern, previously resilient mice instantly succumbed to a depression-like syndrome of social withdrawal and reduced pleasure-seeking – they avoided other animals and lost their sweet tooth. When the firing pattern was inhibited in vulnerable mice, they instantly became resilient. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-stress-resilience-susceptibility-neurons-reward-circuit.html Neuroscience Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:50:46 EST news274553424 Trauma in infancy and childhood shapes the brain, learning, and behavior, and fuels changes that can last a lifetime, according to new human and animal research released today. The studies delve into the effects of early physical abuse, socioeconomic status (SES), and maternal treatment. Documenting the impact of early trauma on brain circuitry and volume, the activation of genes, and working memory, researchers suggest it increases the risk of mental disorders, as well as heart disease and stress-related conditions in adulthood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-early-childhood-trauma-visible-toll.html Neuroscience Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:18:37 EST news269612309 Mother rats respond much differently to cocaine than female rats that have never given birth, according to new University of Michigan research that looks at both behavior and brain chemistry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-motherhood-dampen-cocaine-effects.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:30:02 EST news269513061 Research released today helps reveal how human and primate brains process and interpret facial expressions, and the role of facial mimicry in everything from deciphering an unclear smile to establishing relationships of power and status. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-brain-facial-emotions.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:53:59 EST news269524382 Soldiers should be given regular periods of respite to recover from combat exposure, experts argue, following the findings of a Dutch study of NATO soldiers returning from deployment in Afghanistan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-rest-periods-crucial-soldiers-brains.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:16:47 EST news265961788 Doctors have long recognized a link between alcoholism and anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Those who drink heavily are at increased risk for traumatic events like car accidents and domestic violence, but that only partially explains the connection. New research using mice reveals heavy alcohol use actually rewires brain circuitry, making it harder for alcoholics to recover psychologically following a traumatic experience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-heavy-rewires-brain-susceptibility-anxiety.html Neuroscience Sun, 02 Sep 2012 13:00:08 EST news265786335 (Medical Xpress) -- Having a fat head may not be a bad thing, according to new findings at The Johns Hopkins University. As reported in the February 9 issue of Neuron, Hopkins researchers have made a significant discovery as to how adding fat molecules to proteins can influence the brain circuitry controlling cognitive function, including learning and memory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-memories.html Neuroscience Tue, 08 May 2012 05:40:17 EST news255674406 A personality profile marked by overly gregarious yet anxious behavior is rooted in abnormal development of a circuit hub buried deep in the front center of the brain, say scientists at the National Institutes of Health. They used three different types of brain imaging to pinpoint the suspect brain area in people with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by these behaviors. Matching the scans to scores on a personality rating scale revealed that the more an individual with Williams syndrome showed these personality/temperament traits, the more abnormalities there were in the brain structure, called the insula. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-friendly-fault-tense-personality-traits.html Neuroscience Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:27:52 EST news251465251 A key feature of human and animal brains is that they are adaptive; they are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input. For example, if a person puts his hand in a fire and gets burned, he learns to avoid flames; the simple sight of a flame has acquired a predictive value, which in this case, is repulsive. To learn more about such neural adaptability, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have explored the brains of insects and identified a mechanism by which the connections in their brain change to form new and specific memories of smells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-mechanism-associative-memory-exploring-insect.html Neuroscience Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:56:02 EST news246808549 (AP) -- Chennel King, a nurse from Norwalk, Conn., went Christmas shopping the other day with a new holiday companion: a budget. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-brain-strain-christmas-money-tight.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:26:55 EST news243433582 Neuron transplants have repaired brain circuitry and substantially normalized function in mice with a brain disorder, an advance indicating that key areas of the mammalian brain are more reparable than was widely believed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-rebuild-brain-circuitry.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:00:01 EST news241361994 Australian scientists have developed a new technique using stem cells, in the hope to replace damaged cells in Parkinson's disease. The technique could be developed for application in other degenerative conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-stem-cell-brain-parkinson-disease.html Medical research Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:07:54 EST news240235667 (Medical Xpress) -- What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-scientists-brain-circuitry-linked-healthy.html Neuroscience Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:00:31 EST news239200577 A new study using MRI scans, led by Professor Jianfeng Feng, from the University of Warwick's Department of Computer Science, has found that depression frequently seems to uncouple the brain's "Hate Circuit". The study entitled "Depression Uncouples Brain Hate Circuit" is published today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-mri-depression-uncouples-brain-circuit.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:46:36 EST news236922372 When it comes to the circuits that make up the olfactory system, it seems that less is more. Much like the addition and elimination of extra synapses that helps fine-tune brain circuitry, the olfactory system continues to produce and remove neurons throughout life. Yet it is not entirely clear how and why some newborn neurons are preserved while others are eliminated. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the September 8 issue of the journal Neuron reveals that both olfactory experience during feeding and a subsequent period of rest contribute to both the likelihood that a new olfactory neuron will escape elimination and be incorporated into existing circuitry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-sensory-rest-survival-newborn-neurons.html Neuroscience Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:58:53 EST news234619120 A leading University of Chicago researcher on empathy is launching a project to understand psychopathy by studying criminals in prisons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-neural-basis-psychopathy.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:50:04 EST news231417707