http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. "Eat your veggies" has been an admonition of parents through the ages, but newly published brain research from the University of Georgia provides one of the best reasons why. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pigment-eye-key-obesity-vision.html Health Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:10:01 EST news286180857 Mapping the human brain, with its billions of neurons, is one of science's most elusive projects. But a new federal program—the $100 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative—could help neuroscientists at MIT and other institutions unlock some of the brain's mysteries. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-expert-discusses-brain-affect-neuroscience.html Neuroscience Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:12:02 EST news286017113 If Don Stein were the kind of man who listened to what others said, he would have shut down his lab years ago. The Emory neuroscientist spent more than two decades investigating progesterone as a treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI)—a pursuit that was unappreciated at best and maligned at worst. A naturally occurring hormone was too simple a solution to too complex a problem, according to the prevailing wisdom. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hormone-brain-injury.html Medical research Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:11:03 EST news286017053 President 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. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-obama-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:40:40 EST news284107222 The key hallmark of Parkinson's disease is a slowdown of movement caused by a cutoff in the supply of dopamine to the brain region responsible for coordinating movement. While scientists have understood this general process for many years, the exact details of how this happens are still murky. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-pathway-affected-brain-cells.html Neuroscience Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:29:57 EST news282385787 All too often, stress turns addiction recovery into relapse, but years of basic brain research have provided scientists with insight that might allow them develop a medicine to help. A new study in the journal Neuron pinpoints the neural basis for stress-related relapse in rat models to an unprecedented degree. The advance could accelerate progress toward a medicine that prevents stress from undermining addiction recovery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-stress-induced-drug-relapse-rats.html Neuroscience Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:00:13 EST news281792676 Brain images from newborns are giving scientists a glimpse of the future - not just into the lives of their tiny subjects but also paths to treatment for adult patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-infant-brains-imply-adult-ills.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 16:10:02 EST news281200504 (Medical Xpress)—In a surprise breakthrough, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and their colleagues have found that microglia remove healthy neural progenitor cells (NPCs) through phagocytosis to control neuron production during brain development. This newly discovered mechanism keeps neuron numbers in check, preventing brain overgrowth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-microglia-neuron-production-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:49:44 EST news281180973 Learning, memory and habits are encoded in the strength of connections between neurons in the brain, the synapses. These connections aren't meant to be fixed, they're changeable, or plastic. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-good-habits-bad-neuroscientist-roots.html Autism spectrum disorders Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:03:52 EST news280242206 Two years ago, researcher Josef Bless was listening to music on his phone when he suddenly had an idea. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-brain-test-app.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:29:34 EST news279538167 Hugging someone can help reduce stress, fear and anxiety, has a lowering effect on blood pressure, promotes wellbeing and improves memory performance. These positive effects are caused by the secretion of the peptide oxytocin – but only when we are hugged by someone we know very well. Hugging strangers can have the opposite effect, as neurophysiologist Jürgen Sandkühler, Head of the Centre for Brain Research at the Medical University of Vienna, points out in anticipation of "National Hug Day" on 21st January 2013. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-good.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:40:01 EST news277719270 (Medical Xpress)—An important method for brain research and diagnosis is magnetoencephalography (MEG). But the MEG systems are so expensive that not all EU countries have one today. A group of Swedish researchers are now showing that MEG can be performed with technology that is significantly cheaper than that which is used today – technology that can furthermore provide new knowledge about the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-advanced-brain-cheaper.html Neuroscience Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:39:22 EST news274700345 Conventional wisdom in brain research says that you just used your hippocampus to answer that question, but that might not be the whole story. The context of place depends on not just how you got there, but also the things you see around you. A new study in Neuron provides evidence that a different part of the brain is important for understanding where you are based on the spatial layout of the objects in that place. The finding, in rats, has a direct analogy to primate neuroanatomy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-brain-rats-region-associates-space.html Neuroscience Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:00:10 EST news273926105 A potential new therapeutic strategy for treating Fragile X syndrome is detailed in a new report appearing in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, from researchers led by Dr. Lucia Ciranna at University of Catania in Italy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-next-generation-treatments-fragile-syndrome.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:14:36 EST news273410066 New evidence indicates that Parkinson's disease is preceded by a period during which healthy regions of the brain take over the functions of damaged ones. Neurologist Bart van Nuenen performed a unique study involving people who are clinically still healthy and free from disease manifestations, but who have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life due to their genetic predisposition. Van Nuenen will defend his PhD thesis based on this study on 22 November. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-compensation-brain-treatment.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:18:33 EST news272017099 (Medical Xpress)—Research by scientists from the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland has uncovered new information about the mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), to be published in the next issue of the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-advances-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:40:01 EST news271495490 (Medical Xpress)—UC Santa Barbara has reported an important discovery in the interdisciplinary study of split-brain research. The findings uncover dynamic changes in brain coordination patterns between left and right hemispheres. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-tools-reveal-split-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:31:20 EST news271063858 Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-neuroscientists-brain-region-habits.html Neuroscience Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:55:51 EST news270801659 Blood-circulating immune cells can take over the essential immune surveillance of the brain, this is shown by scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen. Their study, now published in PNAS, might indicate new ways of dealing with diseases of the nervous system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-immune-cells-blood-dysfunctional-brain.html Medical research Mon, 22 Oct 2012 10:40:01 EST news270119780 A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-calcium-reveals-neurons.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Oct 2012 12:33:45 EST news269695996 A century and a half ago, French physician Pierre Paul Broca found that patients with damage to part of the brain's frontal lobe were unable to speak more than a few words. Later dubbed Broca's area, this region is believed to be critical for speech production and some aspects of language comprehension. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-neuroscientists-broca-area-subunits-function.html Neuroscience Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:40:53 EST news269592007 New studies presented today offer vivid examples of how advances in basic brain research help reduce the trauma and suffering of innocent landmine victims, amateur and professional athletes, and members of the military. The research was presented today 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-traumatic-injury-citizens-soldiers.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Oct 2012 10:32:54 EST news269515968 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists at The University of Auckland's Centre for Brain Research have succeeded in converting human skin cells directly into immature brain cells (or neural precursor cells). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-crucial-advance-stem-cell-human.html Medical research Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:22:33 EST news267949313 Brain metastases are common secondary complications of other types of cancer, particularly lung, breast and skin cancer. The body's own immune response in the brain is rendered powerless in the fight against these metastases by inflammatory reactions. Researchers at the MedUni Vienna have now, for the first time, precisely characterised the brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases. This could pave the way to the development of new, less aggressive treatment options. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-brain-immune-response-metastasized-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 25 Sep 2012 08:10:47 EST news267779434 An innovative multi-modal treatment programme for tinnitus will be trialled by researchers from the Centre for Brain Research at The University of Auckland, in a study made possible by a donation from Link Research and Grants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-aims-auditory-tinnitus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:08:36 EST news267178009 (Medical Xpress)—A drug designed for diabetes sufferers could have the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, a study by scientists at the University of Ulster has revealed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-experimental-diabetes-drug-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:12:20 EST news266854314 A new study led by MIT neuroscientists has found that brain scans of patients with social anxiety disorder can help predict whether they will benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-brain-scans-doctors-treatments-people.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:43:23 EST news266128991 The Allen Institute for Brain Science convened the first ever Allen Brain Atlas Hackathon last week, opening its doors to a diverse group of programmers and informatics experts for a non-stop week of collaboration, learning and coding based on its public online platform of data, tools and source code. The event brought together more than 30 participants from top universities and institutes ranging from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston to the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Poland, as well as from start-ups and established technology companies, to develop data analysis strategies and tools based on the newly enhanced Allen Brain Atlas application programming interface (API). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-first-ever-allen-brain-atlas-hackathon.html Neuroscience Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:40:04 EST news259847908 (Medical Xpress) -- How do we build a memory in the brain? It is well known that for animals (and humans) new proteins are needed to establish long-term memories. During learning information is stored at the synapses, the junctions connecting nerve cells. Synapses also require new proteins in order to show changes in their strength (synaptic plasticity). Historically, scientists have focused on the cell body as the place where the required proteins are synthesized. However, in recent years there has been increasing focus on the dendrites and axons (the compartments that meet to form synapses) as a potential site for protein synthesis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-global-local-roles-protein-synthesis.html Neuroscience Thu, 10 May 2012 06:53:34 EST news255851578 Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered a new stem cell in the adult brain. These cells can proliferate and form several different cell types - most importantly, they can form new brain cells. Scientists hope to take advantage of the finding to develop methods to heal and repair disease and injury in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-stem-cell-brain.html Medical research Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:30:01 EST news254136349