http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Minimally invasive autopsies, using a combination of MRI scans and other techniques, such as blood tests, can accurately determine the cause of death in fetuses and babies nearly as well as conventional autopsies, according to new research published in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-mri-autopsies-alternative-conventional-techniques.html Other Wed, 15 May 2013 18:30:02 EST news287856721 (Medical Xpress)—One way to increase our understanding of bilateral brains, like our own, is to inspect their paired sensory systems. In our visual system, the optic nerves normally combine at a place called the optic chiasm. Here half the fibers from each eye cross over to the opposite hemisphere. When this natural partition fails to develop normally, the system compensates in different ways. In people with albinism, for example, almost all of the fibers fully cross at the chiasm. As a result, images are combined in the brain in such a way that full depth of vision is limited. Their eyes also may move slightly independent of each other, or dart back and forth in a condition known as nystagmus. When the opposite situation occurs, that in which the optic nerves do not cross at all during their development, it is called congenital achiasma. An individual with this rare condition was recently studied with different forms MRI. The results, reported in the journal Neuropsychologia, show that achiasma can occur as an isolated defect, lacking any structural abnormalities in other pathways that cross the midline. The study also demonstrated that the part of the cortex that first receives the visual input, the primary visual cortex, does not rely on information from the opposite side to perform its immediate functions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-congenitally-absent-optic-chiasm-visual.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:10:02 EST news285262412 A new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique may provide neurosurgeons with a non-invasive tool to help in mapping critical areas of the brain before surgery, reports a study in the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-non-invasive-localize-language-centers-brain.html Neuroscience Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:39:51 EST news284643582 A mutual curiosity about patterns of growth and development in pig brains has brought two University of Illinois research groups together. Animal scientists Rod Johnson and Ryan Dilger have developed a model of the pig brain that they plan to use to answer important questions about human brain development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-pig-brain-insights-human-cognitive.html Neuroscience Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:27:40 EST news282482819 (HealthDay)—Even though expensive MRIs produce very detailed images for assessing back pain, they may not be very good at evaluating results after treatment, research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-spine-mris-harmless-defects.html Medical research Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:43:24 EST news282418997 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 Every year an estimated 1.5 million magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are performed in Canada and the number is growing at a rate of about 10 per cent per year. At the same time, a soaring number of Canadians who rely on implanted defibrillators to keep their hearts beating are denied this valuable, life-saving diagnostic test despite a 50 to 75 per cent probability that they will require one over the lifetime of their defibrillator. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-mri-friendly-defibrillator-implant-doors-thousands.html Cardiology Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:02:34 EST news278672533 Some brain changes that are found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, and autism can also be seen in the brain scans of newborns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-genes-alzheimer-mental-illness-linked.html Neuroscience Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:00:01 EST news276360077 (HealthDay)—Almost half of patients whose primary care physicians recommend a lumbosacral or cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan go on to receive a surgical consultation, but few end up undergoing spinal surgery, according to research published in the Jan. 1 issue of Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-surgery-common-mri-spine.html Surgery Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:05:29 EST news276354292 Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a new way of looking at standard MRI scans that more accurately measures damage to the blood-brain barrier in stroke victims, a process they hope will lead to safer, more individualized treatment of blood clots in the brain and better outcomes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-mri-analysis-complications-clot-busters.html Cardiology Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:00:01 EST news275244898 A method of analyzing brain structure using advanced computer algorithms accurately predicted 76 percent of the time whether a patient had lower back pain in a new study by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-quest-method-pain.html Neuroscience Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:20:02 EST news274987369 Blocking a single tiny blood vessel in the brain can harm neural tissue and even alter behavior, a new study from the University of California, San Diego has shown. But these consequences can be mitigated by a drug already in use, suggesting treatment that could slow the progress of dementia associated with cumulative damage to miniscule blood vessels that feed brain cells. The team reports their results in the December 16 advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-smallest-brain-tissue-impair-cognitive.html Neuroscience Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:00:01 EST news274883979 Recent combat veterans who are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller volume in an area of the brain critical for regulating fear and anxiety responses, according to research led by scientists at Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-ptsd-linked-smaller-brain-area.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:00:10 EST news271337293 With the U.S. presidential election just days away, new research from the University of South Carolina provides fresh evidence that choosing a candidate may depend more on our biological make-up than a careful analysis of issues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-neuroscience-reveals-brain-differences-republicans.html Neuroscience Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:00:33 EST news270982801 Exercising regularly in old age may better protect against brain shrinkage than engaging in mental or social activities, according to a new study published in the October 23, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Research suggests that brain shrinkage may lead to problems with memory and thinking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-trump-mental-brain-shrinkage.html Neuroscience Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:00:09 EST news270136497 A European team of scientists have built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain. The project's final results have the potential to change the face of neuroscience and medicine over the coming decade. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-micro-structure-atlas-human-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:45:41 EST news269862191 (Medical Xpress)—At the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, young recruits learn a new language at a very fast pace. By measuring their brains before and after the language training, a group of researchers have had an almost unique opportunity to observe what happens to the brain when we learn a new language in a short period of time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-language-brain.html Neuroscience Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:47:37 EST news268919236 Not everyone is able to be hypnotized, and new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows how the brains of such people differ from those who can easily be. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-sleepy-hypnosis-doesnt.html Neuroscience Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:49:41 EST news268501769 A new light-based technique for measuring levels of the toxic protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) has been used to demonstrate that the protein builds up gradually in blood cells. Published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the findings shed light on how the protein causes damage in the brain, and could be useful for monitoring the progression of HD, or testing new drugs aimed at suppressing production of the harmful protein. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-toxic-protein-build-up-blood-huntington.html Neuroscience Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:00:07 EST news267096211 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 A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys had greater difficulty with working memory, a key component of IQ, than girls with similar exposures. On the plus side, having nurturing parents improved working memory, especially in boys, although it did not lessen the negative cognitive effects of exposure to the chemical. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-boys-vulnerable-girls-insecticide-chlorpyrifos.html Health Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:52:36 EST news263649142 Heavy drinking is known to affect teenagers' developing brains, but certain patterns of brain activity may also help predict which kids are at risk of becoming problem drinkers, according to a study in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-brain-teens-heavy.html Addiction Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:20:01 EST news263569223 Scientists led by the President of The University of Manchester have demonstrated a drug which can dramatically limit the amount of brain damage in stroke patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-treatments-reality.html Neuroscience Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:20:37 EST news262516830 Severe psychological and physical neglect produces measurable changes in children's brains, finds a study led by Boston Children's Hospital. But the study also suggests that positive interventions can partially reverse these changes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-mri-social-deprivation-effect-brain.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:00:21 EST news262261678 Tiny magnetic particles may help doctors track cells in the body to better determine if treatments work, according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-tiny-magnetic-particles-heart-treatments.html Cardiology Tue, 10 Jul 2012 16:04:04 EST news261155044 The medication fingolimod reduced inflammatory lesion activity and reduced brain volume loss in patients with multiple sclerosis who participated in a two-year placebo-controlled clinical trial and were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-fingolimod-therapy-patients-multiple-sclerosis.html Neuroscience Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:00:03 EST news260456972 (HealthDay) -- Tests performed on a group of retired NFL players revealed that more than 40 percent suffered from problems such as depression and dementia, adding to a growing pile of evidence that repeated sports-related head traumas can lead to lasting neurological issues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-nfl-players-evidence-brain.html Health Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:30:01 EST news260202009 New research provides the strongest evidence to date that psychopathy is linked to specific structural abnormalities in the brain. The study, published in Archives of General Psychiatry and led by researchers at King's College London is the first to confirm that psychopathy is a distinct neuro-developmental sub-group of anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-psychopathy-linked-specific-abnormalities-brain.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:08 EST news255611529 Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a defect on chromosome four where, within the Huntingtin gene, a CAG repeat occurs too many times. Most individuals begin experiencing symptoms in their 40s or 50s, but studies have shown that significant brain atrophy occurs several years prior to an official HD diagnosis. As a result, the field has sought a preventive treatment that could be administered prior to the development of actual symptoms that might delay the onset of illness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-striatal-brain-volume-huntington-disease.html Neuroscience Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:14:28 EST news254654043 Scientists are using MRI scans to see if they can determine when best to deliver babies that are not growing as fast as they should in the womb. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scans-aid-delivery-decisions.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:51:50 EST news253792298