Tag: brain

From the time of early infancy, humans are endowed with the capacity to approximate the number of objects in their visual field, an ability that continues throughout life and may underlie the development of more complex mathematical skills. For years, scientists have explored how people estimate numerical quantities without physically counting objects one by one,

In a first-of-its kind study, neurologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) tested the use of non-invasive electrical stimulation as a novel therapeutic approach to brain tumors. In an experiment published in Science Advances, the scientists—led by Emiliano Santarnecchi, Ph.D., principal investigator at the Berenson-Allen Center For Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation at BIDMC—demonstrated that applying

Stop focusing on concussions: ANY head hits to football players can severely damage the brain and lead to CTE – whether they are concussed or not, study finds Researchers examined 38 college football players, only two of whom had concussions during the course of the season  They found damage to the midbrain’s white matter even

It’s a big, scary world out there, and as parents, we try to do everything we can to keep our kiddos safe. After all, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. But according to a new study, the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries in children are hidden in plain sight, and

Women really DO have a ‘mother’s instinct’: Study on female mice reveals their brain cells are activated when exposed to the ‘love hormone’ that helps parents bond with their child Occurred when exposed to oxytocin, which is linked to mother-baby bonding Brain cells found in the area of the organ that regulates maternal behaviour  Could

Is the brain capable of distinguishing a voice from the specific sounds it utters? In an attempt to answer this question, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, – in collaboration with the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands—devised pseudo-words (words without meaning) spoken by three voices with different pitches. Their aim? To observe how

The annual cost of chronic pain in the United States is estimated to be more than $635 billion in direct medical costs, lost productivity and disability programs. One in five adults—50 million Americans—report living in chronic pain. The increasing number of patients is leading to a major push to develop non-opioid treatments for chronic pain.

Scientists discover a hunger ‘switchboard’ in the brain – and may soon be able to turn your appetite ‘on’ or ‘off’ Researchers at the University of Arizona discovered a complex network of brain regions that communicate to tell us when we are hungry or sated They found that they could use chemicals to turn ‘off’

Researchers have shown that higher intelligence and younger age are predictors of greater cognitive recovery 2-5 years post-mild to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). In contrast, injury severity, as measured by the duration of post-traumatic amnesia, was not associated with greater or worse long-term cognitive recovery, as supported by a study published in Journal of

The strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease is the apolipoprotein E type 4 allele (ApoE ε4). Research presented by Manish Paranjpe at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) used positron emission tomography (PET) to show that women who are ApoE ε4 carriers and already experiencing mild

Toddler’s cricked neck turned out to be a sign of a BRAIN TUMOUR that doctors only spotted when her mother showed them a clip of her walking with her head tilted to one side Mother Kay Parsons was told Ryleigh Godfrey was sleeping awkwardly  Filmed Ryleigh walking to demonstrate she was holding her head to

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered how a dangerous parasite maintains a steady supply of nutrients while replicating inside of its host cell: it calls for delivery. Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite capable of infecting any animal, including humans. Up to one-third of infections in people happen through contact with cat

Scientists at Harvard University and the Broad Institute’s Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research have made a major advance in the development of human brain ‘organoids’: miniature, 3-D tissue cultures that model a patient’s own brain cells in a dish. Their new method, published in Nature, consistently grows the same types of cells, in the same

An international team of researchers from Western Sydney University, Harvard University, Kings College, Oxford University and University of Manchester have found the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in specific areas of cognition, which may reflect changes in the brain, affecting our attentional capacities, memory processes, and social interactions. In a first of

Neonatal exposure to nicotine alters the reward circuity in the brains of newborn mice, increasing their preference for the drug in later adulthood, report researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine in a study published “in press” April 24, 2019 in Biological Psychiatry. A UC San Diego School of Medicine team of

A novel imaging technique that uses a synthesized form of scorpion venom to light up brain tumors has shown promise in a clinical trial. The imaging system enables neurosurgeons to better see malignant growths that often are difficult to fully eliminate. Results from the multi-institutional clinical trial, led by investigators from Cedars-Sinai and sponsored by

A new study funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Navy finds that veterans and service members with a history of combat-related mild traumatic brain injury—compared with those in a control group—have much higher levels of abnormally fast brain waves in a region that plays a key role in consciousness. The findings

MIT researchers have performed the first comprehensive analysis of the genes that are expressed in individual brain cells of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The results allowed the team to identify distinctive cellular pathways that are affected in neurons and other types of brain cells. This analysis could offer many potential new drug targets for Alzheimer’s,

University of Toronto researchers used a novel data-mining approach to uncover the most common medical problems affecting people in the time before they suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The results can be used to better predict and prevent these life-altering incidents. Professor Michael Escobar, a biostatistician at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health,

A short session of brain zapping can reverse some of the effects of aging in older adults, a new study suggests. The technique isn't ready for non-experimental use yet, and it's not clear how long the benefits last. But the study authors said they hope that their findings will set the stage for improving cognition