Tag: brain

Insomnia causes the brain to ‘eat itself’ and may lead to Alzheimer’s, study finds Sleep is important to clear away brain cell ‘wear and tear’, research suggests Yet, insomnia causes this to go into overdrive and remove healthy brain cells Previous research suggests the removal of such cells is linked to Alzheimer’s The study was

SAN FRANCISCO — Many people tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, remembering the good times and the good feelings…while forgetting the bad. But a new study suggests that heavy marijuana users may have some trouble letting go of negative emotions tied to memories — a phenomenon that's also seen in people with

Loneliness changes the brain: It boosts a chemical that makes you feel fearful and aggressive, study finds The majority of Americans feel lonely, according to recent research  Loneliness not only raises the risk of mental illnesses, but of chronic physical diseases as well  Researchers discovered that increase of a particular chemical in two different parts

Lately, more and more studies have confirmed that yoga and mindfulness benefit the brain as much as the body. Just 25 minutes of yoga or mindfulness have been shown to improve brain function and boost energy levels, for example. Yoga can make you more resilient to stress, and some studies have even found the molecular

As we age, our brains tend to shrink in volume — “at a rate of around 5 percent per decade after age 40,” to be more precise. And the more they shrink, the more this seems to affect an individual’s cognitive abilities. However, there may be ways of maintaining a healthy brain volume, even as

A new tool developed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health has determined, for the first time, how two distinct sets of neurons in the mouse brain work together to control movement. The method, called spectrally resolved fiber photometry (SRFP), can be used to measure the activity of these neuron groups in both healthy

Machine learning has detected one of the commonest causes of dementia and stroke, in the most widely used form of brain scan (CT), more accurately than current methods. New software, created by scientists at Imperial College London and the University of Edinburgh, has been able to identify and measure the severity of small vessel disease,

Several studies have found that height and general cognitive ability, or intelligence, are positively associated. A recent study reveals a biological factor underlying this relationship: the size of the cerebral cortex. Reports from several studies have identified a link between height and general cognitive ability, or intelligence, but the mechanisms underlying this association are not

Investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have determined that in children receiving gadolinium as a contrast agent to enhance MRI examinations, signal changes attributed solely to deposition of this material in the brain are not dependent on the amount of gadolinium administered but rather these changes are seen in association with other factors such as

Investigators were able to halt the growth of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, by inhibiting an enzyme called CDK5, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in Cell Reports. The discovery of this enzyme’s regulatory influence on glioblastoma may open the door to a long-awaited improvement upon current therapy options, according to Subhas

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have devised what they call a “neuronal cookbook” for turning skin cells into different types of neurons. As reported today in the journal Nature, the research opens the door to studying common brain conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, addiction and Alzheimer’s disease under reproducible conditions in a dish. “The

During a stroke or an epileptic seizure, neurons in affected parts of the brain fire at an abnormally rapid rate. One byproduct of this condition is that the pH of the brain drops markedly, rendering the local environment inhospitably acidic. Using a powerful microscopy method called cryo-EM, biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have

The volume of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and calories consumed by very vulnerable preemies significantly contributes to increased brain volume and white matter development, however additional research is needed to determine specific nutritional approaches that best support these infants’ developing brains, according to research to be presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies 2018 annual meeting. During

By creating multiple types of neurons from stem cells and observing how they interact, Salk scientists have developed a new way to study the connections between brain cells in the lab. Using the technique, which generates a partial model of the brain, the team showed how communication between neurons is altered in people with schizophrenia.

Our brains are home to a staggering 86 billion or so cells that are carefully woven into the structure that lets us think, feel and live. This awe-inspiring complexity offers a glimpse into why, after many years of research, there’s still so much to be understood about the brain. And for brain tumours, the unknowns

A daytime nap promotes a false memory of words, psychologists have shown. A study by John Shaw and Professor Padraic Monaghan of Lancaster University found that sleep influenced false memories in a memory recognition test taken after a nap. They tested two groups of people, with one having slept for up to 1 hour 45

Every day we make a range of choices in the pursuit of pleasure: we do things that make us feel good or work in a specific job because it’s rewarding or pays well. These experiences help shape our perspectives on life and define our personality. Consequently, problems with our ability to manage or maintain our

Can you REALLY change your brain with drugs, supplements and apps? Experts break down the science behind mind-boosting fads Healthy people of all ages are seeking cognitive enhancement for personal, athletic, academic, and professional gains, and to keep function into old age  Siobhan Schabrun, a brain plasticity researcher at Western Sydney University, explains what works

What if human brain tissue implanted into a pig transferred some of the donor’s self-awareness and memories? Such a scenario, out of reach for now, is becoming more and more conceivable, according to a group of scientists, ethicists, and philosophers who called Wednesday for a debate on the ethics of storing and using human brain

The hippocampus is an area of the brain commonly linked with memory and dementia. But new U of T Scarborough research finds that it may also yield important clues about a range of mental health illnesses including addiction, anxiety and depression. The research, authored by a team of neuroscientists, found that a specific part of