Tag: Disorders and Syndromes

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that serum levels of two biomarkers of traumatic brain injury, tau and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1, are elevated following high-acceleration head impacts, even when there is no clinical diagnosis of concussion. Their complete findings are reported today in the Journal of Neurosurgery, in the article “Elevated markers of

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), working in collaboration with DepYmed Inc., a CSHL spinout company, today report that they have conducted promising preclinical experiments on a compound that could be used to treat Wilson’s disease and possibly other disorders — including certain types of cancer — in which levels of copper in the

Psychedelic drugs may have mind-altering powers in the physical sense, too. A new study, published June 12 in the journal Cell Reports, found psychedelics, specifically DOI, DMT, and LSD, can change brain cells in rats and flies, making neurons more likely to branch out and connect with one another. The work supports the theory that

We’ve all experienced going to bed tired and waking up refreshed, yet how that happens at the molecular level remains a mystery. An international study published today in Nature sheds new light on the biochemistry of sleep need in the brain. According to the American Sleep Association, 50 million to 70 million U.S. adults have

A systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education is needed to prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. There is no evidence that current policies, procedures, and approaches — which often focus on symbolic compliance with the law and

New findings from the long-running Whitehall II study of over 10,000 civil servants has found 50-year-olds who had blood pressure that was higher than normal but still below the threshold commonly used when deciding to treat the condition, were at increased risk of developing dementia in later life. This increased risk was seen even when

Purdue University researchers think the gap between a psychologists’ diagnosis and a patient’s self-evaluation might not be as extreme as previously perceived when both are using the same evaluation tools. The research findings are published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. They lessen concerns that people lack awareness of their own personality pathology.

A team of researchers at VIB and KU Leuven has uncovered why people with a hereditary form of Parkinson’s disease suffer from sleep disturbances. The molecular mechanisms uncovered in fruit flies and human stem cells also point to candidate targets for the development of new treatments. Sleep and Parkinson’s Parkinson’s disease affects 5 million people

Bioengineers have compiled a set of recommendations that could significantly reduce concussions and other head injuries in rugby union, having assessed how head impacts and movement vary based on the position on the body where tackles are made. The bioengineers discovered that the risks are not precisely the same for the two groups, as tacklers

A tailored lighting intervention in nursing homes can positively impact sleep, mood and behavior for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to preliminary findings from a new study. People with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias may experience sleep problems, wandering, and associated daytime irritability. This study tested whether a tailored daytime lighting intervention could improve sleep

Preliminary results from a new study show that excess heart age (EHA) appeared to be lowest among adults who reported sleeping seven hours per 24-hour period. Results show that mean adjusted EHA was lowest among adults who reported sleeping seven hours per 24-hour period. Sleeping times less than or greater than seven hours were associated

Pilot data from a recent study suggest that sleep paralysis and dream-like hallucinations as you are falling asleep or waking up are widespread in student athletes and are independently associated with symptoms of depression. This study is the first to examine the relationship between these sleep symptoms and mental health in student athletes, independent of

A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association summarizes the state-of-the-science of genomic medicine — the study of the health effects of the molecular interactions of a person’s unique genes — for studying cardiovascular traits and disorders and for therapeutic screening. “The promise of genomic medicine is to be able to use a patient’s

A portable device common in optometrists’ offices may hold the key to faster diagnosis of schizophrenia, predicting relapse and symptom severity and assessing treatment effectiveness, a Rutgers University study finds. In the study, published in the May 2018 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers used RETeval, a hand-held device developed to record electrical

Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified a neural circuit in the amygdala, the brain’s seat of emotion processing, that gives rise to anxiety. Their insight has revealed the critical role of a molecule called dynorphin, which could serve as a target for treatment of anxiety-related disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Though

Hiding in plain sight, new research shines a spotlight on the placenta’s critical role in the nature versus nurture debate and how it confers risk for schizophrenia and likely other neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD, autism, and Tourette syndrome. This new scientific frontier, with far-reaching implications for maternal and child health, creates the possibility that scientists

Being discharged from a hospital trauma center after receiving treatment for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) does not necessarily mean that a patient has fully recovered. TBI can lead to long-lasting physical and cognitive symptoms, but a new study in JAMA Network Open suggests that many patients may not be receiving follow-up care. Patients in

Using male individuals has long been a tradition in scientific mice studies. But new research enforces the importance of using a balanced population of male and female mice. In a paper published May 22 in the journal Cell Reports, scientists studying the locus coeruleus brain structure in mice unexpectedly found substantial differences in the molecular

An article published in Nature Medicine with the collaboration of the research group of Dr. Manel Esteller, director of the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), ICREA Researcher and Professor of Genetics of the University of Barcelona, and Drs. Dave Monk and Isidre Ferrer, from the same center, shows

Imagine millions of depressed Americans getting their brain activity measured and undergoing blood tests to determine which antidepressant would work best. Imagine some of them receiving “brain training” or magnetic stimulation to make their brains more amenable to those treatments. A national research trial initiated by UT Southwestern in 2012 is generating the first set