Bird's playlist could signal mental strengths and weaknesses

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DURHAM, N.C. -- Having the biggest playlist doesn't make a male songbird the brainiest of the bunch, a new study shows.

"For songbirds, singing a lot of songs indicates a bird is smart, but that signal is not necessarily indicative of intelligence for everything," said Duke biologist Steve Nowicki.

Reducing caloric intake delays nerve cell loss

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Washington, DC — Activating an enzyme known to play a role in the anti-aging benefits of calorie restriction delays the loss of brain cells and preserves cognitive function in mice, according to a study published in the May 22 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day guide researchers to discover drug alternatives that slow the progress of age-associated impairments in the brain.

Integrating mental health care into HIV care

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Drugs found to both prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease in mice

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Researchers at USC have found that a class of pharmaceuticals can both prevent and treat Alzheimer's Disease in mice.

The drugs, known as "TSPO ligands," are currently used for certain types of neuroimaging.

"We looked at the effects of TSPO ligand in young adult mice when pathology was at an early stage, and in aged mice when pathology was quite severe," said lead researcher Christian Pike of the USC Davis School of Gerontology. "TSPO ligand reduced measures of pathology and improved behavior at both ages."

Enrichment therapy effective among children with autism, UCI study finds

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Irvine, Calif., May 21, 2013 — Children with autism showed significant improvement after six months of simple sensory exercises at home using everyday items such as scents, spoons and sponges, according to UC Irvine neurobiologists.

They found that a treatment known as environmental enrichment led to notable gains in male subjects between the ages of 3 and 12. Results appear online in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Poliovirus vaccine trial shows early promise for recurrent glioblastoma

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DURHAM, N.C. – An attack on glioblastoma brain tumor cells that uses a modified poliovirus is showing encouraging results in an early study to establish the proper dose level, researchers at Duke Cancer Institute report.

The treatment, developed at Duke and tested in an ongoing phase 1 study, capitalizes on the discovery that cancer cells have an abundance of receptors that work like magnets drawing the poliovirus, which then infects and kills the cells.

Waiting for a sign? Researchers find potential brain 'switch' for new behavior

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ANN ARBOR—You're standing near an airport luggage carousel and your bag emerges on the conveyor belt, prompting you to spring into action. How does your brain make the shift from passively waiting to taking action when your bag appears?

Finding a family for a pair of orphan receptors in the brain

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Researchers at Emory University have identified a protein that stimulates a pair of "orphan receptors" found in the brain, solving a long-standing biological puzzle and possibly leading to future treatments for neurological diseases.

The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Early Edition.

Common food supplement fights degenerative brain disorders

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Widely available in pharmacies and health stores, phosphatidylserine is a natural food supplement produced from beef, oysters, and soy. Proven to improve cognition and slow memory loss, it's a popular treatment for older people experiencing memory impairment. Now a team headed by Prof. Gil Ast and Dr. Ron Bochner of Tel Aviv University's Department of Human Molecular Genetics have discovered that the same supplement improves the functioning of genes involved in degenerative brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease and Familial Dysautonomia (FD).

Study looks at risk factors for rupture or bleeding of arachnoid cysts in children

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