Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered a protein switch that can either increase or decrease memory-building activity in brain cells, depending on the signals it detects. Its dual role means the protein is key to understanding the complex network of signals that shapes our brain's circuitry, the researchers say. A description of their discovery appears in the July 31 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Brain
The conventional method for repair of peripheral nerve injury is autogenous nerve grafting, but sources of autogenous nerve are limited. Furthermore, neurological deficits in the donor site and painful neuroma can occur following surgery. The use of allogeneic nerve grafts is limited because of host immune rejection. As reported, tensile stress and tensile strain directly affect the quality of nerve regeneration after bridging nerve defects by poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) conduit transplantation and autogenous nerve grafting for sciatic nerve injury.
A multidisciplinary group of researchers from Finland (University of Turku and University of Helsinki) and Sweden (University of Skövde) has now found evidence that hypnotic suggestion can modify processing of a targeted stimulus before it reaches consciousness. The experiments show that it is possible to hypnotically modulate even highly automatic features of perception, such as color experience. The results are presented in two articles published in PLoS ONE and International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.
Neural stem cells transplanted into tumor-bearing rats can hinder tumor cell growth and prolife-ration; however, the mechanism remains unclear. Abnormal activation of the Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk signaling cascade plays an important role in glioma. Inhibition of this aberrant activity could effectively hinder glioma cell proliferation and promote cell apoptosis.
High-resolution multilayer X-ray computer tomography and 3.0T superconducting magnetic resonance myelography are known to obtain a more complete and continuous two-dimensional original data. Three-dimensional reconstruction nerve models are classically obtained from two-dimensional images of "visible human" frozen sections. However, because of the flexibility of nerve tissues and small color differences compared with surrounding tissues, the integrity and validity of nerve tissues can be impaired during milling.
NEW YORK CITY — A University of Portland study challenges the popular perception that there is a "new and pervasive hookup culture" among contemporary college students.
A new study reports that the incidence of ischemic stroke—the most common type of stroke, caused by a clot in the blood vessels of the brain—among non-Hispanic Whites and Mexican Americans over age 60 has declined over the past decade. Most concerning, however, is that the increased relative burden of stroke comparing Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites has not changed at all in the last decade. Overall, Mexican Americans suffer much more, 34%, from this disease than non-Hispanic Whites.
LAWRENCE - University of Kansas scientists have found that infants who were fed formula enriched with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) from birth to 12 months scored significantly better than a control group on several measures of intelligence conducted between the ages of three to six years.
One thing that sets humans apart from other animals is our ability to intelligently and rapidly adapt to a wide variety of new challenges — using skills learned in much different contexts to inform and guide the handling of any new task at hand.
Recently, Oprah Winfrey was bothered when a Swiss shop clerk refused to show her a $40,000 purse. In English of unknown quality, she said she did not think Oprah had that kind of money. Oprah said it was racism and the Swiss government apologized.
Maybe the clerk had early stages of dementia. A new study suggests that simple tests that measure the ability to recognize and name famous people such as Albert Einstein, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey may help doctors identify early dementia in people 40 to 65 years of age.
Your eyes may be a window to your stroke risk.
In a study reported in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, researchers said retinal imaging may someday help assess if you're more likely to develop a stroke — the nation's No. 4 killer and a leading cause of disability.
CHICAGO --- Simple tests that measure the ability to recognize and name famous people such as Albert Einstein, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey may help doctors identify early dementia in those 40 to 65 years of age, according to new Northwestern Medicine research.
The research appears in the August 13, 2013, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A case study using functional magnetic resonance imaging suggests that behaviorally nonresponsive patients can use selective auditory attention to convey their ability to follow commands and communicate, according to a small study by Lorina Naci, Ph.D., and Adrian M. Owen, Ph.D., of Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Some adolescents who suffer with symptoms of depression also may be at risk for developing anxiety, according to a new study of children's mental health.
The study found that among youth who have symptoms of depression, the risk is most severe for those who have one or more of three risk factors, said psychologist Chrystyna D. Kouros, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, who led the study.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The near-death experience reported by cardiac arrest survivors worldwide may be grounded in science, according to research at the University of Michigan Health System.
Whether and how the dying brain is capable of generating conscious activity has been vigorously debated.
But in this week's PNAS Early Edition, a U-M study showed shortly after clinical death, in which the heart stops beating and blood stops flowing to the brain, rats display brain activity patterns characteristic of conscious perception.