Brain | Page 915 | Science Codex

Natural birth -- but not C-section -- triggers brain-boosting proteins

Vaginal birth triggers the expression of a protein in the brains of newborns that improves brain development and function in adulthood, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, who also found that this protein expression is impaired in the brains of offspring delivered by caesarean section (C-sections).

These findings are published in the August issue of PLoS ONE by a team of researchers led by Tamas Horvath, the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Research and chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

Study: One week of therapy may help reorganize brain, reduce stuttering

MINNEAPOLIS – Just one week of speech therapy may reorganize the brain, helping to reduce stuttering, according to a study published in the August 8, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The Chinese study gives researchers new insights into the role of different brain regions in stuttering, which affects about one percent of adults.

Simple mathematical computations underlie brain circuits

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The brain has billions of neurons, arranged in complex circuits that allow us to perceive the world, control our movements and make decisions. Deciphering those circuits is critical to understanding how the brain works and what goes wrong in neurological disorders.

Scientists show 2-drug combination has potential to fight cocaine addiction

LA JOLLA, CA, August 8, 2012 – A fine-tuned combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs has shown promise as a potential new therapy for people addicted to cocaine—a therapy that would reduce their craving for the drug and blunt their symptoms of withdrawal.

In laboratory experiments at The Scripps Research Institute, the potential therapy, which combines low doses of the drug naltrexone with the drug buprenorphine, made laboratory rats less likely to take cocaine compulsively—a standard preclinical test that generally comes before human trials.

MBNL1 study sheds light on causes of impaired brain function in muscular dystrophy

Molecular missteps that disrupt brain function in the most common form of adult-onset muscular dystrophy have been revealed in a new study published by Cell Press. Myotonic dystrophy is marked by progressive muscle wasting and weakness, as well as excessive daytime sleepiness, memory problems, and mental retardation. A new mouse model reported in the August 9 issue of the journal Neuron reproduces key cognitive and behavioral symptoms of this disease and could be used to develop drug treatments, which are currently lacking.

Boys appear to be more vulnerable than girls to the insecticide chlorpyrifos

A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys had greater difficulty with working memory, a key component of IQ, than girls with similar exposures. On the plus side, having nurturing parents improved working memory, especially in boys, although it did not lessen the negative cognitive effects of exposure to the chemical.

Feeling fat may make you fat

They're everywhere -- in magazines, on the Internet, on television—people with super-thin bodies who are presented as having the ideal body form. But despite the increasing pressure to be thin, more and more of us are overweight. Now, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found that normal weight teens who perceive themselves as fat are more likely to grow up to be fat.

Weather prediction task: Learning achievement with and without stress

Stressed and non-stressed persons use different brain regions and different strategies when learning. This has been reported by the cognitive psychologists PD Dr. Lars Schwabe and Professor Oliver Wolf from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in the Journal of Neuroscience. Non-stressed individuals applied a deliberate learning strategy, while stressed subjects relied more on their gut feeling. "These results demonstrate for the first time that stress has an influence on which of the different memory systems the brain turns on," said Lars Schwabe.

New model synapse could shed light on disorders such as epilepsy and anxiety

A new way to study the role of a critical neurotransmitter in disorders such as epilepsy, anxiety, insomnia, depression, schizophrenia, and alcohol addiction has been developed by a group of scientists led by Gong Chen, an associate professor of biology at Penn State University. The new method involves molecularly engineering a model synapse -- a structure through which a nerve cell send signals to another cell. This model synapse can precisely control a variety of receptors for the neurotransmitter called GABA, which is important in brain chemistry.

Brain activity a predictor of teens' heavy drinking

Heavy drinking is known to affect teenagers' developing brains, but certain patterns of brain activity may also help predict which kids are at risk of becoming problem drinkers, according to a study in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

BUSM/VA Boston Healthcare System investigators identify new gene linked to PTSD

(Boston) – Investigators at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have identified a new gene linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The findings, published online in Molecular Psychiatry, indicate that a gene known to play a role in protecting brain cells from the damaging effects of stress may also be involved in the development of PTSD.

Searching for tumors or handguns can be like looking for food

DURHAM, N.C. -- If past experience makes you think there's going to be one more cashew at the bottom of the bowl, you're likely to search through those mixed nuts a little longer.

But what keeps the attention of a radiologist who sees just 70 suspicious lesions in 1,000 mammograms or a baggage screener who hasn't found a handgun in more than a year?

The answer, according to biological theory and a laboratory study conducted by Duke University psychologists, may be to make those professional searchers believe there are more targets to be found.

Children's healthy diets lead to healthier IQ

Children fed healthy diets in early age may have a slightly higher IQ, while those on heavier junk food diets may have a slightly reduced IQ, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.

What makes Paris look like Paris? Carnegie Mellon software finds stylistic core

PITTSBURGH—Paris is one of those cities that has a look all its own, something that goes beyond landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and INRIA/Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris have developed visual data mining software that can automatically detect these sometimes subtle features, such as street signs, streetlamps and balcony railings, that give Paris and other cities a distinctive look.

Making it easier to learn to read

This press release is available in German.