Brain

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have determined that a copper compound known for decades may form the basis for a therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

In a new study just published in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists from Australia, the United States (Oregon), and the United Kingdom showed in laboratory animal tests that oral intake of this compound significantly extended the lifespan and improved the locomotor function of transgenic mice that are genetically engineered to develop this debilitating and terminal disease.

PHILADELPHIA - Using powerful, newly developed cell culture and mouse models of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has demonstrated that immunotherapy with specifically targeted antibodies may block the development and spread of PD pathology in the brain.

"Once we realized the importance of endothelial signaling in the regulation of blood flow in the brain," Hillman adds, "we wondered whether overlooking the vascular endothelium might have led researchers to misinterpret their results."

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The human mind can rapidly absorb and analyze new information as it flits from thought to thought. These quickly changing brain states may be encoded by synchronization of brain waves across different brain regions, according to a new study from MIT neuroscientists.

The researchers found that as monkeys learn to categorize different patterns of dots, two brain areas involved in learning — the prefrontal cortex and the striatum — synchronize their brain waves to form new communication circuits.

Scientists from The University of Manchester have identified an important trigger that dictates how cells change their identity and gain specialised functions.

And the research, published today in Cell Reports, has brought them a step closer to being able to decode the genome.

The scientists have found out how embryonic stem cell fate is controlled which will lead to future research into how cells can be artificially manipulated.

June 12, 2014 – Chairs provide great support during long meetings, but they may also be holding us back. Standing during meetings boosts the excitement around creative group processes and reduces people's tendency to defend their turf, according to a new study that used wearable sensors.

HANOVER, N.H. – June 12, 2014 – A new Dartmouth study shows 12 minutes of exercise can improve attention and reading comprehension in low-income adolescents, suggesting that schools serving low-income populations should work brief bouts of exercise into their daily schedules.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — In a remarkable series of experiments on a fungus that causes cryptococcal meningitis, a deadly infection of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain, investigators at UC Davis have isolated a protein that appears to be responsible for the fungus' ability to cross from the bloodstream into the brain.

Fighting off illness- rather than the illness itself- causes sleep deprivation and affects memory, a new study has found.

University of Leicester biologist Dr Eamonn Mallon said a common perception is that if you are sick, you sleep more.

But the study, carried out in flies, found that sickness induced insomnia is quite common.

The research has been published in the journal PeerJ at: http://peerj.com/articles/434

Women with weight problems were more impulsive than average in a food-related psychology test, a new research paper has shown. This suggested that they are more instinctively stimulated by images of food as well as lacking contemplative will power. Further, some women reported food craving even if they had eaten recently, a symptom of possible food addiction.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- When people get together in groups, unusual things can happen — both good and bad. Groups create important social institutions that an individual could not achieve alone, but there can be a darker side to such alliances: Belonging to a group makes people more likely to harm others outside the group.

This news release is available in Spanish.

The study apparatus required that one chimpanzee (in the dyadic condition) or two chimpanzees (in the triadic condition) remove a barrier in order for another chimpanzee to simultaneously pull in a tray baited with food. The apparatus was mounted to the outdoor enclosure, allowing the chimpanzees to come and go as they wanted within each one-hour session.

Teens who tried to act cool in early adolescence were more likely than their peers who didn't act cool to experience a range of problems in early adulthood, according to a new decade-long study. The study, by researchers at the University of Virginia, appears in the journal Child Development.

While cool teens are often idolized in popular media—in depictions ranging from James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause to Tina Fey's Mean Girls—seeking popularity and attention by trying to act older than one's age may not yield the expected benefits, according to the study.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 11, 2013 – Spectrum Health is the first health system in Michigan and among the first in the nation to successfully implant a recently FDA-approved device that uses electric stimulation of the brain to treat adult epilepsy patients whose seizures have not responded to medication.