Brain

Specific cells within the immune system could help explain why younger people are more susceptible to variant CJD, scientists believe.

Patients diagnosed with variant CJD are, on average, 28 years old but it has been unclear why older people are not as affected by the disease.

Research at The Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh has identified specific cells within the immune system that attract corrupted proteins – known as prions – linked to variant CJD and encourage them to multiply and spread.

Our brains, it turns out, are eco-friendly. A study published in Science and reviewed by F1000 Biology members Venkatesh Murthy and Jakob Sorensen reveals that our brains have the amazing ability to be energy efficient.

Brain cells generate and propagate nerve impulses, or action potentials, by controlling the flow of positive sodium and potassium ions in and out of the cells. Re-establishing the ion equilibrium after an action potential requires energy.

Rugby players worldwide could benefit from a new virtual reality training programme created at Queen's University Belfast.

Team members from Ulster Rugby have been working with researchers in the School of Psychology at Queen's on a range of virtual training scenarios that test expert players' perceptual skills.

Using medication that reduces or blocks the actions of folic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy (weeks 1-12), increases the risk that the growing baby will develop abnormalities. This conclusion was reached by a team of Epidemiologists, Paediatricians, Clinical Pharmacologists, Obstetricians and Gynaecologists who examined birth and abortion data collected in Israel between 1998 and 2007.

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, October, 13, 2009 – Pregnant women are advised to take vitamin supplements containing folic acid as part of their routine pre-natal care. Now, a new study warns that taking medications that reduce or block the actions of folic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy increase the risk that the growing baby will develop abnormalities. The large collaborative cohort study was conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

People often eat food to feel better, but researchers have found that eating chocolate or drinking water can blunt pain, reducing a rat's response to a hot stimulus. This natural form of pain relief may help animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food, but in modern humans with readily available food, the effect may contribute to overeating and obesity.

Chicago, Ill. (October 13, 2009) – Women with breast cancer reduced stress and improved their mental health and emotional well being through the Transcendental Meditation technique, according to a new study published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Integrative Cancer Therapies (Vol. 8, No. 3: September 2009).

Video game players are often accused of passively reacting to tasks that are spoon fed to them through graphics and stimuli on the screen. A group of researchers from Iowa State University shows that playing lots of video games has different effects on two types of cognitive activity, proactive and reactive attention.

Can social networking sites help people make wise health decisions? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says it depend on people's willingness to take action on the information they gain from the sites.

October 13, 2009 Charleston, S.C.--A new neurosurgical procedure may prove helpful for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Bilateral epidural prefrontal cortical stimulation (EpCS) was found generally safe and provided significant improvement of depressive symptoms in a small group of patients, according to lead researcher Ziad Nahas, M.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina. The data are reported in the on-line issue of Biological Psychiatry.

Princeton University researchers have come up with a new twist on the mysterious visual phenomenon experienced by humans known as the "uncanny valley." The scientists have found that monkeys sense it too.

The uncanny valley, a phrase coined by a Japanese researcher nearly three decades ago, describes that disquieting feeling that occurs when viewers look at representations designed to be as human-like as possible -- whether computer animations or androids -- but somehow fall short.

Court cases across America often feature expert testimony that offers conflicting conclusions. When this happens in cases involving psychiatric expertise, does it mean that one side or the other is necessarily being less than honest?

A new study from the University of Cincinnati College of Law says the answer is no, and, for the first time, offers up mathematical modeling methods to back up that conclusion.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A Duke University Medical Center researcher who spent years looking for the signals that prompt the brain to form new connections between neurons has found one that may explain precisely how a well-known drug for epilepsy and pain actually works.

The finding may also point to new therapies for brain injury and neuropathic pain.

LA JOLLA, CA—The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral cortex—the outermost layer of neurons commonly referred to as gray matter—are created equal, soon they irrevocably commit to forming specific cortical regions. But how the stem cells' destiny is determined has remained an open question.

How do people choose a name for their child? Researchers have long noted that the overall popularity of a name exerts a strong influence on people's preferences—more popular names, such as Robert or Susan, are more frequent and, by their sheer ubiquity, drive more parents to adopt a similar choice. However, new research by psychologists at New York University and Indiana University, Bloomington suggests that the change in popularity of a name over time increasingly influences naming decisions in the United States.