Brain

March 7, 2016 - Used in combination, two innovative rehabilitation approaches can promote better long-term recovery of arm and hand movement function in stroke survivors, suggests a paper in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a novel mechanism that could be used to protect the brain from damage due to stroke and a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

NEW YORK, NY (March 7, 2016) - A study published today in Health Affairs found that while 14 of the nation's 24 medical marijuana programs were essentially nonmedical in practice, they enrolled more than 99 percent of overall participants. Fewer than one percent were enrolled in "medicalized" programs that adhere to accepted professional standards in medicine.

More than one million people participate in medical marijuana programs in the United States.

BOSTON (March 7, 2016)--Nutrition scientists at the Jean Mayer U. S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University with support from AARP Foundation are introducing an updated MyPlate for Older Adults icon today. The updated icon emphasizes the nutritional needs of older adults in a framework of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Although Huntington's disease is caused by mutations in a single gene, understanding how it ravages the brain and body has been anything but simple.

A new study by Duke University scientists parses the role of the Huntington's disease gene in an area of the brain responsible for complex, sequential movements like those used to talk to a friend, play the violin, or swing a golf club.

Records of Spanish shipwrecks combined with tree-ring records show the period 1645 to 1715 had the fewest Caribbean hurricanes since 1500, according to new University of Arizona-led research. The study is the first to use shipwrecks as a proxy for hurricane activity.

The researchers found a 75 percent reduction in the number of Caribbean hurricanes from 1645-1715, a time with little sunspot activity and cool temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere.

Adult mice don't need the gene that, when mutated in humans, causes the inherited neurodegenerative disorder Huntington's disease.

The finding suggests that treatment strategies for Huntington's that aim to shut off the huntingtin gene in adults -- now in early clinical stages -- could be safe.

The results are scheduled for publication Monday, March 7 in PNAS.

Our eyes constantly send bits of information about the world around us to our brains where the information is assembled into objects we recognize. Along the way, a series of neurons in the eye uses electrical and chemical signals to relay the information. In a study of mice, National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists showed how one type of neuron may do this to distinguish moving objects. The study suggests that the NMDA receptor, a protein normally associated with learning and memory, may help neurons in the eye and the brain relay that information.

• People lose ability to express themselves and understand language
• Imaging shows first early view of plaque strangling neurons on left side of brain
• Goal is to diagnose language dementia during life to guide treatment

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY'S HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS--When Leonardo DiCaprio accepted his Oscar for Best Actor in "The Revenant" this year, he acknowledged the hard work of the movie's entire team. But such generosity isn't always the case. On large teams--such as big film production crews--size can lead people to inflate their own contributions while diminishing their team members' work.

New Orleans, LA - For the first time, researchers at LSU Health New Orleans have shown that a protein critical to the body's ability to remove waste products from the brain and retina is diminished in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), after first making the discovery in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. The research team, led by Walter Lukiw, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center, also discovered a key reason, identifying a new treatment target.

So you had a terrible day at work. Or the bills are piling up and cash is in short supply. Impending visit from the in-laws, perhaps?

When stress sets in, many of us turn to a partner to help us manage by being a sounding board or shoulder to cry on. Your odds of actually feeling better are much improved if they're both those things.

New research by psychologists at UC Santa Barbara reveals that simply understanding your partner's suffering isn't sufficient to be helpful in a stressful situation; you've got to actually care that they're suffering in the first place.

When a solution to a problem seems to have come to you out of thin air, it turns out you've more than likely been struck with the right idea, according to a new study.

A series of experiments conducted by a team of researchers determined that a person's sudden insights are often more accurate at solving problems than thinking them through analytically.

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a novel mechanism that could be used to protect the brain from damage due to stroke and a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

March 7, 2016 - Used in combination, two innovative rehabilitation approaches can promote better long-term recovery of arm and hand movement function in stroke survivors, suggests a paper in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.