Brain

Male friendships, portrayed and often winked at in bromance movies, could have healthful effects similar to those seen in romantic relationships, especially when dealing with stress, according to a new study of male rats by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

People with anxiety fundamentally perceive the world differently, according to a study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on March 3. They aren't simply making the choice to "play it safe."

The new study shows that people diagnosed with anxiety are less able to distinguish between a neutral, "safe" stimulus (in this case, the sound of a tone) and one that was earlier associated with the threat of money loss or gain. In other words, when it comes to emotional experiences, they show a behavioral phenomenon known as over-generalization, the researchers say.

DURHAM, N.C. -- At our best, we motivate ourselves every day to get dressed and go to work or school. Although there are larger incentives at work, it's our own volition that powers us through our innumerable daily tasks.

If we could learn to control the motivational centers of our brains that drive volition, would it lead us toward healthier, more productive lives? Using a new brain imaging strategy, Duke University scientists have now taken a first step in understanding how to manipulate specific neural circuits using thoughts and imagery.

NEW YORK--For decades, scientists have struggled to develop a comprehensive census of cell types in the brain. Now, in a pair of companion papers, researchers at Columbia's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute describe powerful new approaches to systematically identify individual classes of brain cells, or neurons, in the spinal cord.

A multicenter study led by Christian Haass and Michael Ewers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has identified a biomarker associated with the activation of an innate immune response to neural damage during early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Heidelberg, 3 March 2016 - Researchers at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) in Munich, Germany, have identified a brain inflammation marker in patients at early asymptomatic stages of Alzheimer's disease. This secreted marker molecule, which can be measured from cerebrospinal fluid taps, may provide clinicians with a rapidly detectable biomarker for the transition from preclinical Alzheimer's disease to cognitive impairment and progression to full dementia.

Our visual environment is incredibly complex. The smallest of spaces contain innumerable colours, structures and contrasts. Despite this we are able to identify objects and movements with high accuracy. Even the fruit fly, which only has a fraction of our neurons, can manage these distinctions. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now found evidence that the visual system of the fruit fly has adapted optimally to the features of the environment over millions of years.

At first glance, the brains of birds and mammals show many significant differences. In spite of that, the cognitive skills of some groups of birds match those of apes.

AURORA, Colo. (March 3, 2015) - Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that a key receptor in the brain, once thought to only strengthen synapses, can also weaken them, offering new insights into the mechanisms driving depression, drug addiction and even Alzheimer's disease.

Weakening or strengthening a synapse can have major implications both good and bad. Strengthening can sometimes be beneficial in treating Alzheimer's while at the same time causing drug addiction and contributing to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in other cases.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Children with brain cancer may soon get some help from mice with the same disease, thanks to new research from University of Michigan Medical School scientists and their colleagues.

In a new paper in Science Translational Medicine, the U-M team describes how they developed a novel brain tumor model in mice.

The mice have the same genetic problems as those seen in many children with the most dangerous forms of brain cancer. That means the mice should be able to serve as a new test bed for treatments aimed at shrinking children's tumors.

A compound that blocks iron-containing enzymes in the brain improves recovery following brain hemorrhage, a new study in rodents shows, and it works in an unexpected way. Instead of binding all free iron released from burst blood vessels, it targets a small family of iron-containing enzymes without affecting total iron - an element required for various physiological processes such as mitochondrial function, cell signaling, and cell division. Brain hemorrhage, bleeding inside the brain caused by a ruptured blood vessel that can lead to death or disability, is growing in prevalence.

High-grade glioma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Despite improvements in surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, this type of brain tumour is still notoriously hard to treat: less than 10% of patients survive beyond five years. Researchers from KU Leuven, Belgium, have now shown that next-generation cell-based immunotherapy may offer new hope in the fight against brain cancer.

Putnam Valley, NY. (March 2, 2016) - Studies scheduled to be published in the April, 2016 issue of Cell Transplantation (issue 25(4)) were presented in 2015 at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR), a society for scientists whose research is focused on understanding the causes of various neurological injuries and diseases and developing potential therapies such as cell therapy, gene therapy, and pharmacological interventions.

New research sheds light on how the rhythms of daily life are encoded in the brain. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that different groups of neurons, those charged with keeping time, become active at different times of day despite being on the same molecular clock.

The findings are published Feb. 26 in Science.

Berkeley -- New research led by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, shows for the first time that PET scans can track the progressive stages of Alzheimer's disease in cognitively normal adults, a key advance in the early diagnosis and staging of the neurodegenerative disorder.

In the process, the scientists also obtained important clues about two Alzheimer's-linked proteins - tau and beta-amyloid - and how they relate to each other.