Brain

Playing games against a computer activates different brain areas from those activated when playing against a human opponent. Research published in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience has shown that the belief that one is playing against a virtual opponent has significant effects on activation patterns in the brain.

BOSTON (February 3, 2009, 5:00 p.m. ET) — A study reveals that the severity of learning disorders may depend not only on the child's environment but also – remarkably – on the mother's environment when she was young. The study in memory-deficient mice, published in the February 4 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, was led by Larry Feig, PhD, professor of biochemistry at Tufts University School of Medicine and member of the biochemistry and neuroscience programs at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University.

(Chicago) - A new study by researchers from Rush University Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine using mice indicate that a child's memory and the severity of learning disorders may be affected by what his or her mother did when she was a child.

Findings from the study will be published in the February 4th issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

(WASHINGTON, February 3, 2009) – Green tea products have become regarded as a valuable health supplement, as studies have shown evidence of its benefit against a variety of diseases, including cancer. However, a new study suggests that some components of green tea may counteract the anticancer effects of one cancer therapy, bortezomib (Velcade®), and may be contraindicated for patients taking this medicine to ensure its maximum therapeutic benefit.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In 2005, a woman who had trouble sleeping asked Siong-Chi Lin, M.D., for help. Dr. Lin, a sleep disorders specialist at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida, diagnosed restless legs syndrome. This common neurologic disorder interrupts sleep because of unpleasant sensations in the legs at rest, especially in the evening, that are temporarily relieved by movement.

A team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators has developed a group of chemical compounds that could represent a new class of drugs for treating cancer.

The compounds are the first selective inhibitors of the protein phospholipase D (PLD), an enzyme that has been implicated in multiple human cancers including breast, renal, gastric and colorectal.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are one gene closer to understanding schizophrenia and related disorders. Reporting in the Jan. 9 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the team describes how a variation in the neuregulin 3 gene influences delusions associated with schizophrenia.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 3, 2009 -- Despite the striking aromatic differences between coffee, peppermint, and pine, a new mapping of the nose's neural circuitry suggests a haphazard patchwork where the receptors for such disparate scents are as likely as not to be neighbors.

Inexplicably, this seemingly random arrangement is faithfully preserved across individuals and even species, with cells that process the same scent located in precisely the same location on the olfactory bulb, the brain's first processing station for odors.

(Boston)-Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Brandeis University have completed a qualitative study on the cultural environment in medical schools and how this may affect medical faculty vitality, professionalism and general productivity ultimately influencing the delivery of health care. This study appeared in the January issue of Academic Medicine.

Self-concept may be defined as the totality of perceptions that each person has of themselves, and this self identity plays an important role in the psychological functioning of everyone. To date, however, there has been no investigation into the relationship that physical self-concept has with psychological well-being or psychological unwellness.

It is possible to improve writing skills for those with aphasia with the aid of computerised writing aids. This is the conclusion of a doctoral thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Tampa, Fla. (Feb. 3rd, 2009) – Oral tissue engineering for transplantation to aid wound healing in mouth (oral cavity) reconstruction has taken a significant step forward with a Netherlands-based research team's successful development of a gum tissue (gingival) substitute that can be used for reconstruction in the oral cavity. Their work was reported in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (17:10/11).

MADISON — By shifting a normal protective mechanism into overdrive, a University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist has completely shielded mice from a toxic chemical that would otherwise cause Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a disabling and sometimes fatal disease that afflicts 1.5 million Americans, with about 60,000 new cases annually. Its major symptoms, including tremors and sluggish movement, have been traced to death of small numbers of nerve cells in the substantia nigra, a brain region that helps regulate movement.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Humans and mice are both good at assessing risk in everyday tasks, according to a study by Rutgers University scientists published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Fuat Balci, David Freestone and Charles R. Gallistel, report that when it comes to figuring out in a few seconds which of two locations is the best place to be to collect a reward, mice and humans are about equally proficient.

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A Northwestern University-led research team reports that insulin, by shielding memory-forming synapses from harm, may slow or prevent the damage and memory loss caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease.

The findings, which provide additional new evidence that Alzheimer's could be due to a novel third form of diabetes, will be published online the week of Feb. 2 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).