Brain

A University of Rochester Medical Center study challenges common assumptions about the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), by showing that in some people, surprisingly high levels remain in the body even after fasting for as long as 24 hours. The finding suggests that BPA exposure may come from non-food sources, or that BPA is not rapidly metabolized, or both.

The journal Environmental Health Perspectives published the research online January 28, 2009.

Is it possible to share a pain that you observe in another but have never actually experienced yourself? A new study uses a sophisticated brain-imaging technique to try and answer this question. The research, published by Cell Press in the January 29th issue of the journal Neuron, provides insight into brain mechanisms involved in empathy.

DALLAS – Jan. 28, 2009 – Mice with increased levels of a natural brain chemical don't gain weight when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

The chemical, orexin, works by increasing the body's sensitivity to the "weight-loss hormone," leptin, the researchers report.

Finding a way to boost the orexin system may prove useful as a therapy against obesity, said Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa, professor of molecular genetics at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, which appears in the January issue of Cell Metabolism.

The remarkable honey bee can tell the difference between different numbers at a glance. A fresh, astonishing revelation about the 'numeracy' of insects has emerged from new research by an international team of scientists from The Vision Centre, in Australia, published January 28 in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

Researchers have found the first evidence that athletes who were concussed during their earlier sporting life show a decline in their mental and physical processes more than 30 years later.

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don't do their most agile thinking under stress. The findings, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that 20 male M.D. candidates in the middle of preparing for their board exams had a harder time shifting their attention from one task to another than other healthy young men who were not under the gun.

A new brain imaging study illustrates what happens to memories as time goes by. The study, in the January 28 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, shows that distinct brain structures are involved in recalling recent and older events.

Using a measure of the hormone N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) to guide therapy for older patients with heart failure did not improve overall clinical or quality of life outcomes compared to patients receiving conventional symptom-guided therapy, according to a study in the January 28 issue of JAMA.

(TAMPA, FLA) – Leading medical experts at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) reported today that nine-year NFL veteran, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Tom McHale was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by head trauma, when he died in 2008 at the age of 45. In addition, the CSTE has discovered early evidence of CTE in the youngest case to date, a recently deceased 18-year-old boy who suffered multiple concussions in high school football.

Diabetics have a significantly greater risk of dementia, both Alzheimer's disease — the most common form of dementia — and other dementia, reveals important new data from an ongoing study of twins. The risk of dementia is especially strong if the onset of diabetes occurs in middle age, according to the study.

"Our results . . . highlighted the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle during adulthood in order to reduce the risk of dementia late in life," explained Dr. Margaret Gatz, who directs the Study of Dementia in Swedish Twins.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have found a surprising link between brain iron levels and serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in neuropsychiatric conditions ranging from autism to major depression.

Appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, the study by Randy Blakely, Ph.D., and colleagues also demonstrates the utility of a powerful in silico approach for discovering novel traits linked to subtle genetic variation.

Quebec City, January 27, 2009—A research team including Serge Rivest of University Laval's Faculty of Medicine has demonstrated the existence of a type of cells that limits brain damage after a stroke. The study was recently published in the online version of Nature Medicine.

Laboratory experiments showed that three days after a stroke, the affected area of the brain is 20% larger in mice without regulatory T (Treg) cells than in normal mice. Effects on locomotor control are also more severe in mice lacking this type of cells.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A newly developed mathematical model that figures out the best strategy to win the popular board game CLUE© could some day help robot mine sweepers navigate strange surroundings to find hidden explosives.

Atlanta, GA – January 27, 2009 – press release – The new antiepileptic drug Vimpat® (lacosamide) demonstrated significantly fewer seizures in adult partial-onset epilepsy patients whose seizures were inadequately controlled despite taking up to three other AEDs, according to a Phase III clinical study published online in Epilepsia.

In the study, seizure reduction was measured by:

Primary Endpoints

Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University associate research scientist Melha Mellata, a member of professor Roy Curtiss' team, is leading a USDA funded project to develop a vaccine against a leading poultry disease called avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC).