Brain

Overweight young adults may have poorer episodic memory - the ability to recall past events - than their peers, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge, adding to increasing evidence of a link between memory and overeating.

In a preliminary study published in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers from the Department of Psychology at Cambridge found an association between high body mass index (BMI) and poorer performance on a test of episodic memory.

Research led by investigators in veterinary and human medicine has identified genetic pathways that exacerbate severity of canine compulsive disorder in Doberman pinschers, a discovery that could lead to better therapies for obsessive compulsive disorder in people. The discovery appears online in advance of print on Feb. 29, 2016 in the International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine.

Physicists at the Universities of Bonn and Oldenburg have developed a model whose behavior - although based on strict rules - can apparently change spontaneously. There are also changes of this type in nature, for example, in the development of migraine attacks or epileptic seizures. The mechanism, described for the first time by the researchers, could help to better understand extreme events such as these. The work will be published soon in the professional journal Physical Review X, and it is already available online.

The molecular intricacies of hunger and satiety, pivotal for understanding metabolic disorders and the problem of obesity, are not yet fully understood by scientists. However, new research from The Rockefeller University reveals an important new component of the system responsible for regulating food intake: a hormone called amylin, which acts in the brain to help control consumption.

Neurosurgeons at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix are involved with testing the viability of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat Alzheimer's disease, a disorder that currently has few treatment options. Results from the Phase 2 study, reported in the Journal of Neurosurgery on Dec. 18, 2015, demonstrated the safety of DBS in Alzheimer's patients.

Studies of mental health among transgender people in the United States have been consistently grim, showing higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide.

But almost nothing is known about the mental health of a new and growing generation of transgender Americans -- prepubescent children who are living openly as transgender with the support of their families. How do those children fare in an environment of openness and family support? When their gender identity is affirmed, are they happy?

In one large metropolitan area, arraignment decisions made with the assistance of machine learning cut new domestic violence incidents by half, leading to more than 1,000 fewer such post-arraignment arrests annually, according to new findings from the University of Pennsylvania.

In a small, placebo-controlled clinical trial, Johns Hopkins physicians report that the antidepressant paroxetine modestly improves decision-making and reaction time, and suppresses inflammation in people with HIV-associated cognitive impairment. The researchers say they believe this is the first time that a SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) has been shown to improve key measures of cognition in people with HIV in a controlled study.

New Haven, Conn.-- In January, a pregnant Brazilian woman infected with the Zika virus had a stillborn baby who had signs of severe tissue swelling as well as central nervous system defects that caused near-complete loss of brain tissue. It is the first report to indicate a possible association of congenital Zika virus and damage to tissues outside the central nervous system, said Yale researchers.

New Haven, Conn. -- A pregnant Brazilian woman infected with the Zika virus had a stillborn baby in January who had signs of severe tissue swelling as well as central nervous system defects that caused the cerebral hemispheres of the brain to be absent. It is the first report to indicate a possible association of congenital Zika virus and damage to tissues outside the central nervous system.

About one in five lesbian and four in five bisexual teen girls who are sexually active had a recent male sex partner, according to a new U.S. study of close to 3,000 adolescent girls that appears in the March issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Video: https://youtu.be/apYAyypLlYg

Newsroom link: http://newsroom.cumc.columbia.edu/?p=36073

Ideology is a key factor in determining how people assess the credibility of scientific researchers, according to a new UBC Sauder School of Business study.

People who tend toward an elitist world view are more inclined to judge white male researchers as more credible, while people who ascribe to egalitarian beliefs are the opposite: they're more likely to judge women or people of colour as more credible researchers.

Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure. NPC primarily strikes children before and during adolescence and affects one in every 150,000 children. The disease causes cholesterol and other lipids to build up in the body's cells, which results in symptoms such as delayed motor development, deterioration of memory and balance, and seizures.

Surprisingly complex interactions between neurotransmitter receptors and other key proteins help explain the brain's ability to process information with lightning speed, according to a new study.

Scientists at McGill University, working with collaborators at the universities of Oxford and Liverpool, combined experimental techniques to examine fast-acting protein macromolecules, known as AMPA receptors, which are a major player in brain signaling. Their findings are reported online in the journal Neuron.