Brain

A critical but vulnerable region in the brain appears to be the first place affected by late onset Alzheimer's disease and may be more important for maintaining cognitive function in later life than previously appreciated, according to a new review of the scientific literature.

Advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition and analyses over the last two decades have enabled the identification of neuroanatomical abnormalities in a range of mental disorders, however one question which has consistently surfaced is the extent to which the medications used to treat such disorders may accentuate or ameliorate these abnormalities.

New research conducted by Plymouth University shows that young women with high emotional intelligence (EI) are more likely to use manipulative behaviours, resulting in a greater engagement in delinquency.

The research, led by Dr Alison Bacon, Lecturer in Psychology, was conducted to assess why young women with high levels of EI are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour than young men - a conclusion drawn from her 2014 paper, 'Sex differences in the relationship between sensation seeking, trait emotional intelligence and delinquent behaviour'.

The NHS could save £8.2 million a year on dental treatments - the equivalent to 364,000 dental check-ups - if all 12-year-olds across the UK chewed sugar free gum after eating or drinking, thanks to the role it plays in helping to prevent tooth decay.

So says a study involving researchers from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry published in the British Dental Journal.

Researchers at the University of Exeter and UCL (University College London) have identified a gene which can be used to predict how susceptible a young person is to the mind-altering effects of smoking cannabis. The finding could help identify otherwise healthy users who are most at risk of developing psychosis.

Beer-Sheva, Israel...February 16, 2016 -- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have discovered that arachnophobes overestimate spider size compared with other neutral animals that do not elicit fear, which could be useful in treating phobias.

The new study published in the journal, Biological Psychology, consisted of two experiments measuring attractiveness (valence) and the self-relevance role in neutral (birds, butterflies) vs. aversive (spiders) animal size estimation.

PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 15, 2016) - Phenylketonuria, also known as PKU, is the most common inherited disease affecting amino acid metabolism. Children are tested for PKU at birth, and babies diagnosed with the disease must adhere to a highly restricted diet to prevent permanent intellectual impairment. Recent advances reveal a strong need for new therapies to combat cognitive dysfunction and psychiatric disorders that arise due to dietary lapses throughout life.

An estimated 30 percent of the world's population is chronically infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Most people live with the infection without noticeable effect, but it can be life-threatening for people with suppressed immune systems, such as people on cancer therapies or who have HIV/AIDS. Pregnant women can also pass an infection to their unborn children, putting the babies at risk of severe neurological disease.

The team of Bruno Giros, a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and professor of psychiatry at McGill University, reports the first-ever connection between noradrenergic neurons and vulnerability to depression. Published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, this breakthrough paves the way for new depression treatments that target the adrenergic system.

Researchers at the RIKEN Evolutionary Morphology laboratory and other institutions in Japan have shown that complex divisions in the vertebrate brain first appeared before the evolution of jaws, more than 500 million years ago. Published in Nature, the study shows that two elements of brain genoarchitecture thought to be unique to jawed vertebrates are actually present in two jawless fish--the hagfish and lamprey.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around 15% of the world's population is physically impaired to some degree. In order to overcome the hurdles of everyday life, many disabled people use assistive technologies. Unfortunately, technology has not kept pace - most wheelchairs cannot yet climb stairs, bulky powered exoskeletons lack acceptance, and prostheses are still limited in function.

An immersive virtual reality therapy could help people with depression to be less critical and more compassionate towards themselves, reducing depressive symptoms, finds a new study from UCL (University College London) and ICREA-University of Barcelona.

From helping new employees get settled in a job to setting deadlines and job expectations, it goes without saying that managers have a huge influence on employee behavior. A new Cornell Food and Brand Lab study finds that manager leadership may be the key to employee health programs and goals!

A Northwestern University research team has taken CSI to a whole new level: employing sophisticated scientific tools to investigate details of the materials and methods used by Roman-Egyptian artists to paint lifelike mummy portraits more than 2,000 years ago. These visages of the dead are considered to be antecedents of Western portraiture.

How much slow-wave sleep a teenage boy gets may predict whether he is at risk for insulin resistance and other health issues, according to Jordan Gaines, a Penn State neuroscience researcher.

Boys who experience a greater decline in slow-wave sleep as adolescents have a significantly higher chance of developing insulin resistance than those who more closely maintained their slow-wave sleep as they got older. These boys are then also at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes, increased visceral fat and impaired attention.