Brain

Bipolar disorder is one of the most complex and challenging mental disorder in the spectrum. Bipolar disorder is typically associated with considerable acute and longterm treatment needs and may be associated in the course of illness with times of tremendous social burden for both the individual and family. It is typically referred to as an episodic, yet lifelong and clinically severe mood disorder. The disorder is called bipolar, because depressive and manic mood episodes alternate in the course of illness.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A dietary cocktail that includes a type of omega-3 fatty acid can improve memory and learning in gerbils, according to the latest study from MIT researchers that points to a possible beverage-based treatment for Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.

The combination of supplements, which contains three compounds normally found in the bloodstream, is now being tested in Alzheimer's patients. The cocktail has previously been shown to promote growth of new brain connections in rodents.

PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh-led researchers could provide new insight into how two common congenital circulatory problems—aortic arch deformity and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)—develop in humans, as reported in the June 15 edition of Developmental Biology.

Scientists have found that the compound resveratrol slows age-related deterioration and functional decline of mice on a standard diet, but does not increase longevity when started at middle age. This study, conducted and supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is a follow-up to 2006 findings that resveratrol improves health and longevity of overweight, aged mice.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a condition that unexpectedly and unexplainably takes the lives of seemingly healthy babies aged between a month and a year. Now researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, have developed a mouse model of the so-called crib or cot death, which remains the leading cause of death during the first year of life in developed countries. The model, published in this week's issue of Science, reveals that an imbalance of the neuronal signal serotonin in the brainstem is sufficient to cause sudden death in mice.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on an elite group of cells important to brain health as we age, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found. The new findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the area of dementia.

Natural products are highly valued by consumers yet their properties have been difficult to reproduce fully in synthetic materials, placing a drain on our limited natural resources. Until now ...

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) are working towards producing the world's first model that will predict how we perceive naturalness. The results could help make synthetic products so good that they are interpreted by our senses as being fully equivalent to the 'real thing', but with the benefits of reduced environmental impact and increased durability.

A woman in southern Ontario is one of the first cases in Canada of a rare neurological syndrome in which a person starts speaking with a different accent, McMaster University researchers report in the July issue of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.

The puzzling medical phenomenon known as foreign-accent syndrome (FAS) arises from neurological damage, and results in vocal distortions that typically sound like the speaker has a new, "foreign" accent.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Letting your imagination run away with you may actually influence how you see the world. New research from Vanderbilt University has found that mental imagery--what we see with the "mind's eye"--directly impacts our visual perception.

The research was published online June 26 by the journal Current Biology.

Toronto, Canada – Canadian scientists have shown that a noisy brain is a healthy brain.

"Brain noise" is a term that has been used by neuroscientists to describe random brain activity that is not important to mental function. Intuitive notions of brain-behaviour relationships would suggest that this brain noise quiets down as children mature into adults and become more efficient and consistent in their cognitive processing.

New research findings published online in The FASEB Journal provide more evidence that if we get smart about what we eat, our intelligence can improve. According to MIT scientists, dietary nutrients found in a wide range of foods from infant formula to eggs increase brain synapses and improve cognitive abilities.

"I hope human brains will, like those of experimental animals, respond to this kind of treatment by making more brain synapses and thus restoring cognitive abilities," said Richard Wurtman, MD, senior researcher on the project.

July 2, 2008 -- Compact, bedside brain-activity monitors detected most seizures in at-risk infants, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed. That means the compact units could assist clinicians in monitoring for electrical seizures until confirmation with conventional EEG (electroencephalography), the researchers assert in an article published in the June issue of Pediatrics.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, have launched the largest study of its kind in the world in a bid to better understand the possible genetic causes of cerebral palsy.

The study – requiring cheek swabs of mothers and their children – aims to gather genetic samples from 10,000 people right across Australia.

Two University of Miami (UM) students have received prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their doctoral work on coral reefs. Rachel Silverstein and Nitzan Soffer will each receive three years of support for their work in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Baker, an assistant professor in the Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. In addition, a third student entering Baker’s lab this fall, Ross Cunning, also received an Honorable Mention in the same national NSF competition.