Brain

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) can reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions compared to their gas-only counterparts. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering have taken the technology one step further, demonstrating how to improve the efficiency of current PHEVs by almost 12 percent.

Glenview, Ill. (Feb. 8, 2016) -- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a condition impacting nearly 24 million Americans, is often associated with disease-specific fears and avoidance of physical activity. Little is known of the structural brain processes that occur in COPD patients. A study published in the February issue of the journal CHEST found that patients with COPD demonstrated gray matter decreases in areas of the brain that process breathlessness, fear and sensitivity to pain.

Among older men with heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, hospitalization at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, compared with hospitalization at non-VA hospitals, was associated with lower 30-day all-cause mortality rates for heart attack and heart failure, and higher 30-day all-cause readmission rates for all 3 conditions, both nationally and within similar geographic areas, although absolute differences between these outcomes were small, according to a study in the February 9 issue of JAMA.

It is widely known that "a picture is worth a thousand words." But a new study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University published in Evolutionary Psychology begs to differ when it comes to young children.

Australian researchers have found biochemical changes occurring in the blood, in the rare inherited form of Alzheimer's disease. Changes in these fat-like substances, may suggest a method to diagnose all forms of Alzheimer's disease before significant damage to the brain occurs.

VANCOUVER, Wash. - Some 40 years ago, Washington State University anthropologist Barry Hewlett noticed that when the Aka pygmies stopped to rest between hunts, parents would give their infants small axes, digging sticks and knives.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Sleep-deprived people are much more likely to sign false confessions than rested individuals, according to a groundbreaking study that has important implications for police interrogation practices.

The odds of signing a false confession were 4.5 times higher for participants who had been awake for 24 hours than for those who had slept eight hours the night before.

A hormone implicated in monogamy and aggression in animals also promotes trust and cooperation in humans in risky situations, Caltech researchers say.

The findings, published the week of February 8 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could prove useful for helping groups cooperate beneficially.

TORONTO, CANADA - Cognitive scientists have found more evidence that aging brains work differently than younger brains when performing the same memory task, pointing to a potentially new direction for age-related cognitive care and exploration.

The study, led by the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, found that younger and older adults show very different brain wave patterns when performing the same memory task. The study was published online in January in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.

WASHINGTON -- For many children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, symptoms appear to decrease as they age, but for some they do not and one reason may be persistent parental criticism, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Medical professionals have to conduct a long series of tests to assess a patient's memory impairment and cognitive skills, functional abilities, and behavioral changes to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease. They also have to execute costly brain imagining scans and even, sometimes, invasive cerebral spinal fluid tests to rule out other diseases. The process is laborious at best -- and subjective at worst.

"You must remember this: a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh."

Contrary to the words immortalized by the piano singer in "Casablanca," a sigh is far more than a sigh. Heaving an unconscious sigh is a life-sustaining reflex that helps preserve lung function.

The brain machine interface consists of a stent-based electrode (stentrode), which is implanted within a blood vessel in the brain, and records the type of neural activity that has been shown in pre-clinical trials to move limbs through an exoskeleton or to control bionic limbs.

The new device is the size of a small paperclip and will be implanted in the first in-human trial at The Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2017. The participants will be selected from the Austin Health Victorian Spinal Cord Unit.

In the study cocaine users performed a gambling task while measurements were being taken of their brain activity. The researchers discovered that cocaine users present a state of hyperactivation in the ventral striatum, a deep region of the brain that forms part of the so-called "reward circuit". This circuit is extremely ancient in evolutionary terms and is made up of different interconnected regions that favour basic behaviours like eating and sex.

New research from the University of Guelph on the brain and memory could help in developing therapies for peoplewith schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.

The study by psychology professor Boyer Winters and his research team was published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Their work sheds new light on the internal workings of the brain, specifically regions involved in recognizingand remembering objects.