Brain

From Apple's Siri to Honda's robot Asimo, machines seem to be getting better and better at communicating with humans.

But some neuroscientists caution that today's computers will never truly understand what we're saying because they do not take into account the context of a conversation the way people do.

Aging research is a very controversial area with many failed claims and promises and in order to establish the proof of concept of its approach, InSilico Medicine decided to build a sustainable business model providing pathway activation analysis and machine learning services to pharmaceutical companies, academic and clinical institutions helping drive innovation in many areas of research.

• Doctors and insurance firms depend on accurate data
• Repeat cheaters teach activity tracker how to spot deception
• No more couch potatoes faking brisk walks with smartphone
• Accuracy of behavior increased to 84 percent

CHICAGO --- Health care providers and insurance companies are increasingly relying on smartphone and wearable activity trackers to reward active individuals for healthy behavior or to monitor patients.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Regular practice of Transcendental Meditation enables some active duty service members battling post-traumatic stress disorder to reduce or even eliminate their psychotropic medication and get better control of their often-debilitating symptoms, researchers report in the journal Military Medicine.

Government instability prompts both Black and White Americans to show a preference for lighter-skinned over darker-skinned political candidates, researchers at New York University, the University of Chicago, and Rutgers University have found.

• National Survey by UCLA finds 3 out of 4 young adults with stroke symptoms would delay a trip to the hospital
• Since the mid 90's, strokes in patients under the age of 45 have increased as much as 53 percent
• Doctors say the first 3 hours after stroke are the most crucial for treatment

Next time you read to your baby, pay attention to his babbling and respond.

Interaction, not just the sound of words being read from a page, is the key to language development during reading.

Many doctors will ask about quality of sleep when children have problems at school, but new research shows it's just as important to pay attention to how high achievers are sleeping.

A study in today's print edition of the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology suggests doctors and parents should pay attention to snoring, labored breathing and other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea in bright, high-performing children as well as those who struggle in school.

Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites are found in the brains of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. They consist primarily of fibrils of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-Syn), which self-assembles into fibrils in vitro. If introduced into the human body, these seeds can act as prions and trigger the formation of toxic protein deposits. Because α-Syn fibrils are often used in research, it is important that they are not accidentally transferred to humans or cell cultures.

A University of Southampton-led study has found that blocking a receptor in the brain responsible for regulating immune cells could protect against the memory and behaviour changes seen in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The research, published today in the journal Brain, was jointly funded by the MRC (Medical Research Council) and Alzheimer's Research UK.

One person's risky bet is another's exciting opportunity.

The difference between those outlooks comes down to more than just disposition: It turns out that people with a stronger connection between two brain regions have a more cautious financial outlook.

CINCINNATI--An international research team formed by a University of Cincinnati (UC) cancer researcher has shown for the first time that a specific enzyme is responsible for sensing the available supply of GTP, an energy source that fuels the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. The research underscores the enzyme's potential to become a therapeutic target for future cancer drugs.

Exposure to small amounts of lead may contribute to ADHD symptoms in children who have a particular gene mutation, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Using mice whose front paws were still partly disabled after an initial induced stroke, Johns Hopkins researchers report that inducing a second stroke nearby in their brains let them "rehab" the animals to successfully grab food pellets with those paws at pre-stroke efficiency.

New York, NY, January 7, 2015--Researchers at Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a cellular circuit that helps the mouse brain to remember which environments are safe, and which are harmful. Their study also reveals what can happen when that circuitry is disrupted--and may offer new insight into the treatment of conditions such as posttraumatic stress, panic and anxiety disorders.