Brain

Chronic inflammation in the bloodstream can 'fan the flames' of depression, much like throwing gasoline on a fire, according to a new paper from researchers at Rice University and Ohio State University.

'Inflammation: Depression Fans the Flames and Feasts on the Heat' appeared in a recent edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry. The study reviewed 200 existing papers on depression and inflammation.

Two characteristic features of malignant tumours are that they form massive blood vessels and bypass the immune system. A new cell culture technique allows the processes of tumour growth to be studied directly and in real time, without the need for complex experiments using live animals. The researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) who developed the technique looked specifically at brain tumours. The team led by neuroscientist PD Dr.

Athens, Ga. - The appearance of online editorial content and native, or paid, advertising is blurred in the minds of consumers, according to a research study from the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Using a portable device developed at Drexel University, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have identified differences in brain activation patterns associated with postural stability in people with Parkinsonian syndromes and healthy adults. The findings, published recently in Brain Research, describe the critical role of the prefrontal cortex in balance control and may have implications with respect to detecting and treating Parkinsonian symptoms in the elderly.

Evolution may be more intelligent than we thought, according to a University of Southampton professor.

Professor Richard Watson says new research shows that evolution is able to learn from previous experience, which could provide a better explanation of how evolution by natural selection produces such apparently intelligent designs.

People who experienced high anxiety any time in their lives had a 48 percent higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who had not, according to a new study led by USC researchers.

The findings were based on an examination of 28 years of data from the Swedish Adoption Twin Study of Aging, overseen by the Karolinska Institutet of Sweden. The study sample involved 1,082 participants -- twins, fraternal and identical -- who completed in-person tests every three years, answered several questionnaires and were screened for dementia throughout the study.

Animals that live in groups face a variety of challenging social situations. The competition for food and mating partners as well as the establishment of the social hierarchy are potential stress factors.

In a discovery that could offer valuable new insights into understanding, diagnosing and even treating autism, Harvard scientists for the first time have linked a specific neurotransmitter in the brain with autistic behavior.

The UK's failure to fortify flour with folic acid has caused around 2000 avoidable cases of neural tube defects since 1998, concludes research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The UK should follow the lead of the US and 77 other countries, to curb the associated toll of fetal and infant death and disability, say the researchers.

Neural tube defects, which are birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal cord, include spina bifida, anencephaly, and encephalocele.

Even with 24/7 access to financial data, investors avoid looking at their portfolios when markets are down, according to new research by Carnegie Mellon University economists George Loewenstein and Duane Seppi; Columbia Business School's Nachum Sicherman and Stephen Utkus at Vanguard.

If you dread the annual ritual of choosing a health insurance plan, you are not alone. While insurance exchanges were designed to benefit consumers by offering more plan choices, for many people, selecting a health plan is a source of confusion and stress.

Scientists showed that they could alter brain activity of rats and either wake them up or put them in an unconscious state by changing the firing rates of neurons in the central thalamus, a region known to regulate arousal. The study, published in eLIFE, was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The ability to reliably pinpoint the anatomical source of epileptic seizures, different for each patient, remains elusive. One third of patients do not respond to medication and an alternative can be surgery to locate and remove the small cluster of neurons that act as the seed of an epileptic seizure, unfortunately such surgeries often fail to bring any relief.

DALLAS - December 16, 2015 - UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that halting production of new neurons in the brain following traumatic brain injury can help reduce resulting epileptic seizures, cognitive decline, and impaired memory.

Injury to the brain stimulates the production of new neurons, but these new cells are sometimes hyperexcitable, disrupting neural circuits and causing recurring seizures, researchers with UT Southwestern's Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair reported in Nature Communications.

We've all been there: Sitting in a consultation with a doctor or nurse, jargon gets thrown around, time with the health-care provider is short and, soon after the conversation concludes, you forget half of what you were told. This can happen whether you're "health literate," meaning you comprehend and feel comfortable with medical terms and concepts, or not, and whether you're a parent dealing with your child's acute sickness or chronic disorder.