Brain

LA JOLLA--How the brain functions is still a black box: scientists aren't even sure how many kinds of nerve cells exist in the brain. To know how the brain works, they need to know not only what types of nerve cells exist, but also how they work together. Researchers at the Salk Institute have gotten one step closer to unlocking this black box.

A new study by Max Kilger, director of Data Analytics Programs at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) College of Business, is delving into an aspect of cybersecurity rarely explored before now: the human component. Kilger's research utilizes his talents as a social psychologist to show that at the beginning of any digital threat is a real person with unique motivations.

Scientists describe a 'sail-backed' dinosaur species named Morelladon beltrani, which inhabited the Iberian landmass ~125 million years ago, according to a study published Dec. 16, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by José Miguel Gasulla from Grupo Biología Evolutiva (UNED-UAM) and colleagues.

AMHERST, Mass - Using 20 years of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from tens of thousands of brain imaging experiments, computational neuroscientists Hava Siegelmann and a postdoctoral colleague at the University of Massachusetts have created a geometry-based method for massive data analysis to reach a new understanding of how thought arises from brain structure.

BOSTON (Dec. 16, 2015, noon ET)-- In a report published in the journal Neuron, an international team of researchers defined the makeup of the cellular structures through which nerve cells communicate with each other. These "synaptic clefts" are the small gaps between nerve cells (neurons) that relay information in the brain. Synapses, including the synaptic clefts, are formed rapidly shortly before and after birth. Mutations in the proteins that make up the cleft increase vulnerability to developmental disorders, notably autism spectrum disorders.

It might not rival Newton's apple, which led to his formulating the law of gravity, but the collapse of a lighting scaffold played a key role in the discovery that mice, like humans, have body language.

At a Ted conference held some time ago, Roberto D'Angelo and Francesca Fedeli recounted the experience of their son Mario: struck by a cerebral infarction when he was only 10 days old, he seemed destined to live with only one half of his brain functioning, with all the difficulties such a condition would entail at the cognitive (and motor) level. But things went differently: at 2 years of age the boy (he can be seen in the video) can walk and speak like any other child of his age.

Child development experts have long known that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are more likely to have an accident while crossing the street on their bicycles.

Now, researchers at the University of Iowa have discovered the reasons why and are hoping this information will help parents teach their children with ADHD how to better navigate busy intersections.

Essen, Germany, December 16, 2015 - In a large population-based study of randomly selected participants in Germany, researchers found that participants with anemia, defined as haemoglobin <13 g/dl in men and <12 g/dl in women, showed lower performances in verbal memory and executive functions. Furthermore, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) occurred almost twice more often in participants diagnosed with anemia. This study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The brains of children who suffer clinical depression as preschoolers develop abnormally, compared with the brains of preschoolers unaffected by the disorder, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Their gray matter -- tissue that connects brain cells and carries signals between those cells and is involved in seeing, hearing, memory, decision-making and emotion -- is lower in volume and thinner in the cortex, a part of the brain important in the processing of emotions.

The new study is published Dec. 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.

ATLANTA -- The body's ability to harness heat production by converting white fat cells, which store calories, into beige fat cells, which burn energy, could help fight obesity, according to researchers at Georgia State University.

Evidence of autism may be found in the composition and malfunction of the brain's blood vessels, a team of scientists has found. Their research sheds new light on the causes of autism, which previously had pointed to neurological make-up rather than to the vascular system, and identifies a new target for potential therapeutic intervention.

"Our findings show that those afflicted with autism have unstable blood vessels, disrupting proper delivery of blood to the brain," explains Efrain Azmitia, a professor in NYU's Department of Biology and the study's senior author.

KNOXVILLE--Research on the evolution and function of play at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) has culminated in a special issue of the journal Adaptive Behavior. The papers represent the first systematic use of computational and mathematical models to investigate the theoretical and empirical origins of play.

For Immediate Release

PHILADELPHIA -- Weight loss due to dietary changes can improve sleepiness at any weight, says a study published by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania this month in the journal Sleep. The findings offer new insights into how weight fluctuations impact numerous aspects of sleep independent of body weight.

Adverse childhood experiences such as poverty, abuse and neglect have been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. However, characterizing early experiences only in terms of extreme stressors fails to capture the full spectrum of childhood for most people. In fact, a recent study by Lee et al. (2015) in Psychology and Aging suggests that looking at early adversity only tells part of the story.