Brain

DURHAM, N.C. -- Cells isolated from human umbilical cord tissue have been shown to produce molecules that help retinal neurons from the eyes of rats grow, connect and survive, according to Duke University researchers working with Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

The findings, which appear Nov. 25 in the Journal of Neuroscience, implicate one family of molecules in particular -- thrombospondins -- that may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of degenerative eye diseases.

CHAPEL HILL, NC - Schizophrenia, a severe mental disorder affecting about one in 100 people, is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat, in large part because it manifests differently in different people. A new study published today in Molecular Neuropsychiatry helps explain why. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have created a map that shows how specific schizophrenia symptoms are linked to distinct brain circuits.

(Boston)-- Could staying physically active improve quality of life by delaying cognitive decline and prolonging an independent lifestyle? A new study has found that older adults who take more steps either by walking or jogging perform better on memory tasks than those who are more sedentary.

The study examines the relationship between physical activity, memory and cognition in young and old adults. It appears online in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. (Nov. 24, 2015)--Humans have long sought to reduce the effects of aging. Now, there may be another reason to continue searching for ways to slow the clock--preventing Parkinson's disease.

Scientists at Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) have shown in disease models that slowing aging reduces degeneration related to Parkinson's. The study was published online Nov. 19 in npj Parkinson's Disease, a new journal from Nature Publishing Group.

With the globalization of our food supply, food safety issues are a major concern for both public health and for the food industry. Media and industry warn consumers of major recalls and problems with food items, but do consumers listen? In a new article published in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, researcher Jessica Cao, together with David Just, Calum Turvey, and Brian Wansink of Cornell University, demonstrated that consumers are reluctant to respond to food safety risks if the recommendations interfere with their existing habits.

A new study that used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and computation pattern analysis to identify differences in regional brain activity between subjects with focal epilepsy and healthy individuals highlighted three common areas of abnormality. Seizures in people with focal epilepsy can originate in various sites in the brain, but these new findings link those sites to three main brain regions, as reported in Brain Connectivity.

Nerve cells cover their high energy demand with glucose and lactate. Scientists of the University of Zurich now provide new support for this. They show for the first time in the intact mouse brain evidence for an exchange of lactate between different brain cells. With this study they were able to confirm a 20-year old hypothesis.

Researcher Christian Duval, PhD, and his team have developed a new, simple and non-invasive approach to create a biomechanical and cognitive profile of football players and more quickly and accurately detect concussions in these individuals. Christian Duval and his post-doctoral student Hung Nguyen, PhD, work at the Research Centre of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, which is affiliated with the University of Montreal.

Since the earliest times, laughter and humor have performed important functions in human interaction. They help to expedite courtship, improve conversational flow, synchronize emotional states and enhance social bonding. Jokes, a structured form of humor, give us control over laughter and are therefore a way to elicit these positive effects intentionally. In order to comprehend why some jokes are perceived as funny and others are not, Robert Dunbar and colleagues at Oxford University investigated the cognitive mechanism underlying laughter and humor.

People suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) could experience higher levels of visual stress than those without the condition, according to new research from the University of Leicester.

CFS, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), is a condition that causes persistent exhaustion that affects everyday life and doesn't go away with sleep or rest. Diagnosis of the condition is difficult as its symptoms are similar to other illnesses.

It's dinnertime, and the smell of delicious food makes your tummy rumble. However, it's dark because of a powercut and you can't see very clearly. Should you try to 'follow your nose' to locate food? Or should you simply guess and peek into the kitchen, or the dining room or the veranda - the likeliest places for dinner to be served? A recent study shows that the latter method - dubbed 'run-and-scan' - may actually be more efficient in finding your target than just following your nose.

A deep voice and a square jaw are important assets for conservative politicians. For politicians on the liberal side, it's more important to have gentle features. That's the conclusion of two recent scientific articles from Aarhus University. The implication is not only that physical features have a larger impact on voter preferences than previously thought but also that different physical features appeal to different voter segments.

Swinging a bat at a 90-mph fastball requires keen visual, cognitive and motor skills. But how do diverse brain networks coordinate well enough to hit the ball?

A new University of California, Berkeley, study suggests the human brain's aptitude and versatility can be credited in large part to "connector hubs," which filter and route information. They coordinate and integrate the flow of data so that brain networks dedicated to specific roles, such as vision and movement, can focus on their jobs.

In the first published results from a $386,000 National Cancer Institute grant awarded earlier this year, a paper by Scott Verbridge and Rafael Davalos in Scientific Reports has been published.

There is no substantive evidence for a 'pause' or 'hiatus' in global warming and the use of those terms is therefore inaccurate, new research from the University of Bristol, UK has found.

The researchers, led by Professor Stephan Lewandowsky of Bristol's School of Experimental Psychology and the Cabot Institute, examined 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles published between 2009 and 2014 that specifically addressed the presumed 'hiatus' and found no consistent or agreed definition of such a 'hiatus', when it began and how long it lasted.