Brain

(SALT LAKE CITY)—University of Utah scientists have developed a genetically engineered line of mice that is expected to open the door to new research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

The mice carry a protein marker, which changes in degree of fluorescence in response to different calcium levels. This will allow many cell types, including cells called astrocytes and microglia, to be studied in a new way.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21, 2014 – Individuals with schizophrenia often have trouble engaging in daily tasks or setting goals for themselves, and a new study from San Francisco State University suggests the reason might be their difficulty in assessing the amount of effort required to complete tasks.

ATLANTA—Strongly influenced by their self-interest, humans do not protest being overcompensated, even when there are no consequences, researchers in Georgia State University's Brains and Behavior Program have found.

This could imply that humans are less concerned than previously believed about the inequity of others, researchers said. Their findings are published in the journal Brain Connectivity. These findings suggest humans' sense of unfairness is affected by their self-interest, indicating the interest humans show in others' outcomes is a recently evolved propensity.

August 21, 2014 (Toronto) – A mindfulness-based therapy for depression has the added benefit of reducing health-care visits among patients who often see their family doctors, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

The research showed that frequent health service users who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy showed a significant reduction in non-mental health care visits over a one-year period, compared with those who received other types of group therapy.

Regular blood transfusions prevent recurrent blockage of brain blood vessels, a serious neurological side effect that occurs in one third of children with sickle cell anemia, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings appear in the Aug. 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Not every cell in the body is the same genetically, and disease-causing mutations don't necessarily affect every cell—making these mutations easy to miss even with next-generation genomic sequencing. A study from Boston Children's Hospital used a "deep sequencing" technique and was able to identify subtle somatic mutations—those affecting just a percentage of cells—in patients with brain disorders.

Vanderbilt-led research, as part of an international, multicenter trial, found regular blood transfusion therapy significantly reduces the recurrence of silent strokes and strokes in children with sickle cell anemia who have had pre-existing silent strokes, according to study results released today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Monthly blood transfusions reduce the risk of stroke in young patients with sickle cell anemia, scientists report Aug. 20 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

An estimated 1 in 3 children with sickle cell anemia experiences silent strokes — loss of blood flow to parts of the brain. Such strokes do not cause immediate symptoms and typically go undiagnosed. But damage from these incidents, which often recur, can lower a child's IQ.

Monthly blood transfusions can substantially reduce the risk of recurrent strokes in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) who have already suffered a silent stroke, according to the results of an international study by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Vanderbilt University and 27 other medical institutions.

Aug. 20, 2014 -- An imaging study of chronic users of codeine-containing cough syrups (CCS) has found deficits in specific regions of brain white matter and associates these changes with increased impulsivity in CCS users.

University of Adelaide researchers have discovered that the immune system is defective in people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, which is a major reason why sufferers have ongoing issues with pain.

The research – the first of its kind in the world – could also help to explain why some painkillers may not offer satisfactory relief to sufferers.

ITHACA, N.Y. – In a study of 158 pregnant teenagers in Rochester, NY, nearly half engaged in pica – the craving and intentional consumption of ice, cornstarch, vacuum dust, baby powder and soap, and other nonfood items, reports a new Cornell study.

Moreover, such teens had significantly lower iron levels as compared with teens who did not eat nonfood substances.

In contrast to evidence that the amygdala stimulates stress responses in adults, researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University have found that the amygdala has an inhibitory effect on stress hormones during the early development of nonhuman primates.

The results are published this week in Journal of Neuroscience.

EUGENE, Ore. -- When are athletes who have suffered concussions ready to return to action? A new University of Oregon study has found that high school athletes who head back on the field with medical clearance within 60 days experience a significant regression in their abilities to simultaneously walk and do simple mental tasks.

Chemically extracted acellular allogeneic nerve, from which Schwann cells, myelin sheath and disintegrating fragments have been removed, reduced postoperative immune rejection. Simultaneously, chemically extracted acellular allogeneic nerve retains neural substrates and base materials, such as the bottom layer of Schwann cells, which can provide a good scaffold in the process of nerve regeneration.