Brain

DARIEN, IL - For the first time, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has released official consensus recommendations for the amount of sleep needed to promote optimal health in children and teenagers to avoid the health risks of insufficient sleep.

The recommendations in the consensus statement are as follows:

DENVER - The amino acid acetylcarnitine may help predict an individual's neurobehavioral performance during chronic sleep restriction, according to results of a new study (abstract 0251) from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at SLEEP 2016, the 30th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

DARIEN, IL - A new study found that blue wavelength light exposure led to subsequent increases in brain activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) when participants were engaging in a cognitive task after cessation of light exposure.

Scientists have shown how the brain anticipates all of the new situations that it may encounter in a lifetime by creating a special kind of neural network that is "pre-adapted" to face any eventuality. This emerges from a new neuroscience study published in PLOS Computational Biology.

Researchers from Osaka University and Tohoku University have developed a novel robot microscope system that automatically tracks a freely moving small animal and manipulates its brain activity with "projection mapping."

They've named the system OSaCaBeN or OSB. (Figure 1).

Simon Fraser University research aimed at helping people get to sleep will be highlighted at an international sleep conference next week. Luc Beaudoin, an adjunct professor in cognitive science and education, created the mySleepButton® app two years ago (a new version with the world's first configurable "body scan" will be released shortly).

In a multinational collaboration, researchers from the Universities of Luxembourg, Ljubljana and Vienna have developed a new method to produce unique reflecting patterns that can be applied on valuable objects. As these patterns can't be cloned or copied, they could be used to identify products unambiguously in order to avoid counterfeiting.

A new study in zebrafish suggests that irregular fluid flow through the spinal column brought on by gene mutations is linked to a type of scoliosis that can affect humans during adolescence. Found in humans and zebrafish, these mutated genes damage the cilia--tiny hair-like projections that line the spinal canal and help move the fluid -- and lead to a curvature of the spine.

ITHACA, N.Y. - We are constantly bombarded with linguistic input, but our brains are unable to remember long strings of linguistic information. How does the brain make sense of this ongoing deluge of sound?

Is copper deficiency contributing to the obesity epidemic?

Though small amounts of copper are essential to health - oysters, liver, beans and nuts are good sources - copper's role in metabolism has been unclear: Some studies found that it boosted fat burning, others that it depressed it.

Interactions between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex enable humans to plan and navigate their route from one location to another, a new study reveals. The results provide direct evidence of this network, shedding light on the complex processes behind goal-oriented navigation. To gather data on brain activity in humans during such a task, Thackery Brown et al. exposed humans to a virtual environment in which they had navigate to five different locations. The next day, the participants were required to find the same locations.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite about five microns long, infects a third of the world's population. Ingested via undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, the parasite infects 15-30 percent of the US population. In France and Brazil, up to 80 percent of the population has the infection.

Particularly dangerous during pregnancy - infection in pregnant women can cause serious congenital defects and even death of the fetus - this chronic infection has two components: the unicellular parasite, and inflammation of tissues it causes.

New research explains why so many biological networks, including the human brain (a network of neurons), exhibit a hierarchical structure, and will improve attempts to create artificial intelligence. The study, published in PLOS Computational Biology, demonstrates this by showing that the evolution of hierarchy - a simple system of ranking - in biological networks may arise because of the costs associated with network connections.

Scientists have identified a distinctive pattern of injury in the brains of eight deceased military personnel who survived high explosive attacks and died between 4 days and 9 years later from their injuries or other causes.

WASHINGTON -- While you might think photo-taking would detract from the enjoyment of everyday activities, research published by the American Psychological Association suggests that people who take photos of their experiences usually enjoy the events more than people who don't.