Brain

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 5, 2012—Despite researchers' best efforts, no drug exists that can slow, halt or reverse the onslaught of Alzheimer's disease. A progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's has stolen the memories and livelihoods of millions—leaving patients and their families struggling to cope with the disease's devastating consequences. But today, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes propose a new research avenue that has the potential to change all that.

New research from Western University could lead to better treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and drug addiction by effectively blocking memories. The research performed by Nicole Lauzon, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Steven Laviolette at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has revealed a common mechanism in a region of the brain called the pre-limbic cortex, can control the recall of memories linked to both aversive, traumatic experiences associated with PTSD and rewarding memories linked to drug addiction.

It's the least understood organ in the human body: the brain, a massive network of electrically excitable neurons, all communicating with one another via receptors on their tree-like dendrites. Somehow these cells work together to enable great feats of human learning and memory. But how?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- At a Bloomington, Ind., toy store, kids ages 8 to 12 gather weekly to trade Pokemon cards and share their mutual absorption in the intrigue and adventure of Pokemon.

This may seem an unlikely source of material to test theories in cognitive neuroscience. But that is where Indiana University brain scientists Karin Harman James and Tom James were when an idea took hold.

"We were down at the club with our son, watching the way the kids talked about the cards, and noticed it was bigger than just a trading game," Tom James said.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – If you're thinking that little old lady driving 35 miles per hour in the passing lane shouldn't be behind the wheel, you may be right. Studies at Rhode Island Hospital, and elsewhere, have shown that our driving abilities decline with age, and for those with cognitive issues such as dementia, it can be even worse.

The sense of immersion in role-play and computer games is sometimes viewed as dangerous, as players' strong perceptions of fictional worlds are assumed to make them lose contact with reality. On the other hand, players' immersion also implies a potential for improved learning, since it enables them to 'experience' new places and historical eras. Yet a new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that immersion in online role-play games requires a lot of hard work.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson's disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline.

Scientists have demonstrated a new way to investigate mechanisms at work in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, which also could prove useful in the search for effective drugs. For new insights, they turned to the zebrafish, which is transparent in the early stages of its life. The researchers developed a transgenic variety, the "MitoFish," that enables them to see – within individual neurons of living animals – how brain diseases disturb the transport of mitochondria, the power plants of the cell.

PISCATAWAY, NJ – People who like to smoke when they drink may be at greater risk of suffering a hangover the next morning, according to a study in the January 2013 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

For anyone who has ever had too much to drink, that day-after combination of headache, nausea and fatigue may be a familiar feeling. But some drinkers appear hangover-resistant: about one-quarter of people who drink enough to spur a hangover in most of us don't actually develop one.

Rates of reported neonaticide have more than halved following the implementation of a unique 'anonymous delivery' law in Austria, finds a new study published today (05 December) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Research published on bmj.com today suggests that although more babies survived shortly after extreme preterm birth in England in 2006 compared with 1995, the number with major conditions on leaving hospital remained largely unchanged.

A second study, also published today, shows some improvement in the number of extremely preterm children who survived without disability at 3 years of age, but no change in the rate of serious health and developmental problems over the same 10-year period.

Training human volunteers to control their own brain activity in precise areas of the brain can enhance fundamental aspects of their visual sensitivity, according to a new study. This non-invasive 'neurofeedback' approach could one day be used to improve brain function in patients with abnormal patterns of activity, for example stroke patients.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Inside the brains of mice and men alike, a relatively big football-shaped region called the thalamus acts like a switchboard, providing the prefrontal cortex, the part that does abstract thinking and decision-making, with most of its information. The thalamus's responsibility even includes helping the prefrontal cortex to maintain consciousness and arousal.

PHILADELPHIA – New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center indicates that the implementation of protected sleep periods for residents who are assigned to overnight shifts in a hospital represent a viable tool in preventing fatigue and alleviating the physiological and behavioral effects of sleep deprivation among these doctors in training. The new results will be published in the December 5th edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Selective targeting of the neurotransmitter that differentially affects brain cells that control the two distinct functions of the pancreas may allow for new medication therapies for conditions like diabetes, dyspepsia and gastro-esophageal reflux, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.