Brain

Researchers identify method of creating long-lasting memories

DALLAS - September 7, 2016 - Imagine if playing a new video game or riding a rollercoaster could help you prepare for an exam or remember other critical information.

A new study in mice shows this link may be possible.

Living in unabashedly racist communities can shorten the lives of both blacks and whites, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Researchers compared the racial biases of nearly 1.4 million people nationwide to death rates in more than 1,700 U.S. counties. Their findings suggest that blacks and, to a lesser degree, whites who reside in overtly racist communities are more prone to dying from heart disease and other circulatory diseases.

A team of researchers has built a mathematical model that describes the molecular events associated with the beginning stage of learning and memory formation in the human brain.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, paves the way for understanding cognitive function and neurodegenerative diseases -- at the molecular and cellular levels.

New research suggests that Alzheimer's disease may trigger increased expression of an enzyme called lysozyme, which attempts to counteract amyloid build-up in the brain.

Investigators found that the expression of lysozyme was increased in the brains of both transgenic mice and humans with Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, lysozyme had favorable effects when expressed in different fly models of Alzheimer's disease.

Children with emotionally invested parents are more likely to be successful, a study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience shows.

Looking at 27 children aged between four and six, the study examined the quality of the emotional bond to their parents, and their cognitive control including: resisting temptation, their ability to remember things, and whether they are shy or withdrawn.

Recent research points to the importance of a molecule called relaxin-3 in the brain, with effects on various processes and behaviors such as mood, stress, and cognition. Because these are often aberrant in mental illnesses, investigators are studying the potential of relaxin-3-based interventions to treat depression, anxiety, and other conditions.

A new review looks at where such research stands and what additional studies are necessary.

LA JOLLA, CA - Sept. 6, 2016 - There may be a way to switch off the urge for compulsive drinking, according to a new study in animal models led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).

"We can completely reverse alcohol dependence by targeting a network of neurons," said TSRI Assistant Professor Olivier George, who led the study.

After years of studying the effects of near-infrared light on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, a team led by a University of Texas at Arlington bioengineer has published groundbreaking research in Nature's Scientific Reports that could result in an effective, long-term treatment for brain disorders.Professor Hanli Liu was the primary investigator on the project.

Men who gamble are more likely to act violently towards others, with the most addicted gamblers the most prone to serious violence, new research has shown.

A study published in the journal Addiction found that gambling in any capacity - pathological, problem, or so-called casual gambling - related to significantly increased risk of violence, including domestic abuse.

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Brain MRI could help improve the diagnosis of people with a common type of cognitive disorder, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

BOSTON (September 6, 2016) - Clinical anxiety affects up to 30 percent of Americans who are in great need of better treatments with fewer side effects. A study from Boston Children's Hospital, published September 6 by the journal Molecular Psychiatry, finds that certain neurons in the hypothalamus play a central, previously unknown role in triggering anxiety.

A new national survey, commissioned by UCLA Health, reveals that a vast majority of parents may be following outdated advice when caring for a child with a concussion, and it could be making their child's symptoms worse.

Kids needed to say just two words - "jump" and "go" - to control a video game called Mole Madness, but Disney researchers had to design a speech technology system capable of sorting through the overlapping speech, social side talk and creative pronunciations of young children to make it work.

The keyword-spotting system developed by Disney Research works better for this game application than commercial speech recognition systems, which are derived largely from adult speech.

An internationally significant study of healthy twins, 65 years of age or older, has unlocked important clues about how genes influence the development of key grey matter structures, paving the way for a genetic blueprint of the human brain.

New research, led by academics at the University of Bristol, has outlined the first validated set of pathological criteria for assessing the likelihood that cognitive impairment was caused by vascular disease.

The term vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) refers to a diverse group of conditions in which memory problems and other impairments of mental function result from inadequate blood flow through the brain. Vascular dementia is a severe form of VCI.