Brain

Research carried out at The University of Manchester has found further evidence that a simple solution, which is already used in IV drips, is an effective treatment for reducing inflammation.

The researchers also identified that hypertonic solution, which is a solution with an elevated concentration of salt, can ease inflammation purely through bathing in it – proving the Victorians were right to visit spa towns to "take the waters" for ailments like rheumatoid arthritis.

MINNEAPOLIS – New research suggests that people who were emotionally neglected as children may have a higher risk of stroke in adulthood. The study is published in the September 19, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Emotional neglect is defined as failing to provide for a child's needs emotionally.

Researchers have developed a new "video" game for blind people that can help them learn about a new space using only audio cues, as reported Sep. 19 in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

The system, developed by a team led by Lotfi Merabet of Harvard Medical School and Jaime Sánchez of the University of Chile, is called the Audiobased Environment Simulator and uses only audio-based cues to allow blind users to learn about the layout of a previously unfamiliar building.

Because dyslexia affects so many people around the world, countless studies have attempted to pinpoint the source of the learning disorder.

Even though dyslexia is defined as a reading disorder, it also affects how a person perceives spoken language. It is widely known that individuals with dyslexia exhibit subtle difficulties in speech perception. In fact, these problems are even seen among infants from dyslexic families, well before reading is acquired.

A new study by Northeastern University professor Iris Berent has uncovered a vital clue to the origin of this disorder.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 19, 2012 – A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to move from central Africa and across the continent in what has been called "the great expansion," according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

MINNEAPOLIS – A new guideline released by the American Academy of Neurology may help doctors in making the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The guideline is published in the September 19, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

(CHICAGO) – The results from a new study by neurological researchers from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center suggest that people who were emotionally neglected as children may have a higher risk of stroke in later adulthood.

"Studies have shown that children who were neglected emotionally in childhood are at an increased risk of a slew of psychiatric disorders. However, our study is one of few that looked at an association between emotional neglect and stroke," said study author Robert S. Wilson, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Rush.

This release is also available in Chinese on EurekAlert! Chinese.

An investigational compound that targets the core symptoms of fragile X syndrome is effective for addressing the social withdrawal and challenging behaviors characteristic of the condition, making it the first such discovery for fragile X syndrome and, potentially, the first for autism spectrum disorder, a study by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, has found.

(CHICAGO) – An investigational compound that targets the core symptoms of fragile X syndrome is effective for addressing the social withdrawal and challenging behaviors characteristic of the condition, making it the first such discovery for fragile X syndrome and, potentially, the first for autism spectrum disorder, a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center and the University of California, Davis MIND Institute has found.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., (Embargoed until September 19, 2012, 2:00 PM US Eastern Time) – Seaside Therapeutics today announced the publication of two papers in Science Translational Medicine, supporting its lead candidate, STX209 (arbaclofen), for the treatment of fragile X syndrome (FXS). The works presented highlight STX209 as a potential disease-modifying drug in preclinical studies, with improvement in social function in a clinical trial of patients with FXS.

It's an age old question: Why do we do good? What makes people sometimes willing to put "We" ahead of "Me?" Perhaps our first impulse is to be selfish, and cooperation is all about reining in greed. Or maybe cooperation happens spontaneously, and too much thinking gets in the way.

Harvard scientists are getting closer to an answer, showing that people's first response is to cooperate and that stopping to think encourages selfishness.

New Rochelle, NY, September 19, 2012-- Researchers have successfully developed a stable population of neural crest cells derived from mice that can be grown in large quantities in the laboratory and that demonstrates the potential to develop into many different cell types needed throughout the body.

Scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature that human brains share a consistent genetic blueprint and possess enormous biochemical complexity. The findings stem from the first deep and large-scale analysis of the vast data set publicly available in the Allen Human Brain Atlas.

CLEMSON — Clemson University psychology professor June Pilcher returned recently from Austria, where she worked with University of Vienna researchers to study ways college students' sleep habits affect how they function socially.

Pilcher received a Fulbright-Freud Award to work with the Social, Cognitive, Affective and Neuroscience Unit (SCAN) at the University of Vienna. She also worked with the Sigmund Freud Museum, giving a series of talks and lectures.