Brain

Diet, nutrient levels linked to cognitive ability, brain shrinkage

CORVALLIS, Ore. – New research has found that elderly people with higher levels of several vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids in their blood had better performance on mental acuity tests and less of the brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's disease – while "junk food" diets produced just the opposite result.

New clues as to why some older people may be losing their memory

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research links 'silent strokes,' or small spots of dead brain cells, found in about one out of four older adults to memory loss in the elderly. The study is published in the January 3, 2012, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Scripps Research scientists discover a brain cell malfunction in schizophrenia

LA JOLLA, CA – December 27, 2011 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of schizophrenic subjects.

The findings suggest that drugs already in development for other diseases might eventually offer hope as a treatment for schizophrenia and related conditions in the elderly.

How obesity alters the brain area involved in body weight control

The number of people who suffer from one or more of the adverse complications of obesity, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease is rapidly increasing. Thus far, drugs designed to treat obesity have shown limited efficacy and have been associated with serious side effects. This is largely because we have limited understanding of the effects of obesity on our natural mechanisms of body weight control.

Elderly can be as fast as young in some brain tasks, study shows

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Both children and the elderly have slower response times when they have to make quick decisions in some settings.

But recent research suggests that much of that slower response is a conscious choice to emphasize accuracy over speed.

In fact, healthy older people can be trained to respond faster in some decision-making tasks without hurting their accuracy – meaning their cognitive skills in this area aren't so different from younger adults.

Children don't give words special power to categorize their world

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research challenges the conventional thinking that young children use language just as adults do to help classify and understand objects in the world around them.

In a new study involving 4- to 5-year-old children, researchers found that the labels adults use to classify items – words like "dog" or "pencil" – don't have the same ability to influence the thinking of children.

Sea snails help scientists explore a possible way to enhance memory

Efforts to help people with learning impairments are being aided by a species of sea snail known as Aplysia californica. The mollusk, which is used by researchers to study the brain, has much in common with other species including humans. Research involving the snail has contributed to the understanding of learning and memory.

'Rare' brain disorder may be more common than thought, say Mayo Clinic scientists

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A global team of neuroscientists, led by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida, have found the gene responsible for a brain disorder that may be much more common than once believed. In the Dec.

Double trouble: Concomitant immune challenges result in CNS disease

A research team led by Glenn Rall at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA developed a novel mouse model to show that a fatal central nervous system (CNS) disease can be caused by a pathogen that does not replicate in the CNS. The results of this new study are published December 22nd in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens.

UTHealth researchers link multiple sclerosis to different area of brain

HOUSTON – (Dec. 22, 2011) – Radiology researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have found evidence that multiple sclerosis affects an area of the brain that controls cognitive, sensory and motor functioning apart from the disabling damage caused by the disease's visible lesions.

Mayo Clinic discovery selected for Science's Top 10 Achievements of 2011

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The editors of the journal Science have selected a Mayo Clinic discovery as one of their top 10 "groundbreaking scientific achievements of 2011." The Mayo study --the first to eliminate the effects of aging in mice -- received worldwide attention when it was published in Nature in November. Science's international list of achievements featuring scientific breakthroughs ranging from biology to aerospace research was released Thursday afternoon.

How skin is wired for touch

Compared to our other senses, scientists don't know much about how our skin is wired for the sensation of touch. Now, research reported in the December 23rd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, provides the first picture of how specialized neurons feel light touches, like a brush of movement or a vibration, are organized in hairy skin.

Fish oil may hold key to leukemia cure

A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers. The compound -- delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3 -- targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML, in mice, said Sandeep Prabhu, associate professor of immunology and molecular toxicology in the Department of Veterinary and Medical Sciences. The compound is produced from EPA -- Eicosapentaenoic Acid -- an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and in fish oil, he said.

Teens who express own views with mom resist peer pressures best

Teens who more openly express their own viewpoints in discussions with their moms, even if their viewpoints disagree, are more likely than others to resist peer pressure to use drugs or drink.

That's one of the findings of a new longitudinal study by researchers at the University of Virginia. The study appears in the journal Child Development.

Young children understand the benefits of positive thinking

Even kindergarteners know that thinking positively will make you feel better. And parents' own feelings of optimism may play a role in whether their children understand how thoughts influence emotions.

Those are the findings of a new study by researchers at Jacksonville University and the University of California, Davis. The study appears in the journal Child Development.