Brain

Treating 'brain tsunamis' or 'killer waves' could stop many victims of major head injury from suffering additional brain damage, a study published in Lancet Neurology has found.

Scientists have been investigating this phenomenon for decades, with the topic of spreading depolarizations now of keen interest to the U.S. military because head injuries have emerged as the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Washington, DC -- Drugs that affect the levels of an important brain protein involved in learning and memory reverse cellular changes in the brain seen during aging, according to an animal study in the December 7 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day aid in the development of new drugs that enhance cognitive function in older adults.

Jupiter, FL -- Researchers from the lab of Nobel laureate Bert Sakmann, MD, PhD at the Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) are reporting that, using a conceptually new approach and state-of-the-art research tools, they have created the first realistic three-dimensional diagram of a thalamocortical column in the rodent brain. A vertically organized series of connected neurons that form a brain circuit, the cortical column is considered the elementary building block of the cortex, the part of the brain that is responsible for many of its higher functions.

New research suggests that far from disengaging young people from real life, virtual worlds can provide unique environments that can help them learn and negotiate new situations.

Human minds have hit an evolutionary "sweet spot" and - unlike computers - cannot continually get smarter without trade-offs elsewhere, according to research by the University of Warwick.

Researchers asked the question why we are not more intelligent than we are given the adaptive evolutionary process.Their conclusions show that you can have too much of a good thing when it comes to mental performance.

An attentive, nurturing mother may be able to help her children better resist the temptations of drug use later in life, according to a study involving the University of Adelaide.

A paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience today by researchers from Duke University in the United States and the University of Adelaide shows for the first time how mothering can strengthen an offspring's immune system in the brain.

Dec. 7, 2011 – HOBOKEN, NJ – Keeping your brain in shape…no sweat. Health-conscious consumers may not realize that supplementing a healthy diet is just as important to maintaining mental performance as it is to maintaining six-pack abs. Natural supplements are an easy, effective way to manage mental focus, memory and overall mood.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Middle-class children ask their teachers for help more often and more assertively than working-class children and, in doing so, receive more support and assistance from teachers according to a study from the University of Pennsylvania.

The findings are reported in the December issue of the American Sociological Review in a paper entitled, "'I Need Help!' Social Class and Children's Help-Seeking in Elementary School" by Jessica McCrory Calarco, a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences.

How the human brain and human cognitive abilities evolved in less than six million years has long puzzled scientists. A new study conducted by scientists in China and Germany, and published December 6 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, now provides a possible explanation by showing that activity levels of genes in the human brain during development changed substantially compared to chimpanzees and macaques. What's more, these changes might be caused by a handful of key regulatory molecules called microRNAs.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Primates learn from feedback that surprises them, and in a recent investigation of how that happens, neurosurgeons have learned something new. The insight they gleaned from examining the response of specific brain tissues during a learning task may inform future rehabilitative therapies after stroke or traumatic brain injury.

DURHAM, N.C. – An attentive, nurturing mother may be able to help her children better resist the temptations of drug use later in life, according to a study in rats conducted by Duke University and the University of Adelaide in Australia.

CHICAGO – Antenatal (before birth) corticosteroid therapy for mothers of infants born at 23 to 25 weeks' gestation was associated with a lower rate of infant death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 18 to 22 months of age, according to a study in the December 7 issue of JAMA.

Testing athletes for concussions may induce mental fatigue in subjects whether or not they have a head injury, according to Penn State researchers.

"Testing for a long period of time can induce fatigue," said Semyon Slobonouv, professor of kinesiology. "But at the same time, fatigue is a symptom of concussion. … How do you rule out fatigue if you get fatigued while taking the test?"

A standard way to test patients for concussion is to use an hour-and-a-half to two-hour set of neuropsychological tests -- enough to make anyone tired.

Is obesity a ciliopathy, a disorder such as polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which is triggered by a defect in the microscopic hair-like cilia that protrude from virtually every cell of humans and other vertebrates?

University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB) researchers told the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 2011 Annual Meeting in Denver on Dec. 6 that mutations in primary cilia may scramble signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, the appetite-regulating region of the brain, and trigger chronic obesity.