Brain

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Significant progress has been made in understanding the genetic risk factors underlying psychiatric disease. Recent studies have identified common genetic mutations conferring modest risk and rare variants comprising significant risk. One example of a rare cause of psychiatric disorders is the Disrupted in Schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) gene, first identified in a large Scottish pedigree displaying schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

INDIANAPOLIS – A new national plan of action provides a roadmap for improving the care of patients with delirium, a poorly understood and often unrecognized brain condition that affects approximately seven million hospitalized Americans each year.

Newly qualified nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who took part in an online course during their first year of employment reported increased clinical skills development and confidence. However the survey on the Flying Start NHS™ programme, published in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing, found that mentors needed more training and time to provide support.

Researchers surveyed 547 newly qualified practitioners who had undertaken the course, developed by NHS Education Scotland, and interviewed 21 project lead/co-ordinators and 22 mentors.

Examining venom from a variety of poisonous snakes, a group of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has discovered why the bite of one small black, yellow and red serpent called the Texas coral snake can be so painful.

The finding offers insights into chronic and acute pain – and provides new research tools that may help pharmaceutical companies design drugs to combat pain.

PHILADELPHIA - On the quest for safe, reliable and accessible tools to accurately diagnose Alzheimer's disease, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found a new way of diagnosing and tracking Alzheimer's disease, using an innovative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called Arterial spin labeling (ASL) to measure changes in brain function.

Like a gardener who stakes some plants and weeds out others, the brain is constantly building networks of synapses, while pruning out redundant or unneeded synapses. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory led by Assistant Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have discovered a factor in synapse-building, also showing that the building and pruning processes occur independent of each other.

West Orange, NJ. Nov. 15, 2011. John DeLuca, PhD, Vice President for Research at Kessler Foundation presented findings on the use of a behavioral technique for cognitive rehabilitation in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Lead investigator was Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, director of the Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Laboratory at Kessler Foundation.

Ditching the diet for Thanksgiving? Turkey with all the fixings isn't the only temptation causing would-be dieters to miss their goals, according to a new Cornell University review article that finds powerful environmental cues are subconsciously bending willpower every day.

"We're slaves to our environment," said David Levitsky, professor of nutritional sciences and of psychology at Cornell, who co-authored the article with graduate student Carly Pacanowski.

Being impulsive can lead us to say things we regret, buy things we really don't need, engage in behaviors that are risky and even develop troublesome addictions. But are different kinds of hastiness and rashness embedded in our DNA?

A new study suggests the answer is yes -- especially if you're a man.

The research, led by University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor of psychology Scott Stoltenberg, found links between impulsivity and a rarely researched gene called NRXN3. The gene plays an important role in brain development and in how neurons function.

A new study using magnetic resonance imaging data of 406 adult human twins affirms the long-standing idea that the genetic basis of human cortical regionalization – the organization of the outer brain into specific functional areas – is similar to and consistent with patterns found in other mammals, indicating a common conservation mechanism in evolution.

The findings by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues are published in the November 17 issue of the journal Neuron.

A new study has found that protein and not sugar activates the cells responsible for keeping us awake and burning calories. The research, published in the 17 November issue of the scientific journal Neuron, has implications for understanding obesity and sleep disorders.

Wakefulness and energy expenditure rely on "orexin cells", which secrete a stimulant called orexin/hypocretin in the brain. Reduced activity in these unique cells results in narcolepsy and has been linked to weight gain.

Experts from Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center will present research and clinical insight into complex medical rehabilitation, the treatment of traumatic brain injuries and the integration of handheld technologies into practice management at the American Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) Annual Meeting in Orlando, November 17-20, 2011. Experts will be available to comment about advances in rehabilitation medicine. Presentations include:

WASHINGTON -- For black American adults, perceived racism may cause mental health symptoms similar to trauma and could lead to some physical health disparities between blacks and other populations in the United States, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

While previous studies have found links between racism and mental health, this is the first meta-analysis on the subject focusing exclusively on black American adults, according to the study published online in APA's Journal of Counseling Psychology.

With record levels of student stress reported in a recent UCLA survey, can a simple stress-reducing meditation technique be a viable solution?

If you tell yourself that someone who's being mean is just having a bad day—it's not about you—you may actually be able to stave off bad feelings, according to a new study which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.