Brain

CHICAGO – Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a study being published Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

CHICAGO – Substance use is widespread among adolescents in the United States, particularly among those of Native American, white, Hispanic and multiple race/ethnicity, and these groups are also disproportionally affected by substance-related disorders, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

CLEVELAND – A microsurgical procedure that has lost some ground to advances in endovascular therapy still plays a critical role in the management of selected neurovascular disorders, according to a University Hospitals Case Medical Center neurosurgeon who performs the procedure.

SAN ANTONIO (Nov. 7, 2011) — Use of criteria such as family history of mania and early onset of illness resulted in the diagnosis of 31 percent more cases of bipolar disorder in individuals experiencing a major depressive episode, according to results of a large international study reported this year.

Next time you're out to dinner, you may want to think twice before ordering your steak rare.

In a first-of-its kind study, Harvard researchers have shown that cooked meat provides more energy than raw meat, a finding that suggests humans are biologically adapted to take advantage of the benefits of cooking, and that cooking played a key role in driving the evolution of man from an ape-like creature into one more closely resembling modern humans.

November 7, 2011 — (Bronx, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have demonstrated for the first time that the brain is a key player in regulating glucose (sugar) metabolism in humans. The findings, published today in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that drugs targeting the brain and central nervous system could be a novel approach to treating diabetes.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Pediatric neuroscientists at Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital are the first to use high magnetic field strength MRI to reveal tiny white matter injuries in the developing brain previously undetectable using standard MRI.

Early, accurate identification of these lesions in the preterm human infant could prevent delays in therapy and enable physicians to inform families sooner of the potential for complications. The team's findings are published in the Annals of Neurology.

Computer analysis of brain scans could help predict how severe the future illness course of a patient with psychosis will be, according to research funded by the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The findings could allow doctors to make more accurate decisions about how best to treat patients.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – After men become fathers for the first time, they show significant decreases in crime, tobacco and alcohol use, according to a new, 19-year study.

Researchers assessed more than 200 at-risk boys annually from the age of 12 to 31, and examined how men's crime, tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use changed over time. While previous studies showed that marriage can change a man's negative behavior, they had not isolated the additional effects of fatherhood.

Knowledge about the development of the nervous system is of the greatest importance for us to understand the function of the brain and brain disorders. Researchers at Uppsala University have examined the key step when genes are read and found that genes that are active in the brain are transcribed with a special mechanism. The findings, reported in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, can be of importance in our understanding of the genetic causes of certain brain diseases.

A second clinical trial of the medical food Souvenaid confirmed that daily intake of the nutritional intervention improves memory in people with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results of the trial - called Souvenir II - were presented at the 4th International Conference on Clinical Trials in Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) in San Diego, California on Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 by Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, Professor of Cognitive Neurology and Director of the Alzheimer Center at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.

University of British Columbia researchers have developed new technology for monitoring brain aneurysms – an approach that is potentially less invasive and more accurate than current methods, and one that is simple enough for patients to use at home for frequent monitoring.

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that an active ingredient in the Persian spice saffron may be a potential treatment for diseases involving neuroinflammation, such as multiple sclerosis.

Chris Power and a team of researchers in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry recently published their findings in the peer-reviewed publication, The Journal of Immunology.

A new chemical process developed by a team of Harvard researchers greatly increases the utility of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in creating real-time 3-D images of chemical process occurring inside the human body.

This new work by Tobias Ritter, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and colleagues holds out the tantalizing possibility of using PET scans to peer into any number of functions inside the bodies of living patients by simplifying the process of creating "tracer" molecules used to create the 3-D images.

A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain.

Their findings are the first to demonstrate that a parasite found in the brain of mammals can affect dopamine levels.