Brain

A five-year study by an international team led from the University of Leicester has found a way of 'reversing' symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's - using fruit flies as test subjects.

The researchers have demonstrated that genetic and pharmacological approaches can be used to lower levels of toxic metabolites in the nervous system and thereby alleviate several symptoms of neurodegeneration.

Putnam Valley, NY. (April 25, 2016) - Liver failure often occurs after an extensive hepatectomy, which is the surgical resection of the liver. While liver cell transplantation is a useful therapy for acute liver failure after massive hepatectomy, when cells are transplanted through liver portal veins raises the risk of embolization, such as the formation and movement of a blood clot, often with fatal consequences.

ARLINGTON, Va.--Could bacteria in your gut be used to cure or prevent neurological conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety or even depression? Two researchers sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) think that's a strong possibility.

Dr. John Bienenstock and Dr. Paul Forsythe--who work in The Brain-Body Institute at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada--are investigating intestinal bacteria and their effect on the human brain and mood.

DALLAS - April 25, 2016 - Repeated impacts to the heads of high school football players cause measurable changes in their brains, even when no concussion occurs, according to research from UT Southwestern Medical Center's Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Conservatives' attitudes toward climate change and other environmental concerns shift when the issues are reframed in terms more closely aligned with their values, a new study from Oregon State University indicates.

Researchers found that people who identified as conservative were more likely to support "pro-environmental" ideals when the issues were framed as matters of obeying authority, defending the purity of nature and demonstrating patriotism.

A team of researchers has found a key player in brain tumour formation that may lead to new therapies for a deadly and incurable cancer.

The study published in Nature Neuroscience is the first to show that a protein called OSMR (Oncostatin M Receptor) is required for glioblastoma tumours to form.

Glioblastoma is one of the most deadly cancers, resistant to radiation, chemotherapy and difficult to remove with surgery.

A gene known as OSMR plays a key role in driving the growth of glioblastoma tumors, according to a new study led by a McGill University researcher and published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults. Unfortunately, there are no effective treatments for the disease. On average, patients succumb just 16 months after diagnosis.

Patterns of brain activity thought to show pain responses have been called into question after researchers from UCL and the University of Reading saw such patterns in rare patients born without a sense of pain.

Between seizures and continually, brain cells in epileptic patients send signals that make "empty memories," perhaps explaining the learning problems faced by up to 40 percent of patients. This is the finding of a study in rats and humans led by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and published April 25 in Nature Medicine.

Princeton University researchers have found that dopamine - a brain chemical involved in learning, motivation and many other functions - also has a direct role in representing or encoding movement. The finding could help researchers better understand dopamine's role in movement-related disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

ATLANTA--Hearing socially meaningful sounds can change the ear and enable it to better detect those sounds, according to researchers at Georgia State University who studied the phenomenon in green treefrogs.

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties, according to a new meta-analysis of 50 years of research on spanking by experts at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan.

"Video game addiction is more prevalent among younger men, and among those not being in a current relationship, than others," says, Cecilie Schou Andreassen, doctor of psychology and clinical psychologist specialist at Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen (UiB).

Schou Andreassen has carried out a study with more than 20 000 participants who answered questions related to videogame addiction. The study is published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, of the American Psychological Association.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Researchers at the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions have discovered how a gene in the brain's dopamine system can play an important role in prolonging lifespan: it must be coupled with a healthy environment that includes exercise.

The study, led by Panayotis (Peter) K. Thanos, senior research scientist at RIA, appears in the current, online version of Oncotarget Aging, a top-ranked aging journal.

The Zika virus epidemic comes at a time when new stem cell techniques for studying the brain are being refined and tested. On April 22 in Cell, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers unveil brain-region-specific organoids that show in three dimensions how the virus affects the human brain. The organoid data support that Zika prefers to infect neural stem cells and that the extent of damage differs depending on time of infection.