Brain

A paper published today in Science reveals the highest resolution and most accurate X-ray scan ever made of the brain case of an early human ancestor. The insight derived from this data is like a powerful beacon on the hazy landscape of brain evolution across the transition from Australopithecus to Homo.

Legacy giving should be a key focus for charity fundraising, say the authors of a study published in Psychology & Marketing. The study uses dimensional qualitative research to reveal how charities need to understand the motivational role of identity to increase access to the $23 billion which is inherited through wills every year.

Roanoke, Va. – The discovery that low-intensity, pulsed ultrasound can be used to noninvasively stimulate intact brain circuits holds promise for engineering rapid-response medical devices. The team that made that discovery, led by William "Jamie" Tyler, an assistant professor with the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has now produced an in-depth article detailing this approach, which may one day lead to first-line therapies in combating life-threatening epileptic seizures.

Montreal, September 8, 2011 — "There's no place like home," an iconic line uttered by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, might apply to learning the ABC's, math and other core subjects. A new study from Concordia University and Mount Allison University has found that homeschooling — as long as it's structured or follows a curriculum — can provide kids with an academic edge.

NEW YORK (Sept. 7, 2011) -- Patients at a high risk for a second stroke who received intensive medical treatment had fewer strokes and deaths than patients who received a brain stent in addition to the medical treatment, a large nationwide clinical trial has shown. The investigators published the results in today's online first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the trial.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—September 8, 2011— A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This discovery offers new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating neurodegenerative disease.

Patients at a high risk for a second stroke who received intensive medical treatment had fewer strokes and deaths than patients who received a brain stent in addition to the medical treatment, a large nationwide clinical trial has shown. The investigators published the results in the online first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the trial.

(CHICAGO) – Patients with narrowed arteries in the brain who received intensive medical treatment had fewer strokes and deaths than patients who received a brain stent in addition to medical treatment, according to the initial results from the first, nationwide stroke prevention trial to compare the two treatment options. The results of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) study called Stenting versus Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis (SAMMPRIS) are published in the online first edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

To prevent a common type of stroke, intensive medical therapy could be better by itself than in combination with surgery that props open affected arteries. But it remains to be seen whether the apparent advantage will prove true over the long term.

The findings, from a national clinical trial conducted by University of Florida researchers and colleagues, will be published online in The New England Journal of Medicine online on Wednesday, Sept. 7.

LOS ANGELES (STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDS. SEPT. 7, 2011 AT 5 PM EDT) -- An article appearing in the Sept. 7 New England Journal of Medicine, reporting on National Institutes of Health research on brain stents, says aggressive medical treatment without stenting is better for high-risk stroke patients.

ROCHESTER, Minn. - Any exercise that gets the heart pumping may reduce the risk of dementia and slow the condition's progression once it starts, reported a Mayo Clinic study published this month in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Researchers examined the role of aerobic exercise in preserving cognitive abilities and concluded that it should not be overlooked as an important therapy against dementia.

Pay attention! It's a universal warning, which implies that keeping close watch helps us perceive the world more accurately. But a new study by Yale University cognitive psychologists Brandon Liverence and Brian Scholl finds that intense focus on objects can have the opposite effect: It distorts perception of where things are in relation to one another. The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

LA JOLLA, CA – September 7, 2011 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found what may be a major cause of congenital hydrocephalus, one of the most common neurological disorders of childhood that produces mental debilitation and sometimes death in premature and newborn children.

The research appears in the September 7, 2011, issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.

A new review article published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review assesses the extent to which alcohol plays a causal role in sexual assault perpetration. Results found that men who are already prone to anger, who have hostile attitudes toward women, and who are in social environments that accept sexual aggression are most likely to engage in sexual aggression when intoxicated.