Brain

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Thousands of college football players began competing around the nation this past week, but with the thrill of the new season comes new data on the risks of taking the field. A new study reports that running backs and quarterbacks suffer the hardest hits to the head, while linemen and linebackers are hit on the head most often. The researchers measured head blows during games and practices over three seasons at Brown University, Dartmouth College, and Virginia Tech.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Children who think their parents are poor monitors or nag a lot tend to play videogames more than other kids, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers.

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, is one of the first to link parental behavior to kids' videogame playing. The researchers surveyed more than 500 students from 20 middle schools and found that the more children perceived their parents' behavior as negative (e.g., "nags a lot") and the less monitoring parents did, the more the children played videogames.

A new study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on September 6th presents a key advance in developing a safer cure for sleeping sickness. Led by Professor Peter Kennedy, researchers at the University of Glasgow's Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation have created a version of the drug most commonly used to treat sleeping sickness which can be administered orally in pill form.

As the world prepares to develop a global strategy to tackle some of the biggest current threats to human health, there is a lot to be learned from past successes and mistakes of the global response to HIV/AIDS.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- An analysis led by Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/) researchers found that simulation-based training is an effective way to teach physicians, nurses, dentists, emergency medical technicians and other health professionals. The team reviewed more than 600 studies evaluating the use of technologies such as virtual reality computers, mannequins and training models to teach skills and procedures including surgery, trauma management, obstetrics and team communication. Their conclusions were published Sept.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have discovered a biological switch that gives energy-storing white fat the characteristics of energy-burning brown fat. The findings could lead to new strategies for treating obesity.

LA JOLLA, Calif., September 6, 2011 – Aging is generally accepted as a universal fact of life, but how do humans and other organisms age at the molecular level? At Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), a team led by Malene Hansen, Ph.D., uses a type of worm called Caenorhabditis elegans to work out the molecular underpinnings of the aging process. In a study appearing online September 8 in Current Biology, they found that two cellular processes—lipid metabolism and autophagy—work together to influence worms' lifespan.

Twenty years after the publication of the first human study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)* – a technique to measure activity in the brain through the flow of blood – the Wellcome Trust has published a report providing reflections on the field of human functional brain imaging.

A newly published study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health heightens concerns over the potential health effects on children of a group of ubiquitous chemicals known as phthalates. Phthalates are a class of chemicals that are known to disrupt the endocrine system, and are widely used in consumer products ranging from plastic toys, to household building materials, to shampoos.

ST. PAUL, Minn. –Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures may go undiagnosed for much longer in veterans compared to civilians, according to a new study published in the September 6, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. This type of seizure is different from seizures related to epilepsy and is thought to have a psychological origin.

A team of researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has identified a promising therapeutic target in the brain that could lead to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is the first evidence of a potential drug target for the condition. The data were published in the September issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

ATLANTA – Data in a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggest that certain variants of a gene that helps regulate serotonin (a brain chemical related to mood), may serve as a useful predictor of risk for symptoms related to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a trauma.

A major landmark study released today by the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) sheds new light on the state of Europe's mental and neurological health. The study finds reveal that mental disorders have become Europe's largest health challenge in the 21st century. The study also highlights that the majority of mental disorders remain untreated. Taken together with the large and increasing number of 'disorders of the brain', the true size and burden is even significantly higher.

lthough our eyes record the word as millions of pixels, "the visual system is fantastic at giving us a world that looks like objects, not pixels," says Northwestern University psychologist Steven L. Franconeri. It does this by grouping areas of the world with similar characteristics, such as color, shape, or motion.