Brain

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Toddlers who do not have a secure emotional relationship with their parents, and particularly their mothers, could be at increased risk for obesity by age 4 ½, according to new research.

The study suggests that children at age 24 months who show insecure attachment patterns have at least 30 percent higher odds for obesity by age 4 ½.

The association persisted even after researchers accounted for other family-related factors that could provide alternative explanations for the children's obesity.

CAMDEN – Some celebrate a political candidate's victory with a party. Others, according to a Rutgers–Camden researcher, choose porn.

Rutgers–Camden psychologist Charlotte Markey and husband Patrick Markey of Villanova University published findings in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior that suggest vicarious winning in elections yields a higher usage of internet porn. Depending on the party wins in 2004, 2006, and 2008, some members "celebrated" with visits to sultry internet sites.

Their numbers are rising, but their age is dropping: children and young adults who drink so much that they have to go to the hospital. Binge-drinking is sadly fashionable amongst the under 20-year-olds. But how can adolescents be effectively protected from alcohol and substance abuse?

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– An international team of scientists has developed a way to predict how much a person can learn, based on studies at UC Santa Barbara's Brain Imaging Center.

A study published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) details the findings.

A new study found that treatment-resistant epilepsy (TRE) is common in idiopathic autism. Early age at the onset of seizures and delayed global development were associated with a higher frequency of resistance to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Full findings appear online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

For the first time in 27 years, clinical diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease dementia have been revised, and research guidelines for earlier stages of the disease have been characterized to reflect a deeper understanding of the disorder. The National Institute on Aging/Alzheimer's Association Diagnostic Guidelines for Alzheimer's Disease outline some new approaches for clinicians and provides scientists with more advanced guidelines for moving forward with research on diagnosis and treatments. They mark a major change in how experts think about and study Alzheimer's disease.

STANFORD, Calif. — An expensive blood-clotting drug that is intended only for hemophilia patients is being used in hospitals predominantly to treat patients without this disorder, despite evidence suggesting that it could harm them, according to a pair of studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

PITTSBURGH, April 18 - Tinnitus, a relentless and often life-changing ringing in the ears known to disable soldiers exposed to blasts, unwary listeners of too-loud music and millions of others, is the result of under-inhibition of key neural pathways in the brain's auditory center, according to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in this week's early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

London, ON – When you think you see a face in the clouds or in the moon, you may wonder why it never seems to be upside down.

It turns out the answer to this seemingly minor detail is that your brain has been wired not to.

Montreal, April 18, 2011 – Older bilingual adults compensate for age-related declines in brainpower by developing new strategies to process language, according to a recent study published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

Concordia University researchers studied two groups of fluently bilingual adults – aged from 19 to 35 and from 60 to 81 years old – and found significant age-related differences in the manner their brains interpreted written language.

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, April 18, 2011 -- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev software engineering students have developed innovative technology that could enable people to operate a computer without using a keyboard or mouse – only their brainwaves.

While there have been previous attempts to develop devices to read brainwaves and operate specific programs, they were cumbersome and not feasible outside of a laboratory setting.

The BGU technology features a helmet equipped with 14 EEG connect points that sense brain activity.

WASHINGTON – Psychologists are offering new insight and solutions to help counter climate change, while helping people cope with the environmental, economic and health impacts already taking a toll on people's lives, according to a special issue of American Psychologist, the American Psychological Association's flagship journal.

A new study of concussions over seven NHL (National Hockey League) seasons indicates that rates of concussions have declined from a peak in 2000, although the time lag between injury and return to play has increased, states an article in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj092190.pdf.

A major University of Calgary study of concussions, conducted over seven National Hockey League seasons and led by sports medicine researchers within the Faculty of Kinesiology, indicates that while the rate of injuries leveled out over the study period, the number of days lost per concussion has increased.

An estimated 19 million Americans suffer from depression, and though the symptoms might be recognizable, the brain chemistry that underlies them is incompletely understood. Research suggests that aberrant signaling by a chemical called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) through its receptor TrkB, may contribute to anxiety and depression, and inhibiting this pathway in mice can reduce anxiety and depression-related behaviors.