Brain

People monitoring their alcohol intake often rely on governmental guidelines to assess whether how much they're drinking is likely to have adverse health effects.

But researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that such guidelines for low-risk drinking vary widely among countries. Some, like the United States, assign different daily or weekly limits for men and women, while others, like Australia, don't differentiate by gender.

A common antihistamine used to treat symptoms of allergies and the common cold, called clemastine fumarate, partially reversed damage to the visual system in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a preliminary study released today that will be presented today at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.

Depression may compound the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with such early warning signs of metabolic disease as obesity, high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels, according to researchers from McGill University, l'Université de Montréal, the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal and the University of Calgary.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) was signed into law in 2011. Over the past five years milestones have been identified to meet the plan's biomedical research goal. However, similar milestones have not been created for the goals on patient care and caregiver support.

Now, the Alzheimer's Association National Plan Care and Support Milestone Workgroup has developed and recommended milestones for patient and caregiver support and outlined achievement strategies.

Among the strategies for attainment of patient care milestones:

EPFL scientists propose a new way of understanding of how the brain processes unconscious information into our consciousness. According to the model, consciousness arises only in time intervals of up to 400 milliseconds, with gaps of unconsciousness in between.

The majority of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recover after early treatment -- but a substantial number still suffer for years after a traumatic event even with early clinical interventions, according to a study publishing online April 12, 2016 in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

April 12, 2016 - Children raised by same-sex female parents with a stable family life show no difference in general health, emotional difficulties, coping and learning behavior, compared to children of different-sex parents in similarly stable relationships, concludes a study in the April Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences psychology researchers are searching for early markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previously, UM researchers published a study predicting ASD symptoms from children's behavior in the first year of life. Infants who demonstrated less initiating joint attention, using eye contact to share an experience with another person, tended to have higher levels of autism symptoms at age three.

Packaging graphics play a role in how consumers perceive proper serving sizes, according to a report published in Public Health Nutrition which sought to determine if graphics on cake mix packaging that display “extras, such as toppings or frosting, that are not listed on the nutritional labeling” correspond to the number of calories recommended in a serving size, and if these graphics lead to overserving. The team from Cornell University say the paper indicates just how powerful images on a package can be.

The human brain was initially used for basic survival tasks, such as staying safe and hunting and gathering. Yet, 200,000 years later, the same human brain is able to learn abstract concepts, like momentum, energy and gravity, which have only been formally defined in the last few centuries.

This news release is available in French.

Amsterdam, NL, April 11, 2016 - Accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and the related disease "dementia with Lewy bodies," can be difficult in the early stages of both conditions. While brain biopsies can be more accurate, the risk of complications has been considered too high. New research published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease indicates that a biopsy of the submandibular gland can help identify the same pathology that is seen in the brain, providing some of the increased accuracy of brain biopsy, but not the increased risk.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - More than 40 percent of retired National Football League (NFL) players in a recent study had signs of traumatic brain injury based on sensitive MRI scans called diffusion tensor imaging, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, April 15 to 21, 2016.

Scholars have long debated how much of the Hebrew bible was composed before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE. While scholars agree that key biblical texts were written starting in the 7th century BCE, the exact date of the compilation of these books remains in question.

New York, NY (April 11, 2016)--In a new study, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) described a new mouse model featuring a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors that can trigger the compulsive restriction of food intake seen in patients with anorexia nervosa. The findings may help to identify new prevention and treatment strategies for the eating disorder in humans.

The study was published online in the journal Translational Psychiatry.