Brain

Scientists have long puzzled over the many hours we spend in light, dreamless slumber. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests we're busy recharging our brain's learning capacity during this traditionally undervalued phase of sleep, which can take up half the night.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – March 8, 2011 – In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month during March, GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has published a special issue for March on colonoscopy and colorectal cancer. The issue includes a study showing that colonoscopy has prevented a substantial number of deaths from colorectal cancer and that many more could have been prevented with more widespread use.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Patients with epilepsy worry more than their physicians do about the patients' potential memory loss accompanying their seizure disorder, according to a recent study.

In a survey, patients with epilepsy as a group ranked memory loss as their second-most important concern on a list of 20 potential medical or social concerns. Memory loss as a concern came in 12th in the frequency of responses among concerns recorded by physicians and nurse practitioners who completed the same survey.

Implanting electrodes into a pea-sized part of the brain can dramatically improve life for people with severe cervical dystonia – a rare but extremely debilitating condition that causes painful, twisting neck muscle spasms – according to the results of a pilot study led by Jill Ostrem, MD and Philip Starr, MD PhD at the University of California, San Francisco.

AURORA, Colo. (March 8, 2011) – In a major breakthrough in the battle against Parkinson's disease, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered a drug that stops the progression of the degenerative illness in mice and is now being tested in humans.

DURHAM, N.C., and SINGAPORE -- The powers that be in Las Vegas figured out something long before neuroscientists at two Duke University medical schools confirmed their ideas this week: Trying to make decisions while sleep-deprived can lead to a case of optimism.

The scientists showed, using a functional MRI, that a night of sleep deprivation leads to increased brain activity in brain regions that assess positive outcomes, while at the same time this deprivation leads to decreased activation in the brain areas that process negative outcomes.

AURORA, Colo. (March 8, 2011) – In a major breakthrough in the battle against Parkinson's disease, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have discovered a drug that stops the progression of the degenerative illness in mice and is now being tested in humans.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Patients with epilepsy worry more than their physicians do about the patients' potential memory loss accompanying their seizure disorder, according to a recent study.

In a survey, patients with epilepsy as a group ranked memory loss as their second-most important concern on a list of 20 potential medical or social concerns. Memory loss as a concern came in 12th in the frequency of responses among concerns recorded by physicians and nurse practitioners who completed the same survey.

Implanting electrodes into a pea-sized part of the brain can dramatically improve life for people with severe cervical dystonia – a rare but extremely debilitating condition that causes painful, twisting neck muscle spasms – according to the results of a pilot study led by Jill Ostrem, MD and Philip Starr, MD PhD at the University of California, San Francisco.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – March 8, 2011 – In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month during March, GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has published a special issue for March on colonoscopy and colorectal cancer. The issue includes a study showing that colonoscopy has prevented a substantial number of deaths from colorectal cancer and that many more could have been prevented with more widespread use.

Scientists have long puzzled over the many hours we spend in light, dreamless slumber. But a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, suggests we're busy recharging our brain's learning capacity during this traditionally undervalued phase of sleep, which can take up half the night.

Milan, Italy, 8 March 2011 – Research suggests that intelligence in humans is controlled by the part of the brain known as the 'cortex', and most theories of age-related cognitive decline focus on cortical dysfunction.

Milan, Italy, 8 March 2011 – The vast majority of humans – over 90% – prefer to use their right hand for most skilled tasks. For decades, researchers have been trying to understand why this asymmetry exists. Why, with our two cerebral hemispheres and motor cortices, are we not equally skilled with both hands?

Montreal, March 8, 2011 – A team of researchers from Concordia University has developed an effective new technique to determine the authorship of anonymous emails. Tests showed their method has a high level of accuracy – and unlike many other methods of ascertaining authorship, it can provide presentable evidence in courts of law. Findings on the new technique are published in the journal Digital Investigation.

A study into the effects of Sanfilippo Syndrome type B (MPS III B) has found that the barrier responsible for protecting the brain from the entry of harmful blood-borne substances is structurally and functionally damaged by the devastating disease. University of South Florida researchers identified damage in specific brain structures involved in the pathology of MPS III B, one of four Sanfilippo syndromes, all of which are inherited diseases of metabolism.