Brain

Pediatric researchers, investigating the biology of brain tumors in children, are finding that crucial differences in how the same gene is mutated may call for different treatments. A new study offers glimpses into how scientists will be using the ongoing flood of gene-sequencing data to customize treatments based on very specific mutations in a child's tumor.

Mindfulness training may help to boost standardized test scores and improve working memory, according to a new study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Every year, millions of college and graduate-school applicants take standardized tests, such as the SAT and GRE. The tests supposedly provide a way to gauge students' cognitive abilities and predict how they'll perform in school and, eventually, the workplace.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– If you think your inability to concentrate is a hopeless condition, think again –– and breathe, and focus. According to a study by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara, as little as two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve one's reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and ability to focus.

Their findings were recently published online in the empirical psychology journal Psychological Science.

A new study by Multiple Sclerosis researchers at three leading Canadian centres addresses why bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has positive results in patients with particularly aggressive forms of MS. The transplantation treatment, which is performed as part of a clinical trial and carries potentially serious risks, virtually stops all new relapsing activity as observed upon clinical examination and brain MRI scans. The study reveals how the immune system changes as a result of the transplantation.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The finding – based on measurements of the cardio-metabolic risk marker C-reactive protein (CRP) – points to another potential danger of depression, which afflicts an estimated one in 10 adults in the United States. Study results were published online March 26, 2013, in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – March 26, 2013 – A Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center team studying alcohol addiction has new research that might shed light on why some drinkers are more susceptible to addiction than others.

The field of cell therapy, which aims to form new cells in the body in order to cure disease, has taken another important step in the development towards new treatments. A new report from researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells, directly in the brain.

BOSTON (March 26, 2013) —A research paper published online this month in Academic Medicine highlights the successful development, implementation, and effects of an infectious disease curriculum that has now been piloted in five Boston Public Schools. Student engagement and interest in the infectious disease material increased after the curriculum was implemented. Based on pre-and post-tests, student understanding of the course content more than doubled regardless of gender or ethnicity, also attitudes and self-efficacy toward the material improved compared to other students.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new study suggests that migraines are related to brain abnormalities present at birth and others that develop over time. The research is published online in the journal Radiology.

Migraines are intense, throbbing headaches, sometimes accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light. Some patients experience auras, a change in visual or sensory function that precedes or occurs during the migraine. More than 300 million people suffer from migraines worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Long term treatment by carmustine, a chemical relative of mustard gas and already used to treat some types of brain cancer, can decrease the amount of amyloid β and number of amyloid plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The research is published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine.

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Researchers are digging deeper into whether infants' ability to learn new words is shaped by the particular language being acquired.

A new Northwestern University study cites a promising new research agenda aimed at bringing researchers closer to discovering the impact of different languages on early language and cognitive development.

Madison, Wis. — New findings from nonhuman primates suggest that an overactive core circuit in the brain, and its interaction with other specialized circuits, accounts for the variability in symptoms shown by patients with severe anxiety. In a brain-imaging study to be published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health describe work that for the first time provides an understanding of the root causes of clinical variability in anxiety disorders.

Mild cognitive impairment at the time of Parkinson disease (PD) diagnosis appears to be associated with an increased risk for early dementia in a Norwegian study, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Neurology, a JAMA Network publication.

PASADENA, Calif.—When our noses pick up a scent, whether the aroma of a sweet rose or the sweat of a stranger at the gym, two types of sensory neurons are at work in sensing that odor or pheromone. These sensory neurons are particularly interesting because they are the only neurons in our bodies that regenerate throughout adult life—as some of our olfactory neurons die, they are soon replaced by newborns. Just where those neurons come from in the first place has long perplexed developmental biologists.

As the nation continues to grapple with the long-simmering issue of gun control, solutions are stymied by heated debates.

To effectively influence a divided America, elected officials must take a broad perspective rather than focusing on specific incidents, according to a new psychology study from The University of Texas at Austin.

The study, led by University of Texas at Austin psychology researchers Erin Burgoon and Marlone Henderson, is published in the March online issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.