Brain

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- An important genetic study conducted through Mayo Clinic has identified vital new information concerning alcoholism in subjects with European ancestry, according to a recent issue of Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Radiologists are now able to look at parts of the brain using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) that are rarely visible with any other imaging method, according to a study performed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA.

STANFORD, Calif. — Scientists thought they had a good model to explain how the inner ear translates vibrations in the air into sounds heard by the brain. Now, based on new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine, it looks like parts of the model are wrong.

WASHINGTON – Living in another country can be a cherished experience, but new research suggests it might also help expand minds. This research, published by the American Psychological Association, is the first of its kind to look at the link between living abroad and creativity.

Philadelphia, PA, April 23, 2009 – Addicts, even those who have been abstinent for long periods of time, are often still vulnerable to their own memories of prior drug use. For example, exposure to the same environment in which they commonly used drugs – a contextual memory – can increase their craving for the drug dramatically and can lead to relapse.

A new Australian study has found that the number of newborns suffering serious drug withdrawal symptoms is now more than 40 times higher than in 1980.

The research, published in the latest edition of the international journal Pediatrics, also found that these infants were at greater risk of neglect and of being taken into care.

The data analysis revealed that of 637195 live births in Western Australia between 1980 and 2005, 906 were diagnosed with Neonatal Withdrawal Syndrome. For every year, there was an average 16.4% increase in children born with the syndrome.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A discovery made by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine while studying mice may help explain how some people without a genetic predisposition to epilepsy can develop the disorder.

Seattle—A new study shows that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as the pain relievers ibuprofen and naproxen, do not prevent Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. Instead, the risk of developing dementia in the study's very elderly population (most were over age 83 when they developed dementia) was 66 percent higher among heavy NSAID users than among people who used little or no NSAIDs, according to research published online today in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An international study led by Ohio State University neuroscience researchers describes one of the missing triggers that controls calcium inside cells, a process important for muscle contraction, nerve-cell transmission, insulin release and other essential functions.

The research is being posted online April 22 in the journal Nature.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Not all technology meets human needs, and some technologies provide only the illusion of having met your needs.

But new research by psychologists at the University at Buffalo and Miami University, Ohio, indicates that illusionary relationships with the characters and personalities on favorite TV shows can provide people with feelings of belonging, even in the face of low self esteem or after being rejected by friends or family members.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Taking a new approach to the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, a research team led by investigators at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida has shown that druglike compounds can speed up destruction of the amyloid beta (A-beta) proteins that form plaque in the brains of patients with the disorder.

Researchers say their study, published in the April 22 online issue of PLoS ONE, demonstrates that this strategy is a viable and exciting alternative to the approach most drug designers have taken to date.

Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — African-American and Hispanic students placed in ability groups for reading instruction learned less compared to demographically similar minority students who weren't grouped by ability, a new study by a University of Illinois expert in the sociology of education found.

Regular exercise can prevent the disruption of the blood brain barrier that normally occurs with a dose of methamphetamine comparable to that used by heavy meth users.

Proteins go everywhere in the cell and do all sorts of work, but a fundamental question has eluded biologists: How do the proteins know where to go?

"There's no little man sitting there, putting the protein in the right place," said Don Arnold, molecular and computational biologist at the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

"Proteins have to have in them encoded information that tells them where to go in the cell."

In a study appearing online this week in Nature Neuroscience, Arnold and collaborators solve the mystery for key proteins in the brain.