Brain

A study published online today in the Archives of Neurology involving two common drugs used to treat early-stage Parkinson's disease shows that, while the drugs each have advantages and disadvantages, the overall impact tends to even out over a long period of treatment.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon patients who request physician aid in dying under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act often rate concerns about future illness symptoms as a leading motivator. The findings are the result of an Oregon Health & Science University study published in the March 9 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

WASHINGTON – College women may be drinking to excess to impress their male counterparts on campuses across the country, but a new study suggests most college men are not looking for a woman to match them drink for drink.

A survey of 3,616 college students at two American universities found an overwhelming majority of women overestimated the amount of alcohol a typical guy would like his female friends, dates or girlfriends to drink. The results can be found in the March issue of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, published by the American Psychological Association.

A new University of Central Florida study may explain why children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder move around a lot – it helps them stay alert enough to complete challenging tasks.

In studies of 8- to 12-year-old boys, Psychology Professor Mark D. Rapport found that children with and without ADHD sat relatively still while watching Star Wars and painting on a computer program.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A new study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals that many N.C. high schools are not adequately prepared to handle the immediate medical needs of a student or employee who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest on campus. The findings were used to support a new statewide program to place automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in high schools.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 9, 2009)—Osteoplasty—a highly effective minimally invasive procedure to treat the painful effects of metastatic bone disease by injecting bone cement to support weakened bones—provides immediate and substantial pain relief, often presenting individuals who are suffering terribly with the miraculous so-called "Lazarus effect," according to researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting. Interventional radiologists often couple osteoplasty with heat or cold treatments to kill tumor nerves, if needed.

Fifteen-year-old males who ate fish at least once a week displayed higher cognitive skills at the age of 18 than those who it ate it less frequently, according to a study of nearly 4,000 teenagers published in the March issue of Acta Paediatrica.

Eating fish once a week was enough to increase combined, verbal and visuospatial intelligence scores by an average of six per cent, while eating fish more than once a week increased them by just under 11 per cent.

Children of older fathers perform less well in a range of cognitive tests during infancy and early childhood, according to a study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine. In contrast, the study finds that children with older mothers gain higher scores in the same tests – designed to measure the ability to think and reason, including concentration, learning, memory, speaking and reading skills.

In a study that challenges the mandatory retirement of air traffic controllers at the age of 56 in the U.S., researchers have found that air traffic controllers up to age 64 perform as well as their young colleagues on complex, job-related tasks.

The study of Canadian air traffic controllers, who can work up to age 65, appears this month in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (March 9th, 2009) – Ecstasy may help suffers of post-traumatic stress learn to deal with their memories more effectively by encouraging a feeling of safety, according to an article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology published today by SAGE.

Effective stem cell treatment for strokes has taken a significant step forward today (09 March) as scientists reveal how they have replaced stroke-damaged brain tissue in rats.

Neuroscientists at New York University and Harvard University have identified the neural systems involved in forming first impressions of others. The findings, which show how we encode social information and then evaluate it in making these initial judgments, are reported in the most recent issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

March 8, 2009 TORONTO – Researchers funded by the Canadian Cancer Society have discovered eight similar genes that, when mutated, appear to be responsible for medulloblastoma – the most common of childhood brain cancers. The findings are published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

PITTSBURGH, March 8 – In a paper published in the early online version of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine deconstruct the first steps in an intricate molecular dance that might lead to the formation of pathogenic protein clumps in Huntington's disease, and possibly other movement-related neurological disorders.