Brain

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- One of the most severe complications of brain surgery is a life-threatening blood clot in the lungs called a pulmonary embolism.

But a Loyola University Health System study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery suggests that screening methods hospitals typically use to access the risk of pulmonary embolisms may fall short.

Researchers at Queen's University have found that people with Parkinson's disease can perform automated tasks better than people without the disease, but have significant difficulty switching from easy to hard tasks. The findings are a step towards understanding the aspects of the illness that affect the brain's ability to function on a cognitive level.

Major depression is a common and disabling brain condition marked not only by the presence of depressed mood but also by its effects on sleep, energy, decision-making, memory and thoughts of death or of suicide.

Major depression affects 15 million adults in the U.S., and the World Health Organization projects that by 2020, it will be the largest contributor to disability in the world after heart disease.

A new study from the University of Arizona shows that people in the midst of a divorce typically reveal how they are handling things – not so much by what they say but how they say it.

In fact, data revealed that even complete strangers were able to figure out how people were coping with their emotions using relatively small amounts of information.

Researchers from across the U.S., as part of the Infantile Spasms Working Group (ISWG), established guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of infantile spasms (IS). The goal of the ISWG is to improve patient outcomes by creating protocols that educate pediatricians on early diagnosis and treatment options. Full details of this study appear online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – There is yet no straightforward way to determine the optimal dose level and treatment schedules for high-dose radiation therapies such as stereotactic radiation therapy, used to treat brain and lung cancer, or for high-dose brachytherapy for prostate and other cancers.

Radiation oncologists at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) may have solved the problem by developing a new mathematical model that encompasses all dose levels.

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious -- but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether, according to a recent Kansas State University undergraduate research project.

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 2 – A survey of emergency medical services (EMS) agencies from across the country found wide variation in perceptions of workplace safety culture—providing a tool that might point to potential patient safety threats, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Seven-year-old children only need to interact with a person once to learn who to trust and seek information from, according to a study by Queen's University researchers.

"It shows that kids really pay attention to people's accuracy and they don't forget it, even after interacting with that person one time," says psychology professor Stanka Fitneva, who conducted the study with graduate student Kristen Dunfield.

The study tested adults, seven-year-olds and four-years-olds by asking a question and then having two people on a computer screen give a right and wrong answer.

Ezlopitant, a compound known to suppress craving for alcohol in humans, was shown to decrease consumption of sweetened water by rodents in a study by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, which is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

"This finding suggests a possible link between the neurochemical pathways for addiction and compulsive eating," says principal investigator Selena Bartlett, PhD, Director of the Pre-Clinical Development Group at the Gallo Center.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research shows that mentally stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles, reading and listening to the radio may, at first, slow the decline of thinking skills but speed up dementia later in old age. The research is published in the September 1, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Seven-year-old children only need to interact with a person once to learn who to trust and seek information from, according to a study by Queen's University researchers.

"It shows that kids really pay attention to people's accuracy and they don't forget it, even after interacting with that person one time," says psychology professor Stanka Fitneva, who conducted the study with graduate student Kristen Dunfield.

The study tested adults, seven-year-olds and four-years-olds by asking a question and then having two people on a computer screen give a right and wrong answer.

BATON ROUGE – LSU's Saundra McGuire, assistant vice chancellor for learning and teaching in LSU's Division of Student Life and Enrollment Services, recently co-authored an American Scientist article with Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Roald Hoffmann. The article, "Learning and Teaching Strategies," describes six learning and six teaching strategies using the authors' collective experiences as well as advances in cognitive psychology.