Brain

Michael E. Baker, PhD, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has discovered that zebrafish – an important animal model in disease and environmental studies – could provide the means to help scientists eventually reveal the function of a mysterious enzyme linked to the steroid cortisol, and found in the human brain.

Decreasing the intake of calories and tweaking the activity of the hormone insulin are two methods long known to increase lifespan in a wide range of organisms.

Chicago and Montreal researchers studying the lowly lamprey eel have identified an overlooked nervous system pathway running parallel to known brainstem locomotor command circuitry in vertebrates such as birds, fishes and mammals.

The finding is reported in Nature Neuroscience, online May 16, and highlighted in the magazine's "news and views" section.

PROVIDENCE, RI – A study from Rhode Island Hospital finds patients who were "over-diagnosed" with bipolar disorder were more likely to have received disability payments and for a longer period of time. The researchers propose a link between these unconfirmed cases of bipolar disorder and the receipt of the payments. Their study and findings are published in the June 2010 edition of the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

A newly published study reported that children with new/recent onset epilepsy have significantly slowed expansion of white matter volume compared to healthy children over a two year interval. The reduced white matter volume may affect brain connectivity and influence cognition. Results of this study conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health are now available online and will appear in the July issue of Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy.

A relatively simple electronic gadget could speed up HIV/AIDS diagnostics and improve accuracy particularly in parts of the world with very limited access to healthcare workers. The device is described in the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

LOS ANGELES, May 18 , 2010 – Psychiatrists should be included in disaster first-response teams because survivors have immediate need for help in alleviating early trauma symptoms ranging from sleeplessness to constant anxiety, says a new study of 9/11 survivors and victims' family members published today in the Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

Thousands of people who are partially-sighted following stroke or brain injury could gain greater independence from a simple, cheap and accessible training course which could eventually be delivered from their mobile phones or hand-held games consoles, according to a new study.

Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by tics like grimacing, blinking and vocalizations, is normally treated in children and teens with one of several antipsychotic medications. But such drugs usually don't eliminate all the tics, and worse, they can often have side effects, acting as sedatives, causing weight gain and impairing cognitive function.

Wine aficionados are better able to resist misleading advertising if they are provided with accurate sensory descriptors, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"Wine is a complex, sensory-driven product, which is difficult to master based on regular consumption alone," write authors Kathryn A. LaTour and Michael S. LaTour (both University of Nevada, Las Vegas). In two experiments, they investigated ways aficionados can learn from their direct wine-tasting experiences.

Ball lightnings are circular light phenomena occurring during thunderstorms and there are a large class of reports by eyewitnesses having experienced such events. Scientists have been puzzled by the nature of these apparent fire balls for a long time.

If you lived longer, would you still remember everything? It depends. Two methods of extending life span have very different effects on memory performance and decline with age, researchers at Princeton University have shown in a study publishing next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.

A research team led by Professor Magdalena Götz and Dr. Benedikt Berninger of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich, reports a major step forward in discovering a therapy for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or stroke. The researchers were able to convert glial cells of the brain into two different functional classes of neurons. The findings will publish next week in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Bird song learning is a model system for studying the general principles of learning, but attempts to draw parallels between learning in birds and mammals have been difficult because of anatomical brain differences between the two species.

A new study from researchers at MIT and Hebrew University helps solve this problem, by identifying specific classes of neurons within the brains of songbirds and matching them to their mammalian counterparts.