Brain

NEW YORK, NY (June 27, 2013) — A series of studies conducted by Randy Bruno, PhD, and Christine Constantinople, PhD, of Columbia University's Department of Neuroscience, topples convention by showing that sensory information travels to two places at once: not only to the brain's mid-layer (where most axons lead), but also directly to its deeper layers. The study appears in the June 28, 2013, edition of the journal Science.

PITTSBURGH—Lying awake in bed plagues everyone occasionally, but for those with seasonal affective disorder, sleeplessness is routine. University of Pittsburgh researchers report in the Journal of Affective Disorders that individuals with seasonal affective disorder (SAD)—a winter depression that leads to loss of motivation and interest in daily activities—have misconceptions about their sleep habits similar to those of insomniacs. These findings open the door for treating seasonal affective disorder similar to the way doctors treat insomnia.

A protein secreted with insulin travels through the bloodstream and accumulates in the brains of individuals with type 2 diabetes and dementia, in the same manner as the amyloid beta Αβ plaques that are associated with Alzheimer's disease, a study by researchers with the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center has found.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The power of the brain lies in its trillions of intercellular connections, called synapses, which together form complex neural "networks." While neuroscientists have long sought to map these complex connections to see how they influence specific brain functions, traditional techniques have yet to provide the desired resolution. Now, by using an innovative brain-tracing technique, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the Salk Institute have found a way to untangle these networks.

When young children gaze intently at something or furrow their brows in concentration, you know their minds are busily at work. But you're never entirely sure what they're thinking.

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows, that our imagination may affect how we experience the world more than we perhaps think. What we imagine hearing or seeing "in our head" can change our actual perception. The study, which is published in the scientific journal Current Biology, sheds new light on a classic question in psychology and neuroscience – about how our brains combine information from the different senses.

HOUSTON -- (June 27, 2013) – A chromosomal deletion is associated with changes in the brain's white matter and delayed language acquisition in youngsters from Southeast Asia or with ancestral connections to the region, said an international consortium led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine. However, many such children who can be described as late-talkers may overcome early speech and language difficulties as they grow.

Important new insights into how the brain compensates for temporary hearing loss during infancy, such as that commonly experienced by children with glue ear, are revealed in a research study in ferrets. The Wellcome Trust-funded study at the University of Oxford could point to new therapies for glue ear and has implications for the design of hearing aid devices.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Our daily routines can become so ingrained that we perform them automatically, such as taking the same route to work every day. Some behaviors, such as smoking or biting your fingernails, become so habitual that we can't stop even if we want to.

Research from North Carolina State University shows that software which tracks facial expressions can accurately assess the emotions of students engaged in interactive online learning and predict the effectiveness of online tutoring sessions.

Although it may seem difficult for adults to understand what an infant is feeling, a new study from Brigham Young University finds that it's so easy a baby could do it.

Psychology professor Ross Flom's study, published in the academic journal Infancy, shows that infants can recognize each other's emotions by five months of age. This study comes on the heels of other significant research by Flom on infants' ability to understand the moods of dogs, monkeys and classical music.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Lemurs from species that hang out in big tribes are more likely to steal food behind your back instead of in front of your face.

This behavior suggests that primates who live in larger social groups tend to have more "social intelligence," a new study shows. The results appear June 27 in PLOS ONE.

The size of a primate's social group can predict cognitive skills related to social abilities, according to research published June 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Evan MacLean and colleagues from Duke University.

The authors compared six lemur species' performance on two tests, a social cognition task that required understanding a competitor's actions and a second test where animals tried to retrieve food placed in a transparent tube, testing their non-social cognitive skills.

CHICAGO --- A new class of experimental drug-like small molecules is showing great promise in targeting a brain enzyme to prevent early memory loss in Alzheimer's disease, according to Northwestern Medicine® research.

Developed in the laboratory of D. Martin Watterson, the molecules halted memory loss and fixed damaged communication among brain cells in a mouse model of Alzheimer's.

MINNEAPOLIS – People who have a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be more likely to have a future stroke, according to research that appears in the June 26, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.