Brain

4th June 2013, Zaragoza, Spain – Alzheimer researchers in Spain have taken a step closer to finding a blood test to help in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

With approximately 75% of the estimated 36 million Alzheimer's sufferers worldwide yet to receive a reliable diagnosis, the potential impact on the lives of possible sufferers, present and future, could be huge.

Measuring blood flow in the brain may be an easy, noninvasive way to predict stroke or hemorrhage in children receiving cardiac or respiratory support through a machine called ECMO, according to a new study by researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Early detection would allow physicians to alter treatment and take steps to prevent these complications—the leading cause of death for patients on ECMO.

More than a third of marriages between 2005 and 2012 began online, according to new research at the University of Chicago, which also found that online couples have happier, longer marriages.

Although the study did not determine why relationships that started online were more successful, the reasons may include the strong motivations of online daters, the availability of advance screening, and the sheer volume of opportunities online.

Reston, Va. (June 3, 2013) – Highly educated individuals with mild cognitive impairment that later progressed to Alzheimer's disease cope better with the disease than individuals with a lower level of education in the same situation, according to research published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

In the brain, cell-to-cell communication is dependent on neurotransmitters, chemicals that aid the transfer of information between neurons. Several proteins have the ability to modify the production of these chemicals by either increasing or decreasing their amount, or promoting or preventing their secretion. One example is tomosyn, which hinders the secretion of neurotransmitters in abnormal amounts.

In his article, "Pathoetiology of multiple sclerosis: are we barking up the wrong tree?", Peter K.

Scientists have taken a vital step forward in understanding how cells from skin tissue can be reprogrammed to become stem cells.

New research could pave the way to generate these stem cells efficiently to better understand and develop treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and muscular degeneration.

The study of how these cells – known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) – were reprogramed was led by the University of Edinburgh and is published in the journal Nature.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany, discovered that the ability of Manduca sexta moths to recognize changes in the profile of volatile compounds released by plants being attacked by Manduca caterpillars allows them to lay their eggs on plants that are less likely to be attacked by insects and other predators, and to avoid competing against other caterpillars of the same species for resources. The results of field experiments and neurobiological studies were now published in the open access online journal eLIFE.

PULLMAN, Wash. - Lindsay Ellsworth is prescribing a new, mood-boosting therapy for teenagers in drug and alcohol treatment: shelter dogs.

On Friday afternoons, about four dogs from the Spokane Humane Society take a field trip to Excelsior Youth Center as a group of teenage boys eagerly await their arrival. Ellsworth, a doctoral candidate in animal sciences at Washington State University, organizes the meet-ups where participants can help brush, feed and play with the dogs.

Scientists have taken a vital step forward in understanding how cells from skin tissue can be reprogrammed to become stem cells.

New research could pave the way to generate these stem cells efficiently to better understand and develop treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and muscular degeneration.

The study of how these cells – known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) – were reprogramed was led by the University of Edinburgh and is published in the journal Nature.

On June 3rd, JoVE will publish a research technique that allows neural imaging of auditory stimuli in songbirds via MRI. The technique, developed by Dr. Annemie Van der Linden and her laboratory at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, will be one of the first published in JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on observational and experimental techniques that seek to understand human and animal behavior through physiological, neurological, and genetic means.

DARIEN, IL – A new study demonstrates a strong relationship between workplace daylight exposure and office workers' sleep, activity and quality of life.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new study conducted by a team of Indiana University neuroscientists demonstrates that GLT1, a protein that clears glutamate from the brain, plays a critical role in the craving for cocaine that develops after only several days of cocaine use.

In June's edition of Physics World Portugal's former science and technology minister, José Mariano Gago, calls for more investment in, and engagement with, national science budgets in light of the European Union's (EU) stagnated investment.

Gago also proposes a totally independent and credible "observatory" that would analyse national science policies and science budgets across Europe and give early warnings to scientists and the public on their developments.

The criteria used to diagnose both circulatory and brain death in a patient are subject to variability and as such can be controversial. Anaesthesiologists play an important role in procedures related to the determination of death, so should have specific knowledge about medical, ethical and legal criteria of brain death definition. Experts will call for international consensus in a presentation at Euroanaesthesia 2013, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA).