Brain

Putnam Valley, NY. (Mar. 28 2014) – New insight has been gained into treating an inherited disorder that creates serious neurological and behavioral disabilities in children and usually leads to death in the teen years.

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is the deterioration of cognitive performance after anesthesia and surgery, and manifests as impairments in short-term memory, concentration, language comprehension, and social integration skills. Previous studies have shown that the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction is affected by many factors, including advanced age, low educational level, pre-existing cognitive impairment, alcohol abuse, and severity of coexisting illness. However, the real cause for postoperative cognitive dysfunction is still unclear.

Percutaneous microballoon compression of the trigeminal ganglion is a brand new operative technique for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. However, it is unclear how the procedure mediates pain relief, and there are no standardized criteria, such as compression pressure, compression time or balloon shape, for the procedure. In particular, the links between compression duration and postoperative complications and pain recurrence are still under debate.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Religion and spirituality have distinct but complementary influences on health, new research from Oregon State University indicates.

"Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits, while spirituality regulates your emotions, how you feel," said Carolyn Aldwin, a gerontology professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at OSU.

People who care about justice are swayed more by reason than emotion, according to new brain scan research from the University of Chicago Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience.

Psychologists have found that some individuals react more strongly than others to situations that invoke a sense of justice—for example, seeing a person being treated unfairly or mercifully. The new study used brain scans to analyze the thought processes of people with high "justice sensitivity."

A new chemical messenger that is critical in protecting the brain against Parkinson's disease has been identified by scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit at the University of Dundee.

The research team led by Dr Miratul Muqit had previously discovered that mutations in two genes – called PINK1 and Parkin – lead to Parkinson's.

An international research group led by Arizona State University professor Qiang "Shawn" Chen has developed a new generation of potentially safer and more cost-effective therapeutics against West Nile virus, and other pathogens.

The therapeutics, known as monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and their derivatives, were shown to neutralize and protect mice against a lethal dose challenge of West Nile virus---even as late as 4 days after the initial infection.

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated for the first time that veterans of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War who suffer from "Gulf War illness" have impaired function of mitochondria – the energy powerhouses of cells.

The findings, published in the March 27, 2014 issue of PLOS ONE, could help lead to new treatments benefitting affected individuals – and to new ways of protecting servicepersons (and civilians) from similar problems in the future, said principal investigator Beatrice A. Golomb MD, PhD, professor of medicine.

Disadvantaged children who attend high-quality early childhood development programs including healthcare and nutrition have significantly improved health as adults, reports a new study.

The study was led by researchers from UCL (University College London), the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina. These findings build upon existing evidence that high-quality early childhood programs produce better economic and social outcomes for disadvantaged children.

JUPITER, FL – March 27, 2014 – Memories are difficult to produce, often fragile, and dependent on any number of factors—including changes to various types of nerves. In the common fruit fly—a scientific doppelganger used to study human memory formation—these changes take place in multiple parts of the insect brain.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- In recent years, behavioral neuroscientists have debated the meaning and significance of a plethora of independently conducted experiments seeking to establish the impact of chronic, early-life stress upon behavior – both at the time that stress is experienced, and upon the same individuals later in life, during adulthood.

Boston, MA—There is a growing recognition that in health care institutions where professionalism is not embraced and expectations of acceptable behaviors are not clear and enforced, an increase in medical errors and adverse events and a deterioration in safe working conditions can occur. In 2008 Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) created the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support (CPPS) and has seen tremendous success in this initiative.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Allen Institute for Brain Science have published a study that gives clear and direct new evidence that autism begins during pregnancy.

The study will be published in the March 26, 2014 online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

ITHACA, N.Y. – Those hoping to dilute Americans' taste for soda, energy drinks, sweetened tea, and other sugary beverages should take their quest to school lunchrooms rather than legislative chambers, according to a recent study by media and health policy experts.

Soda taxes and beverage portion size restrictions were unpalatable to the 1,319 U.S. adults questioned in a fall 2012 survey as part of a study reported online this month in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Acupuncture is more effective than oral antidepressants in improving depressive symptoms, and produces fewer side effects than tricyclic antidepressants. Despite the continued development of antidepressants and alternative/synergistic therapies, major depressive disorder has not been comprehensively recognized and treatment outcome is often insufficient. An epidemiological study addressing depression showed that poor recognition and treatment are largely linked to the lack of an accurate assessment tool and to patients' economic situation. Prof.