Brain

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 19, 2013 — People who can accurately remember details of their daily lives going back decades are as susceptible as everyone else to forming fake memories, UC Irvine psychologists and neurobiologists have found.

In a series of tests to determine how false information can manipulate memory formation, the researchers discovered that subjects with highly superior autobiographical memory logged scores similar to those of a control group of subjects with average memory.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cognitively impaired older adults released from the hospital are less likely to be rehospitalized within 30 days if they go to a nursing home than if they return to their own home or the home of a family member, according to an Indiana University and Regenstrief Institute study.

Discharge destination following hospitalization and cognitive status are co-dependent factors, according to the study, which followed 976 men and women, age 65 and older.

PHILADELPHIA – A new blood biomarker correctly predicted which concussion victims went on to have white matter tract structural damage and persistent cognitive dysfunction following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine, found that the blood levels of a protein called calpain-cleaved αII-spectrin N-terminal fragment (SNTF) were twice as high in a subset of patients following a traumatic injury.

Philadelphia, PA, November 19, 2013 – Two years ago, mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR, a signaling protein, was identified as a key mediator of the antidepressant effects of ketamine, the first rapidly acting antidepressant medication to be identified.

Several years later, a group at the National Institutes of Mental Health Intramural Program reported that scopolamine, a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, also produced rapidly appearing antidepressant effects, similar to the actions of ketamine.

Anxiety disorders are common in children and adolescents, affecting up to 25 percent of the youth population. Anxiety causes distress and functional impairment and, if left untreated, can result in bad grades, problems at home and increased rates of psychiatric disorders in adulthood.

These risks constitute a significant public health burden, and they underscore the importance of continued efforts to understand the cause and course of the disorder.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Patients with the most common form of focal epilepsy have widespread, abnormal connections in their brains that could provide clues toward diagnosis and treatment, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 18, 2013—Unexpected behavior in ferroelectric materials explored by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory supports a new approach to information storage and processing.

A new study from scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, gives an insight into how the circuitry for high resolution signal processing is wired in the brain.

BOSTON – It's well known that the brains of meditators change, but it's not entirely clear what those changes mean or how the changes might benefit the meditator. A new pilot study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center suggests that the brain changes associated with meditation and stress reduction may play an important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Jülich / Denver, 18 November 2013 – The ever growing complexity of various simulation tasks not only require a continuous increase of computing power but also the capability of managing large amounts of data. Realisation of an active storage architecture and integration of non-volatile memory into Blue Gene/Q enables data intensive applications to exploit the performance of this highly scalable high-performance computing system by IBM. The BGAS system is the result of a close collaboration between Forschungszentrum Jülich and IBM in the framework of the Exascale Innovation Centre.

Every year, nearly two million people in the United States suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI), the leading cause of brain damage and permanent disabilities that include motor dysfunction, psychological disorders, and memory loss. Current rehabilitation programs help patients but often achieve limited success.

Now Dr. Shai Efrati and Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of Tel Aviv University's Sagol School of Neuroscience have proven that it is possible to repair brains and improve the quality of life for TBI victims, even years after the occurrence of the injury.

New research has shown that people who are not accustomed to holding power are more likely to be vengeful when placed in charge. Experienced power-holders, on the other hand, were found to be more tolerant of perceived wrongdoing.

The research, co-led by Dr Mario Weick of the University of Kent, and Dr Peter Strelan, of the University of Adelaide, Australia, explored for the first time the relationship between power and revenge.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — For years, policymakers have attempted to create communities where a diverse group of residents not only live close to one other but also interact freely – in other words, neighborhoods that are both integrated and socially cohesive.

But that might be a lost cause, a Michigan State University sociologist argues in a new study.

As reported in the American Journal of Community Psychology, Zachary Neal found that neighborhood integration and cohesion cannot co-exist.

DURHAM, N.C. -- More than half of adolescents with psychiatric disorders receive no treatment of any sort, says a new study by E. Jane Costello, a Duke University professor of psychology and epidemiology and associate director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. When treatment does occur, the providers are rarely mental health specialists, says the study, which was based on a survey of more than 10,000 American teenagers.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that a new protocol that uses preventive blood-thinning medication in the treatment of patients with traumatic brain injuries reduces the risk of patients developing life-threatening blood clots without increasing the risk of bleeding inside the brain.