Brain

Propofol is a rapid, but short-acting, intravenous drug that is preferentially used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Propofol can inhibit inflammation and suppress the secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha from astrocytes, and enhance the synthesis and release of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10. Consequently, propofol can inhibit damage caused by proinflammatory cytokines and exert protective effects on the central nervous system.

A Deakin University study has found for the first time that, just like humans, un-predictability is also a consistent behavioural trait in the animal world.

Animals are known to show consistent individual differences in behaviour, which is often referred to as them displaying 'personality'. In contrast to previous research into these predictable aspects of behaviour, this latest study has shown for the first time that some individual animals, just like humans, are consistently more un-predictable than others over time.

Find a space with total darkness and slowly move your hand from side to side in front of your face. What do you see?

If the answer is a shadowy shape moving past, you are probably not imagining things. With the help of computerized eye trackers, a new cognitive science study finds that at least 50 percent of people can see the movement of their own hand even in the absence of all light.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery for adults, but for babies it's their foremost tool for learning. As renowned people-watchers, babies often observe others demonstrate how to do things and then copy those body movements. It's how little ones know, usually without explicit instructions, to hold a toy phone to the ear or guide a spoon to the mouth.

Now researchers from the University of Washington and Temple University have found the first evidence revealing a key aspect of the brain processing that occurs in babies to allow this learning by observation.

PHILADELPHIA – The costs of medical education must be reduced as part of efforts to reign in health care costs more generally, according to a Perspective published online this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The currently high costs of medical education – which at some schools rise above $60,000 per year – are sustainable only if physician salaries remain high, which the authors, led by a physician from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, say is less likely because of efforts to reduce health care costs.

Infant brains are surprisingly sensitive to other people's movements, according to new research published October 30th in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Joni Saby and colleagues at Temple University and the University of Washington.

The study focused on 24 women during the final trimester of their pregnancies. Half of the women played the melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to their fetuses five days a week for the final stages of their pregnancies. The brains of the babies who heard the melody in utero reacted more strongly to the familiar melody both immediately and four months after birth when compared with the control group. These results show that fetuses can recognise and remember sounds from the outside world.

A discovery from Case Western Reserve and Cleveland Clinic researchers could provide epilepsy patients invaluable advance guidance about their chances to improve symptoms through surgery.

Assistant Professor of Neurosciences Roberto Fernández Galán, PhD, and his collaborators have identified a new, far more accurate way to determine precisely what portions of the brain suffer from the disease. This information can give patients and physicians better information regarding whether temporal lobe surgery will provide the results they seek.

Dendrites, the branch-like projections of neurons, were once thought to be passive wiring in the brain. But now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that these dendrites do more than relay information from one neuron to the next. They actively process information, and multiply the brain's computing power.

"Suddenly, it's as if the processing power of the brain is much greater than we had originally thought," said Spencer Smith, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine.

WEST ORANGE, N.J. October 30, 2013. Kessler Foundation scientists correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings with the negative impact of outdoor temperature on cognitive functioning in multiple sclerosis (MS).

WASHINGTON -- Young athletes in the U.S. face a "culture of resistance" to reporting when they might have a concussion and to complying with treatment plans, which could endanger their well-being, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. The report provides a broad examination of concussions in a variety of youth sports with athletes aged 5 to 21.

Early life pain alters neural circuits in the brain that regulate stress, suggesting pain experienced by infants who often do not receive analgesics while undergoing tests and treatment in neonatal intensive care may permanently alter future responses to anxiety, stress and pain in adulthood, a research team led by Dr. Anne Murphy, associate director of the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University, has discovered.

This news release is available in German.

Video gaming causes increases in the brain regions responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation and strategic planning as well as fine motor skills. This has been shown in a new study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus. The positive effects of video gaming may also prove relevant in therapeutic interventions targeting psychiatric disorders.

Interestingly, a recent study found that ischemic stress causes hyperglycemia and may worsen ischemic neuronal damage. In addition, decreased insulin sensitivity after ischemic stress seems to be involved in the development of post-ischemic glucose intolerance. However, the involvement of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the development of glucose intolerance following ischemic stress still remains unclear.

Improving standing balance in children with cerebral palsy is crucial to improve cognitive and motor functions. Studies have shown differences in sitting balance between children with cerebral palsy and normal children. Are there differences in standing balance between children with diplegic and hemiplegic cerebral palsy?