Brain

New Rochelle, NY, August 26, 2013—New classes of therapeutic antisense oligonucleotides can have toxic effects on the liver. A novel machine learning-based approach used to predict the hepatotoxic potential of an antisense drug based on its chemical sequence is presented in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics.

A majority of stroke patients have problems paying attention and could be helped by brain-training computer games, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Imperial College London found that problems such as difficulty filtering out distractions, difficulty following instructions, and reduced alertness are much more common in stroke patients than doctors realise.

'Where' and 'how' memories are encoded in a nervous system is one of the most challenging questions in biological research. The formation and recall of associative memories is essential for an independent life. The hippocampus has long been considered a centre in the brain for the long-term storage of spatial associations. Now, Mazahir T.

LA JOLLA, CA ---- For many migraine sufferers, bright lights are a surefire way to exacerbate their headaches. And for some night-shift workers, just a stroll through a brightly lit parking lot during the morning commute home can be enough to throw off their body's daily rhythms and make daytime sleep nearly impossible. But a new molecule that selectively blocks specialized light-sensitive receptors in the eyes could help both these groups of people, without affecting normal vision.

This news release is available in French.

The nature of the teenage brain makes users of cannabis amongst this population particularly at risk of developing addictive behaviors and suffering other long-term negative effects, according to researchers at the University of Montreal and New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Programs aimed at helping obese black women lose weight have not had the same success as programs for black men and white men and women.

But new research from Duke University has found that a successful alternative could be a "maintain, don't gain" approach.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The brain's tactile and motor neurons, which perceive touch and control movement, may also respond to visual cues, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The study in monkeys, which appears online Aug. 26, 2013, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides new information on how different areas of the brain may work together in continuously shaping the brain's internal image of the body, also known as the body schema.

Even mild stress can thwart therapeutic measures to control emotions, a team of neuroscientists at New York University has found. Their findings, which appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, point to the limits of clinical techniques while also shedding new light on the barriers that must be overcome in addressing afflictions such as fear or anxiety.

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Kansas State University entomologists have helped identify a neuropeptide named natalisin that regulates the sexual activity and reproductive ability of insects.

The team is the first to observe and name the neuropeptide, which is composed of short chains of amino acids in the brain of insects and arthropods. The finding may open new possibilities for environmentally friendly pest management, said Yoonseong Park, professor of entomology at Kansas State University.

MADISON, Wis. — It is natural to imagine that the sense of sight takes in the world as it is — simply passing on what the eyes collect from light reflected by the objects around us.

But the eyes do not work alone. What we see is a function not only of incoming visual information, but also how that information is interpreted in light of other visual experiences, and may even be influenced by language.

DETROIT – In the latest in a series of experiments testing the use of stem cells to treat neurological disease, researchers at Henry Ford Hospital have shown for the first time that microscopic material in the cells offers a "robust" treatment for crippling stroke.

"In this study we pioneered a totally new treatment for stroke, and possibly for all neurological disease," says Michael Chopp, Ph.D., scientific director of the Henry Ford Neuroscience Institute.

PHILADELPHIA (August 26, 2013) – New research has uncovered the reason why some people seem to dislike everything while others seem to like everything. Apparently, it's all part of our individual personality – a dimension that researchers have coined "dispositional attitude."

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 26, 2013 — By discovering the role of key neurons that mediate an important part of vision development, UC Irvine and UCLA neurobiologists have revealed a new approach to correcting visual disorders in children who suffer from early cataracts or amblyopia, also known as lazy eye.

New Rochelle, NY, August 26, 2013—Concussions are a common sports injury that can have long-term neurological consequences if not properly diagnosed and treated. Several new or updated guidelines for managing sports concussions were released earlier this year, and their key areas of consensus, including recommendations for return to play, are presented in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Amsterdam, NL, August 23, 2013 – Cognitive deficits following ischemic stroke are common and debilitating, even in the relatively few patients who are treated expeditiously so that clots are removed or dissolved rapidly and cerebral blood flow restored.