Brain

Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 22, 2013) – Patients receiving cranial irradiation treatment for brain cancer may find the treatment life-saving, but often suffer progressive and debilitating cognitive detriments, including spatial learning and memory deficits. The cognitive deficits are a contributing factor to the often significant adverse impacts on the surviving patients' quality of life after radiation therapy.In an effort to improve post-irradiation cognitive impairment, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues at Neuralstem, Inc.

A small cue of social connection to someone from another group — such as a shared interest — can help reduce prejudice immediately and up to six months later, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"Our research shows that even a brief opportunity to take part in another group's culture can improve intergroup attitudes even months later," says psychological scientist and lead researcher Tiffany Brannon of Stanford University.

AURORA, Colo. (August 22, 2013) - New research indicates that teens with anorexia nervosa have bigger brains than teens that do not have the eating disorder. That is according to a study by researchers at the University of Colorado's School of Medicine that examined a group of adolescents with anorexia nervosa and a group without. They found that girls with anorexia nervosa had a larger insula, a part of the brain that is active when we taste food, and a larger orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the brain that tells a person when to stop eating.

Perhaps one of the most defining features of humanity is our capacity for empathy – the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes. A new University of Virginia study strongly suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely associate people who are close to us – friends, spouses, lovers – with our very selves.

Prison inmates who receive general education and vocational training are significantly less likely to return to prison after release and are more likely to find employment than peers who do not receive such opportunities, according to a new RAND Corporation report.

The findings, from the largest-ever meta-analysis of correctional educational studies, suggest that prison education programs are cost effective, with a $1 investment in prison education reducing incarceration costs by $4 to $5 during the first three years post-release.

MINNEAPOLIS – New research suggests that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease associated with repeat brain trauma including concussions in athletes, may affect people in two major ways: initially affecting behavior or mood or initially affecting memory and thinking abilities. The study appears in the August 21, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

MINNEAPOLIS – New research suggests that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease associated with repeat brain trauma including concussions in athletes, may affect people in two major ways: initially affecting behavior or mood or initially affecting memory and thinking abilities. The study appears in the August 21, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

PHILADELPHIA - A leading group of Alzheimer's researchers contends that, as biomarkers to detect signals of the disease improve at providing clinically meaningful information, researchers will need guidance on how to constructively disclose test results and track how disclosure impacts both patients and the data collected in research studies. A survey conducted by a group including experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that a majority of Alzheimer's researchers supported disclosure of results to study participants.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research shows that in a dynamic mind-body interaction during the interpretation of prolonged stress, cells from the immune system are recruited to the brain and promote symptoms of anxiety.

The findings, in a mouse model, offer a new explanation of how stress can lead to mood disorders and identify a subset of immune cells, called monocytes, that could be targeted by drugs for treatment of mood disorders.

This news release is available in French.

Overnight flights across the Atlantic, graveyard shifts, stress-induced insomnia are all prime culprits in keeping us from getting a good night's sleep. Thanks to new research from McGill University and Concordia University, however, these common sleep disturbances may one day be put to bed.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Anxiety disorders, which include posttraumatic stress disorder, social phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder, affect 40 million American adults in a given year. Currently available treatments, such as antianxiety drugs, are not always effective and have unwanted side effects.

To develop better treatments, a more specific understanding of the brain circuits that produce anxiety is necessary, says Kay Tye, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences and member of MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have shown that psychotic symptoms experienced by people with schizophrenia could be caused by a faulty 'switch' within the brain.

In a study published today in the leading journal Neuron, they have demonstrated that the severity of symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations which are typical in patients with the psychiatric disorder is caused by a disconnection between two important regions in the brain — the insula and the lateral frontal cortex.

Amsterdam, NL, 21 August 2013 – Metals such as iron, copper, and zinc are important for many biological processes. In recent years, studies have shown that these nutritionally-essential metals are elevated in human Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains and some animal models of AD. Scientists are now exploring whether these metals are causing the neurodegeneration seen in AD or are indicative of other ongoing pathologic processes.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Psychotherapy has issues. Evidence shows that some psychosocial treatments work well for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and that consumers often prefer them to medication. Yet the use of psychotherapy is on a clear decline in the United States. In a set of research review papers in the November issue of the journal Clinical Psychology Review, now available online, psychologists put psychotherapy on the proverbial couch to examine why it's foundering.

Certain types of video games can help to train the brain to become more agile and improve strategic thinking, according to scientists from Queen Mary University of London and University College London (UCL).

The researchers recruited 72 volunteers and measured their 'cognitive flexibility' described as a person's ability to adapt and switch between tasks, and think about multiple ideas at a given time to solve problems.