Posted By News On February 26, 2015 - 11:58am
Getting a good night’s sleep can be challenging, especially as we age. About half of all older adults report sleeping difficulties. This can make them more likely to experience physical or mental health conditions, memory problems, and falls, due to poor balance.
Posted By News On February 22, 2015 - 7:29pm
Researchers have shown for the first time a pyramid hierarchical network of “coherent gene modules” that regulate glioblastoma genes, involved in a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.
By identifying the most important gene modules responsible for cancer growth and proliferation, the study informs a strategy that could elucidate these modules at the top levels of their network, and in turn be used to identify new drug therapies.
Posted By News On February 21, 2015 - 12:28am
The size of the human brain expanded dramatically during the course of evolution, imparting us with unique capabilities to use abstract language and do complex math. But how did the human brain get larger than that of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, if almost all of our genes are the same?
Posted By News On March 2, 2015 - 4:00pm
Amyloid -- an abnormal protein whose accumulation in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease -- starts accumulating inside neurons of people as young as 20, a much younger age than scientists ever imagined, reports a surprising new Northwestern Medicine study.
Scientists believe this is the first time amyloid accumulation has been shown in such young human brains. It's long been known that amyloid accumulates and forms clumps of plaque outside neurons in aging adults and in Alzheimer's.
Posted By News On February 27, 2015 - 4:00pm
A new study by a UT Dallas researcher challenges a long-accepted scientific theory about the role the hippocampus plays in our unconscious memory.
For decades, scientists have theorized that this part of the brain is not involved in processing unconscious memory, the type that allows us to do things like button a shirt without having to think about it.
But research by Dr. Richard Addante, a senior lecturer in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, raises doubts about that.
Posted By News On February 26, 2015 - 3:00pm
A group of anesthesiologists and toxicologists today issued a caution to parents and health care professionals about the use of general anesthetics in children.
Posted By News On February 25, 2015 - 9:48pm
75 percent of movies earn a net loss during their run in theaters. A new study finds that brain activity visible through electroencephalography (EEG) measures may be a much cheaper and more accurate way to predict the commercial success of movies.
Posted By News On February 23, 2015 - 6:55pm
Our brains generate a constant hum of activity: As neurons fire, they produce brain waves that oscillate at different frequencies. Long thought to be merely a byproduct of neuron activity, recent studies suggest that these waves may play a critical role in communication between different parts of the brain.
Posted By News On February 22, 2015 - 6:24pm
The discovery that the human brain continues to produce new neurons in adulthood challenged a major dogma in the field of neuroscience, but the role of these neurons in behavior and cognition is still not clear. In a review article published by Cell Press February 21st in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Maya Opendak and Elizabeth Gould of Princeton University synthesize the vast literature on this topic, reviewing environmental factors that influence the birth of new neurons in the adult hippocampus, a region of the brain that plays an important role in memory and learning.
Posted By News On February 21, 2015 - 7:30pm
Might living a structured life with regularly established meal times and early bedtimes lead to a better life and perhaps even prevent the onset of mental illness?
That's what's suggested in a study led by Kai-Florian Storch, PhD, of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, titled "A highly tunable dopaminergic oscillator generates ultradian rhythms of behavioral arousal," and published in eLife.