Neuroscientists at Duke University have mapped the timing and sequence of neural activations that unfold in the brain when people focus their attention on specific locations in their visual fields.
The sleep problems of older people are often not addressed by their doctors, even though treatment of those sleep disorders could improve their physical and mental health and enhance their quality of life. A new study from Northwestern University found when patients 60 years and older visited their doctors, physicians did not note sleep problems in the patients’ charts. This was significant because many of those patients suffered from insomnia and were not being treated.
A gene known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease puts out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene. The new findings, published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, add some scientific heft to the idea, long suspected by some scientists, that herpes somehow plays a role in bringing about Alzheimer’s disease.
A higher level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder may increase the risk of coronary heart disease in older men, according to a report in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Two novel treatments — a basic compound found in every cell in the body and an extract of green tea — may prevent brain damage caused from stroke, according to two studies in rats led by a researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
At any given time within just a single brain cell of sea slug known as Aplysia, more than 10,000 genes are active, according to scientists writing in Cell. Researchers also analyzed 146 human genes implicated in 168 neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and genes controlling aging and stem-cell differentiation. They found 104 counterpart genes in Aplysia, suggesting it will be a valuable tool for developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Recent studies show promise for significantly reducing vascular aging by inactivating TNF?, which has been linked to blood vessel dysfunction and cell death. The related report by Csiszar et al., “Vasculoprotective effects of anti-TNF? treatment in aging,” appears in the January issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
A gene variant linked to living a very long life–to 90 and beyond–also serves to help very old people think clearly and retain their memories, according to new research by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings are published in the December 26, 2006 issue of Neurology.
UCSF scientists have identified a cell population that is a primary target of the degenerative brain disease known as frontotemporal dementia, which is as common as Alzheimer’s disease in patients who develop dementia before age 65.
The New York City trans fat ban is a step in the right direction, but the regulation that requires some restaurants to display calories as prominently as price is just as important. Also missing in the discussion? Replacing trans fat will saturated fat would be problematic.