You don’t need to sign up for pricey wine appreciation classes to parse the subtle difference between the black cherry bouquet of a pinot noir and the black currant scent of a cabernet sauvignon. Just pour yourself a couple glasses and sniff. Your brain will quickly help you become a modest oenophile. It’s up to you if you want to drink the lesson plan.
A new imaging molecule that can detect and map plaques and tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease could eventually lead to earlier diagnosis of the devastating disease, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles report in the Dec. 21, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Research by the Human Pain Research Group at the University of Manchester suggests that people’s responses to placebo or “dummy” pain relief varies according to their way of thinking.
Approximately six per cent of human and chimp genes are unique to those species, report scientists from the University of Bristol and three other institutions.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a first-of-a-kind medical device for the treatment of babies born with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a potentially fatal injury to the brain caused by low levels of oxygen.
For older Americans, reversal of the brain shrinkage that occurs as people age is just one benefit of greater physical activity, according to research published in the latest issue of the Journal of Gerontology — Medical Sciences (Vol. 61A, No. 11). In a special section devoted to exercising and aging, this edition of the journal features five separate reports on the topic.
Newly approved medications for restless leg syndrome may only be effective for a time, suggest movement disorder neurologists from the University of Rochester Medical Center. If taken too long, in some cases the drugs can actually backfire, causing symptoms to worsen. Rochester specials suggest that treatment that rotates through different types of medications may be needed for many patients.
A new study suggests biochemical changes associated with schizophrenia aren’t limited to the central nervous system and that the disease could have more encompassing effects throughout the body than previously thought. The findings, scheduled for publication in the next issue of the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research, could lead to better diagnostic testing for the disease and help explain why those afflicted with it are more prone to other chronic health problems.
A Northwestern University study uses a new strategy to show precisely how paying attention alters brain activity. Digging deep to summon that extra ounce of attention engages a symphony of brain activity that comes to your rescue as millions of neurons work together to make the music of a vivid conscious experience. Think of a conductor stepping in to control a large set of unruly musicians in an orchestra so that they can all play together.
A new advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique developed at the University of Illinois at Chicago for the diagnosis of neurological problems, such as Chiari malformations, hydrocephalus and brain injury, will be evaluated for clinical use through a $1.4 million National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Research Partnership grant.