Tom Brenna of Cornell University in America has conducted research on how fatty acids, in particular, plant and animal forms of omega-3, are essential to the development of the brains of infants. He particularly stresses the importance of the animal form, called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), present in oily fish and the eggs of hens fed seeds high in plant omega-3.
With the research support from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Wisconsin biotech company has found that a compound from a protein found in jellyfish is neuro-protective and may be effective in treating neurodegenerative diseases.
A new study investigating the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function in mice has confirmed what many cancer patients receiving treatment have often complained about ? a decline in their memory and other cognitive functions, sometimes characterized as “chemobrain”.
Many patients over the age of 65 who are hospitalized with an acute illness experience a subtle change in their cognitive ability that often goes undiagnosed, untreated and underreported. As a result, a patient’s ability to make decisions about his or her medical treatment may be negatively impacted.
A research consortium, supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today announced the publication of a high-quality draft genome sequence of the western honey bee, finding that its genome is more similar to humans than any insect sequenced thus far.
Three UCLA scientists will be awarded top prizes for psychiatric research on Friday by NARSAD: The Mental Health Research Association, the world’s largest donor-supported organization dedicated to funding innovative research on severe mental illnesses. Lori Altshuler, M.D.; Joaquin M. Fuster, M.D., Ph.D., and Tyrone D. Cannon, Ph.D., all of UCLA’s Semel Institute, will be presented their awards at NARSAD’s 19th annual ceremony in New York City.
The Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA has named University of Wisconsin’s Richard Davidson as the first recipient of The Mani Bhaumik Award. The award was established earlier this year to support scientists in the international community who advance the understanding of the brain and the conscious mind in healing through visionary research, books and education. Bhaumik, co-inventor of the laser technology that made LASIK surgery possible, has funded the annual $10,000 award.
Many people with constipation are confused about the cause of their condition and its appropriate treatment with laxatives. Results of a new large-scale global survey, announced today, show that many people wrongly fear that laxatives are addictive and that their use for long periods of time actually causes constipation.1,2
Using an innovative three-dimensional imaging technique, a team of UCLA researchers have tracked how Alzheimer’s disease spreads through the hippocampus ? the area of the brain linked with memory ? in a pattern consistent with the known trajectory of neurofibrilliary tangle dissemination, an accumulation of diseased proteins in the brain cells.
Viruses linked to the common cold could be causing memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease in millions of people, new research suggests. Experts suspect that common viruses which infect around one billion people worldwide each year may be invading the central nervous system and damaging the brain. In later life this could lead to symptoms of memory loss and declining mental ability.