An advanced imaging technique has revealed that some U.S. military personnel with mild blast-related traumatic brain injuries have abnormalities in the brain that have not been seen with other types of imaging. The abnormalities were found in the brain’s white matter, the wiring system that nerve cells in the brain use to communicate with each other. [...]

Discovery could shed light on Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders No one knows the cause of most cases of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative disorders. But researchers have found that certain factors are consistently associated with these debilitating conditions. One is DNA damage by reactive oxygen species, highly destructive molecules usually formed as a byproduct [...]

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that patients with Alzheimer’s disease have lower glucose utilization in the brain than those with normal cognitive function, and that those decreased levels may be detectable approximately 20 years prior to the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. This new finding could lead to the development of [...]

A new study implicates microRNAs as a possible molecular switch which could contribute to a risk factor for panic disorder. While 40% of the risk for panic disorder is heritable, according to a number of twin studies, it remains unclear the manner in which genes contribute to an overall risk factor. While variations in a number [...]

A correlation between reduced hippocampal volume and chronic PTSD in some people has been noted in many studies. Some research also suggests that a smaller hippocampus could denote a risk factor for PTSD. A new study suggests, on average, people with greater hippocampal volume are better able to recover from post traumatic stress disorder than those [...]

The claim that stress can shorten your life isn’t necessarily true, according to researchers at UC Riverside.   Undertaking a twenty year long study into personality as a predictor of longevity, researchers have discovered that many of the conventional pearls of wisdom we hear about extending personal lifespan are incorrect. Researchers discovered the key to a longer [...]

Neuroscientists have provided an insight into the neuronal mechanisms involved in prosocial behavior, and how they are modulated by perceived group membership. Researchers suggest that there is a neurobiological basis of whether people chose to help, or withdraw help, based on positive or negative identification of the person in pain. Competing motivational brain responses predict costly helping [...]

Neuroscience research published in September’s Journal of Neuroscience suggests early life stresses may modify the GAD1 gene, which controls the production of GABA. Through their research on rats, researchers were able to note that those who experienced a lack of affection showed an obstruction within the DNA which controls the GAD1 gene. As it is believed [...]

Neuroscientists at USC have discovered that carbonated drinks set off the same pain sensors in the nasal cavity as mustard, albeit at a lower intensity. During experimentation, researchers flowed carbonated saline over a dish containing nerve cells taken from the sensory circuits in the nose and mouth. They discovered that the gas activated a specific cell [...]

Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley have discovered that stimulation of a certain area of the brain can cause a change in which hand a person favors to perform a task. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation on  right handed test subjects, researchers discovered that stimulating the posterior parietal cortex on the left side caused an increase in the use of [...]

A study published in October’s Cortex has shown young people who regularly play video games have an advantage in performing tasks which require visuomotor skills. The study also found that gamers show increased activity in the prefrontal cortex when asked to perform visuomotor tasks. By contrast, non-gamers had more reliant use of the parietal cortex, an area [...]

Correlating data from 588 patients diagnosed with frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD), researchers found that subjects with professions which related highly for verbal skills had greater tissue loss on the right hand side of the brain. By contrast, those whose professions required less aptitude for verbal skills, for example flight engineers, had more tissue damage to the [...]

Neuroscience researchers have studied the organic protein complexes linking vesicles and membranes before fusion, in order to understand the rapidity of transmission. Brain cell communication: Why it’s so fast Billions of brain cells are communicating at any given moment. Like an organic supercomputer they keep everything going, from breathing to solving riddles, and “programming errors” can lead [...]