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brain research

Research articles and news stories tagged with brain research

·January 15, 2013·2 min read

Researchers Identify New Genetic Mutation for ALS

Researchers have identified a new genetic mutation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), opening the door to future targeted therapies.

Featured Neurology

·January 15, 2013·2 min read

Major Step Toward an Alzheimer’s Vaccine

Researchers discovered a way to stimulate the brain's natural defense mechanisms in mice with Alzheimer's disease symptoms. This major breakthrough opens the door to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and a vaccine to prevent the illness.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 26, 2012·2 min read

Stimulating Brain Cells with Light

The work will be conducted on laboratory rats modelling Parkinson’s disease. The transplanted cells will be derived from skin from an adult human and will have been “reprogrammed” as nerve cells. The light-sensitive protein is obtained from a bacterium, which uses light to gain energy.

Featured Genetics Neurology

·October 25, 2012·4 min read

Researchers at the Doorstep of Stem Cell Therapies for MS, Other Myelin Disorders

Scientists report researchers are now on the threshold of human application of stem cell therapies for a class of neurological diseases known as myelin disorders – a long list of diseases that include conditions such as multiple sclerosis, white matter stroke, cerebral palsy, certain dementias, and rare but fatal childhood disorders called pediatric leukodystrophies.

Featured Psychology

·October 25, 2012·2 min read

Loneliness? It’s All a State of Mind

Researchers from UCL have found that lonely people have less grey matter in a part of the brain associated with decoding eye gaze and other social cues.

Wine from a wine bottle is being poured into a glass.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 24, 2012·2 min read

Researchers Say Daily Drinking Can Be Risky

Drinking a couple of glasses of wine each day has generally been considered a good way to promote cardiovascular and brain health. A new study indicates there is a fine line between moderate and binge drinking - a risky behavior that can decrease the making of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent.

Featured Psychology

·October 24, 2012·3 min read

Brainwave Training Boosts Network for Cognitive Control and Predicts Mind Wandering

Using several neuroimaging methods, a team of researchers working at the University of Western Ontario have now uncovered that functional changes within a key brain network occur directly after a 30-minute session of noninvasive, neural-based training.

Neural network model is shown and described in the caption.

Featured Neurology

·October 24, 2012·3 min read

Like a Noisy Political Campaign, “Grassroots” Neurons Wire and Fire Together for Dominance in the Brain

Researchers found that neurons team up together to sway particular outcomes in the brain and take over the nervous system in the name of their preferred action or behavior.

Featured Neurology

·October 22, 2012·3 min read

Clue to Alzheimer’s Cause Found in Brain Samples

Researchers found a key difference in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and those who are cognitively normal but still have brain plaques that characterize this type of dementia.

Neurons are shown. Caption describes it well.

Brain Cancer Featured Neurology

·October 22, 2012·3 min read

Aggressive Brain Tumors Can Originate from a Range of Nervous System Cells

Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. Researchers found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

Featured Neurology

·October 21, 2012·5 min read

Natural Process Activating Brain’s Immune Cells Could Point Way to Repairing Damaged Brain

The brain’s key “breeder” cells secrete substances that boost the numbers and strength of critical brain-based immune cells believed to play a vital role in brain health. This finding adds a new dimension to our understanding of how resident stem cells and stem cell transplants may improve brain function.

A robot head is shown from the Roboy AI.

Featured

·October 19, 2012·4 min read

Robots that Perceive the World Like Humans

Researchers attempt to improve robot behavior by means of perception models closer to those of humans. One of the experiments involves a robot simulation in which an agent has to discriminate between what we could call an acne pimple and a bite or lump on the skin.