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developmental neuroscience

·August 7, 2012·2 min read

Children’s Healthy Diets Lead to Healthier IQ

Children fed healthy diets in early age may have a slightly higher IQ, while those on heavier junk food diets may have a slightly reduced IQ, according to new research.

Featured Neurology

·August 7, 2012·3 min read

Making It Easier to Learn to Read: Dyslexia Caused by Signal Processing in the Brain

Major step in understanding the cause of dyslexia is taken. Scientists have discovered an important neural mechanism underlying dyslexia and shown that many difficulties associated with dyslexia can potentially be traced back to a malfunction of the medial geniculate body in the thalamus.

Featured Genetics

·August 2, 2012·3 min read

Planarians Offer A Better View of Eye Development

Planarian flatworms have come under intense study for their renowned ability to regenerate any missing body part, even as adults. But now they may take on a starring role as a model system for studying eye development and eye diseases in vertebrates, including humans.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 1, 2012·4 min read

Brain Imaging Can Predict How Intelligent You Are, Study Finds

Research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that another 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.

Featured Neurology Psychology

·July 30, 2012·2 min read

Brain Development is Delayed in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Researchers found that development of the cortical surface is delayed in frontal brain regions in children with ADHD. The typically developing children attained 50% peak area in the right prefrontal cortex at a mean age of 12.7 years, whereas the ADHD children didn’t reach this peak until 14.6 years of age.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 27, 2012·2 min read

Connectomics: Mapping the Neural Network Governing Male Roundworm Mating

Researchers determined how the neurons and muscles are connected in a decision-making neural network important for mating in C. elegans. The team also accurately measured the weights of those connections, i.e., an estimate of the strength with which one neuron or muscle communicates with another.

Brain Cancer Featured Neurology

·July 23, 2012·5 min read

Genetic Mutations that Cause Common Childhood Brain Tumors Identified

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less toxic, better targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said.

Autism Featured Psychology

·July 17, 2012·4 min read

Researchers Find Evidence of Link between Immune Irregularities and Autism

A new Caltech study suggests that specific changes in an overactive immune system can indeed contribute to autism-like behaviors in mice, and that in some cases, this activation can be related to what a developing fetus experiences in the womb.

Featured Genetics Neurology

·July 16, 2012·2 min read

Gene Therapy Treatment Extends Lives of Mice with Fatal Disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Mice born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy typically only live five to six days. University of Missouri researchers introduced the SMN gene into the mice’s central nervous systems and were able to extend their lives 10-25 days longer.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·July 16, 2012·3 min read

Neurons Derived from Cord Blood Cells May Represent New Therapeutic Option

The researchers demonstrated that cord blood cells, which come from the mesoderm, the middle layer of embryonic germ cells, can be switched to ectodermal cells, outer layer cells from which brain, spinal and nerve cells arise. "This study shows for the first time the direct conversion of a pure population of human cord blood cells into cells of neuronal lineage by the forced expression of a single transcription factor," says Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte.

Autism Featured

·July 12, 2012·2 min read

Saliva, Pupil Size Differences in Autism Show System in Overdrive

Pupil size and salivary alpha-amylase could be biological indicators for autonomic dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·July 10, 2012·4 min read

Study Shows the Deaf Brain Processes Touch Differently

Lacking sound input, the primary auditory cortex “feels” touch. The finding reveals how the early loss of a sense affects brain development. It adds to a growing list of discoveries that confirm the impact of experiences and outside influences in molding the developing brain.