Skin-to-skin contact between a parent and newborn reduces how strongly a baby's brain responds to pain. Read More
People with PTSD were more than twice as likely to develop dementia than the general population. Read More
Cannabidiol (CBD) increases cerebral blood flow to areas of the brain associated with memory processing, specifically the hippocampus. The findings identify a potential mechanism for the use of CBD to treat disorders associated with altered memory processing, including Alzheimer's disease, PTSD, and schizophrenia. Read More
Paying attention alters how the brain allocates its limited energy. As the brain uses more energy to process information we attend to, the less energy is supplied to processing outside our field of attention. Read More
Coronavirus infection can lead to an array of neurological complications, including delirium, stroke, and a rare, often fatal neuroinflammatory condition called ADEM. The neurological complications did not always correlate with the severity of respiratory symptoms. In some patients, brain inflammation was likely caused by an immune response to COVID-19, suggesting the neurological damage may be a result of immune system activation rather than the virus itself. Read More
Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in those aged over 55 is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline and deposition of proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease. People who exhibited higher levels of RNT experienced more cognitive and memory problems over four years. They were more likely to have both amyloid-beta and tau protein deposits throughout the brain. Read More
People fail to process information that contradicts their convictions. A new study explains the neural processes that contribute to confirmation bias. Read More
People with the Alzheimer's associated ApoE e4e4 gene have increased vulnerability to developing severe symptoms of COVID-19 if they become infected with the virus. Findings suggest those with the dementia-related gene have double the risk of developing severe coronavirus symptoms compared to those who those with the common e3e3 form of the APOE gene. Read More
Researchers have identified 6,822 mutations of SARS-CoV-2 across a global dataset. 273 mutations have occurred repeatedly and independently. Of those, researchers investigated 31 mutations that have occurred at least ten times during the current pandemic. They found no evidence that any of the common mutations are increasing the ability of the virus to be transmitted. Some common mutations are neutral, but most are mildly detrimental to the virus. New evidence also suggests the viral spike protein, D614G, is not associated with increased viral transmission. Read More
Children with autistic traits at age seven were 24% more likely to develop weekly eating disorders, including fasting, purging, and binge eating, by age 14. Read More
A new case study reveals a link between COVID-19 and clotting in blood vessels in the brain that results in an increased risk of ischemic stroke. Five of the six cases included in the study suffered an ischemic stroke within 8-24 days of the onset of coronavirus symptoms. Early use of anticoagulants might help reduce the risk of blood clotting and stroke in patients with COVID-19. Read More
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A new artificial intelligence algorithm can detect the progression of glaucoma up to 18 months earlier than conventional methods. Read More
