In animals, the brain (enkephale) (Greek for “in the skull”), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, equilibrioception (balance), sense of taste, and olfaction (smell).
Exercise may slow the atrophy of the brain brought on by Alzheimer’s Disease, suggests researchers at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. – Mild Alzheimer’s disease patients with higher physical fitness had larger brains compared to mild Alzheimer’s patients with lower physical fitness, according to a study published in the July 15, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
In a first case of its kind in Canada, a woman has acquired a new accent after suffering a brain stroke. – A canadian woman in southern Ontario is one of the first cases in Canada of a rare neurological syndrome (foreign accent syndrome) in which a person starts speaking with a different accent, McMaster University researchers report in the July issue of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.
More evidence has emerged that a chemical imbalance in the brain may play a key role in cot deaths or SIDS revealed by researchers. – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS is a condition that unexpectedly and unexplainably takes the lives of seemingly healthy babies aged between a month and a year. Now researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, have developed a mouse model of the so-called crib or cot death, which remains the leading cause of death during the first year of life in developed countries.
Jo’s Trust cervical cancer charity welcomes Department of Health’s announcement about HPV vaccine Cervarix. – The UK’s leading cervical cancer charity, Jo’s Trust, has welcomed the UK’s Department of Health’s announcement that the HPV vaccine, Cervarix will be used in the national immunisation programme for 12/13 year olds starting in September, 2008.
Researchers from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne are developing new technology to create individualised brain maps that will revolutionise diagnosis of disease and enhance the accuracy of brain surgery. – Researchers from the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne are developing new technology to create individualised brain maps that will revolutionise diagnosis of disease like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease, and enhance the accuracy of brain surgery.
Elan and Wyeth have released results of a phase 2 study of bapineuzumab, an attempt at treating Alzheimer’s disease. – Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) announced encouraging preliminary findings from a Phase 2 study of bapineuzumab (AAB-001) in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. In the 18-month trial, bapineuzumab appeared to have clinical activity in treating Alzheimer’s disease.
This study provides new evidence of exposure-related structural abnormalities in the hippocampus and amygdala in long-term heavy cannabis users. Heavy daily cannabis use across protracted periods exerts harmful effects on brain tissue and mental health. – Long-term, heavy cannabis use may be associated with structural abnormalities in areas of the brain known as the hippocampus and amygdala, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Neuroscience researchers at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore have shown for the first time what happens to the visual perceptions of healthy but sleep-deprived volunteers who fight to stay awake, like people who try to drive through the night. – Researchers have found that a sleep-deprived brain can normally process simple visuals, like flashing checkerboards. But the ?higher visual areas’ ? those that are responsible for making sense of what we see ? didn’t function well.
Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children?s cognitive development, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. – Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children’s cognitive development, revealed by researchers. It is already known that children and adults who were breastfed as infants have higher scores on IQ tests and other measures of cognitive (thinking, learning and memory) development than those who were fed formula.
Scientists have discovered a way to aid weight loss and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes by manipulating fat cells to increase the body?s metabolism. – Scientists from Melbourne’s Howard Florey Institute have discovered a way to aid weight loss and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes by manipulating fat cells to increase the body’s metabolism. As well as metabolising fat, fat cells help regulate blood pressure and blood volume through the renin-angiotensin system.
JADO Technologies GmbH announced the publication of a paper in Science demonstrating a potential novel strategy for therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer?s disease. – JADO Technologies GmbH, the leading developer of RAFT intervention therapeutics, announced the publication of a paper in Science demonstrating a potential novel strategy for therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer’s and other diseases by targeting discrete sub-compartments in the cell membrane (RAFTS).
U-M researchers look at cannabinoids, genes, medicines and brain scans to find better anxiety treatments. – Right now, about half of all people who take medicine for an anxiety disorder don’t get much help from it. And doctors have no definitive way to predict who will, and who won’t, benefit from each anti-anxiety prescription they write.
