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).
FDA approves first drug to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Sirturo (bedaquiline) as part of combination therapy to treat adults with multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) when other alternatives are not available.
Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice — NIH study shows improvements in animals with Down syndrome characteristics – Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
NIH-funded researchers show possible trigger for MS nerve damage — Results of study in mice may lead to new treatments – High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.
CDC Responds to Multistate Outbreak of Fungal Meningitis and Other Infections — Fungal meningitis outbreak in US – 404 cases – Nine more people have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis in an outbreak linked to tainted steroid injections, health officials reported today. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has increased the tally of cases to 404 in 19 states.
Rare genetic disorder points to molecules that may play role in schizophrenia — Finding may suggest novel therapeutic target for treating disease – Scientists studying a rare genetic disorder have identified a molecular pathway that may play a role in schizophrenia. The findings may one day guide researchers to new treatment options for people with schizophrenia ? a devastating disease that affects approximately 1 percent of the world’s population.
Caffeine may block inflammation linked to mild cognitive impairment – Recent studies have linked caffeine consumption to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and a new University of Illinois study may be able to explain how this happens. Researchers have discovered a novel signal that activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity.
Language learning makes the brain grow – At the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy in the city of Uppsala, young people with a flair for languages go from having no knowledge of a language such as Arabic, Russian or Dari to speaking it fluently in the space of 13 months. From morning to evening, weekdays and weekends, the recruits study at a pace unlike on any other language course.
Low-level mercury exposure in pregnant women connected to ADHD risk in children — Researchers advise women to consider both benefits and risks of eating fish while pregnant – ADHD or Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder affects approximately ten percent of children worldwide, yet its causes are not well understood. Now, a study led by Susan Korrick, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and Sharon Sagiv, PhD, MPH, of Boston University School of Public Health, and published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, links low-level prenatal mercury exposure with a greater risk of ADHD-related behaviors.
Chewing ability linked to reduced dementia risk — Can you bite into an apple? If so, you are more likely to maintain mental abilities. – Can you bite into an apple? If so, you are more likely to maintain mental abilities, according to new research from Karolinska Institutet. The population is ageing, and the older we become the more likely it is that we risk deterioration of our cognitive functions, such as memory, decision-making and problem solving.
Mom’s high blood pressure in pregnancy could affect child’s IQ in old age – New research suggests that a mother’s high blood pressure during pregnancy may have an effect on her child’s thinking skills all the way into old age. The study is published in the Neurology.
Exercise improves memory, thinking after stroke, study finds – Just six months of exercise can improve memory, language, thinking and judgment problems by almost 50 per cent. Toronto researchers found that the proportion of stroke patients with at least mild cognitive impairment dropped from 66 per cent to 37 per cent during a research study on the impact of exercise on the brain.
Design help for drug cocktails – Harvard researchers create a mathematical model that helps to design efficient multi-drug therapies – Pooling data from thousands of tests of the antiviral activity of more than 20 commonly used anti-HIV drugs, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities have developed what they say is the first accurate computer simulation to explain drug effects.
