Dec 01, 2009
Religion and the Brain: A Debate
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Does evolution explain why the human brain supports religious belief? Dimitrios Kapogiannis and Jordan Grafman, scientists at the National Institutes of Health, follow up on a recent scientific paper by stating that brain networks that evolved for other purposes have given rise to our capacity for religious belief and experience. Andrew Newberg, the radiologist and psychiatrist who wrote How God Changes Your Brain, takes a different approach. He argues that the brain may be an instrument of religious experience but is not necessarily the origin of that experience. Each side of the debate first wrote a position statement; the sides then exchanged statements and wrote rejoinders.
Nov 10, 2009
The Science of Education
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Discoveries about how the brain learns are fueling interest in applying neuroscience in the classroom. In the new field of neuroeducation, scientists and educators should join forces to develop goals for learning-related research, argue educator Mariale M. Hardiman, Ed.D., and researcher Martha Bridge Denckla, M.D.
Oct 27, 2009
Wired for Hunger: The Brain and Obesity
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Because food is not always plentiful, humans have evolved to eat whenever it is available. Researchers are starting to tease out the brain circuits that elicit this “eat” message, a network that may contribute to today’s widespread obesity. Effective obesity treatment likely will involve combination of drugs, in addition to psychological approaches and exercise—not just a single pill. An accompanying story addresses what goes wrong in people with anorexia nervosa.
Oct 13, 2009
Updating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Part One
From the online magazine Cerebrum: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM), which psychiatrists and other practitioners use as a guide to diagnose psychiatric disorders, is in the early stage of revision, to be released in 2013. The manual has long been controversial; starting with the third edition, published in 1980, it has focused on using symptoms to diagnose disorders and has purposely avoided speculating on their causes. In the first of two articles, scientists leading the DSM revision process explain how they are attempting to bring both more certainty and more flexibility to psychiatric diagnosis.
Oct 13, 2009
Updating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Part Two
From the online magazine Cerebrum: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM), which psychiatrists and other practitioners use as a guide to diagnose psychiatric disorders, is in the early stage of revision, to be released in 2013. Johns Hopkins psychiatry professor Paul R. McHugh strongly urges DSM’s editors to focus on disorders’ causes and disease processes and to improve upon what the two most recent editions of DSM have produced: “a psychiatry that’s boring.”
Sep 21, 2009
Ability to Catch Dyslexia Early May Help Stem Its Effects
From the journal BrainWork: New educational approaches and advances in brain-based research are making it possible to detect dyslexia even in children too young to read. Though it is not a cure, stepping in early with targeted intervention could prevent reading problems from derailing a child’s education.
Sep 21, 2009
Depression Insights Increase as Animal Models Improve
From the journal BrainWork: Research in animals hints at the neurobiology of depression, why antidepressant treatment does not take effect immediately and why some people are more resilient amid stress. It also highlights the importance of using a combination of animal models to study depression.
Sep 21, 2009
Gambling Among Parkinson's Patients Raises Questions about Dopamine
From the journal BrainWork: A higher rate of compulsive gambling among people taking medication for Parkinson's disease raises questions regarding the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine, in both diseased and normal brains.
Sep 21, 2009
Prefrontal Cortex Underlies Slips of the Tongue
From the journal BrainWork: Thinking about something we want to avoid saying makes us more likely to say it. Blame the brain's prefrontal cortex, home to processes involved in developing plans and carrying them out.
Sep 14, 2009
How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Sustained training in music, dance or other arts strengthens the brain’s attention system, which in turn may improve cognition more generally. Evidence for such cognitive “transfer” is accumulating.
Sep 05, 2009
What Can Dance Teach Us about Learning
From the online magazine Cerebrum: An action such as a dance move activates the same brain circuitry whether we perform it ourselves or watch someone else perform it, research indicates. This “action observation network” is important for learning.
Aug 17, 2009
Using Deep Brain Stimulation on the Mind
From the online magazine Cerebrum: The success of deep brain stimulation in treating movement disorders has led to investigations of its use for psychiatric illnesses. While the technique shows early promise in the treatment of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Dr. Mahlon DeLong, M.D., a pioneer in the field, cautions both doctors and patients to be aware of the risks in using this yet unproven method.
Aug 14, 2009
Researchers Narrow Search for Source of Consciousness
From the journal BrainWork: Does consciousness—our awareness that we are perceiving something—arise from a special region in the brain, or from the coherent workings of multiple regions? Analyzing data from electrodes implanted in the brains of epilepsy patients, French researchers suggest the latter.
Aug 10, 2009
Why So Many Seniors Get Swindled
From the online magazine Cerebrum: The elderly often fall victim to scams, but is it more than aged neurons causing the problem? One expert argues that such slips result from gene-based abnormalities in the brain’s emotional processing rather than the normal deterioration that goes with aging.
Jul 23, 2009
Video Games Affect the Brain-For Better and Worse
From the magazine Cerebrum: Headlines about how video games affect the brain range from upbeat to dire. Psychologist Douglas A. Gentile asserts that although violent games in particular can have negative consequences, well-designed games can teach positive skills. He proposes five attributes of video game design that can help explain findings and guide future research.
Jul 02, 2009
Brain Training May Help Stroke Victims Recover Vision
From the journal BrainWork: Researchers are developing a form of visual therapy that may help people blinded or partially blinded by stroke to regain at least some vision.
Jun 30, 2009
Safer than Marijuana, a Natural Chemical Strengthens Memory
From the journal BrainWork: A chemical in the amygdala that stimulates the same receptors as marijuana, but more safely, is involved in shoring up highly emotional memories, evidence shows.
Jun 29, 2009
Imaging Reveals Alzheimer's Clues both Before and After Disease Develops
From the journal BrainWork: Signs of Alzheimer’s may be detectable years before symptoms emerge. New brain imaging techniques and other approaches are giving scientists new insight into disease risk and may one day help them start treatment earlier and develop better methods.
May 27, 2009
Neuroimaging: Separating the Promise from the Pipe Dreams
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Researchers and news reports sometimes exaggerate findings from brain imaging, and we should regard “breakthroughs" with caution, writes an experienced interpreter of brain scans.
May 11, 2009
Attention May Link Arts and Intelligence
Arts training can cause dramatic changes in the brain, including possibly strengthening the "attention network," a series of regions linked to general intelligence, scientists have discovered. The experts speaking at the “Learning, Arts and the Brain” educational summit this past week said evidence is growing that skills built practicing the arts can cross into other mental domains.
May 11, 2009
Music Training Changes Brain Networks
Music training in early childhood improves related cognitive function, according to research that for the first time demonstrates brain plasticity as a result of music instruction.
Apr 07, 2009
Vitamin D and the Brain: More Good News
From Cerebrum: Vitamin D, long ago established as important for healthy bones, also appears to be significant in the brain during development and as we age-but more research is necessary to determine the consequences of vitamin D deficiency and how supplements could help.
Mar 19, 2009
Stock Market Success May Stem from Prenatal Hormone Levels
From BrainWork: Testosterone levels before birth affect financial traders' success, perhaps by enhancing risk taking, a recent study suggests. The clue lies in the length of traders' ring fingers relative to their index fingers-longer ring fingers indicate greater testosterone exposure in the womb, and traders with this characteristic made more money than others, on average.
Mar 18, 2009
Controlling Blood Glucose May Fend Off Cognitive Decline
From BrainWork: Elevated blood glucose levels negatively affect a subregion of the hippocampus responsible for forming memories, according to new research. The finding may help explain memory impairment as we age and in people with diabetes. Other studies are looking at whether medications help absorb glucose and improve memory.
Mar 17, 2009
ADHD Studies Target Circuitry, Stimulants' Effects
From BrainWork: Past studies of psychostimulant drugs taken for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have shown a slowing of cortical growth, but new imaging research reveals that the drugs may normalize development. Researchers still urge caution, however.
Mar 16, 2009
Hormone Therapy's Timing May Shape Outcome
From BrainWork: Experts remain divided on the merits of hormone treatment for menopausal women. New evidence lends support to the idea that timing, genetics and the existence of different estrogen receptors in the brain contribute to the effects of estrogen on memory, mood and cognition.
Feb 26, 2009
The Teen Brain - Primed to Learn, Primed to Take Risks
From Cerebrum: The changes the brain undergoes during adolescence pave the way to adulthood, priming the young person for life away from home and for finding unrelated mates. But this plasticity also can open the door to poor decision making and risky behavior, writes Jay N. Giedd, a child psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Jan 02, 2009
A Slew of Studies Provides Addiction Insight
From the journal BrainWork: Addiction doesn't just affect people's pleasure centers; it may also short-circuit brain areas responsible for self-awareness and for restraining impulsive behavior, suggests new research looking into why the disease is so difficult to treat.
Jan 02, 2009
Dancing Begins with a Cognitive Act
From the journal BrainWork: The challenges of movement reward the minds of dancers both professional and amateur-and, in eight programs across the nation, of people with Parkinson's disease.
Jan 02, 2009
Insights Reveal that Itch Is More Than Skin Deep
From the journal BrainWork: An extraordinarily itchy tropical plant has provided new insights into what causes various types of itch, how the sensation is transmitted to the brain and how to better treat this common and vexing medical problem.
Jan 02, 2009
Lie Detection Services Remain Premature
From the journal BrainWork: Neuroscience-based methods of lie detection already may have passed the test of public acceptance, but whether they work is still an open question in the scientific community. The growing disparity between public and scientific understanding of "forensic neuroscience" was one of several pressing issues that brought nearly 200 people to Washington, D.C., for the annual meeting of the Neuroethics Society.
Jan 02, 2009
Neurobiology Affects Love and Attraction
From the journal BrainWork: Scientists have found that long-term love appears to leave a distinct signature in the brain and that a specific gene affects courtship behavior-at least in mice.
Jan 02, 2009
New Techniques Link Brain with Machine
From the journal BrainWork: Recent advances in "brain-computer interfaces" include a technique that can distinguish individual finger movements.
Jan 02, 2009
Researchers Begin to Decode Decision-making Processes
From the journal BrainWork: Addiction doesn't just affect people's pleasure centers; it may also short-circuit brain areas responsible for self-awareness and for restraining impulsive behavior, suggests new research looking into why the disease is so difficult to treat.
Dec 23, 2008
Pediatric Screening and the Public Good
From the online magazine Cerebrum: Screening for disorders in children can prevent problems later in life, but potential drawbacks such as ambiguous results, the thin line between screening and research, and competition for funding are reason for further deliberation.
Dec 17, 2008
Managing Conflicting Interests in Medical Journal Publishing
From the journal Cerebrum: The editors of a top neuroscience journal explain the unique challenges they face as they attempt to balance the interests of authors, peer reviewers, the journal itself and its readers.
Dec 05, 2008
Working Later in Life May Facilitate Neural Health
From the journal Cerebrum: Evidence indicates that by continuing to perform difficult tasks and engage in new pursuits, the brain remains flexible over time-good not only for the individual but also for society. Denise C. Park theorizes that exercising the brain causes "scaffolding," which creates new circuits to support pre-existing pathways.
Nov 25, 2008
The Impact of Modern Neuroscience on Treatment of Parolees
From the journal Cerebrum: Neuroscience is offering insights into addiction and providing scientists with pharmacological methods, such as the use of injectable naltrexone, for reducing relapse. Richard J. Bonnie, Donna T. Chen and Charles P. O'Brien consider the ethical and legal implications of different methods for administering naltrexone to convicted drug offenders.
Nov 10, 2008
The Meaning of Psychological Abnormality
From the journal Cerebrum: As reports of childhood behavioral problems increase, Dr. Jerome Kagan raises concern about the reliability of these diagnoses. The rapid rise may stem from children's experiences and pressures on parents and physicians, he argues.
Nov 01, 2008
Brain Responds Quickly to Faces
From the journal BrainWork: Humans need only a few milliseconds to judge a facial expression and decide whether to trust another person or not. Recent studies shed light on how we make that judgment, as well how context can influence our response.
Nov 01, 2008
'Exercise in a Pill' Has Cognitive Implications
From the journal BrainWork: The ideas behind a new 'exercise pill' might benefit not only those hoping to shed pounds, but also those suffering from Alzheimer's and other cognitive problems.
Sep 02, 2008
A Road Paved by Reason
From the journal Cerebrum: This central principle of cognitive therapy, identified by Aaron "Tim" Beck in the early 1960s, has provided no less than a basic structure for understanding human nature, particularly with respect to emotional disorders. Today Beck, 87, is among those considering new applications for cognitive therapy even as he receives recognition for its development and use in mood disorders such as depression.
Sep 02, 2008
'Feeding' Hormones Affect More Than Hunger
From the journal BrainWork: Ghrelin and leptin, hormones that are known for their effects on appetite and food intake, also influence depression, learning and memory.
Sep 02, 2008
Perchance to Daydream…and Degenerate
From the journal BrainWork: The brain’s default network, a collection of interconnected brain areas organized around “hubs” that receive and redirect neural transmissions, is an important part of what makes us human. It is believed that the actions of the default network give us the ability to be introspective, to imagine, and to have a stream of consciousness. However, scientists now think that overuse of the default network could lead to the development of amyloid plaques, a key characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Sep 02, 2008
Serotonin Keeps Aggression in Check
From the journal BrainWork: Serotonin, largely regarded as the “feel-good” chemical, may also help keep social aggression in check by inhibiting the amygdala, the brain’s center of fear and anger. The mind’s need for serotonin as an aggression inhibitor may also explain why people can be more easily angered when they’re hungry. The brain makes serotonin from a chemical called tryptophan, found in many of the foods that we eat.
Sep 01, 2008
New Treatments for Alcoholism Show Promise
From the journal BrainWork: Targeting the brain's "reward pathway" and using growth factors to stem alcohol consumption are among new therapeutic approaches for alcoholism that are showing promise.
Jul 07, 2008
Cognitive Enhancement -- A Crutch to Cope with Less Sleep?
From the journal BrainWork: The rising use of various medications to boost cognitive performance and the prospect of more "memory drugs" on the horizon raise a slew of ethical questions. But an even more fundamental question is whether such drugs are being used as a substitute for sleep-itself a cognitive enhancer of sorts.
Jul 07, 2008
Gene Variant May Affect Nicotine Receptors in Lung, Brain or Both
From the journal BrainWork: Scientists have recently discovered a gene on that increases susceptibility to lung cancer but they disagree on how it works. Some argue that it increases the risk of cancer by targeting the lungs themselves and making them more vulnerable, while others think that it promotes nicotine addiction in the brain, increasing the frequency and intensity of the desire to smoke and thereby increasing the likelihood of cancer.
Jul 07, 2008
Newborn Brain May Be Wired for Speech
From the journal BrainWork: Continuing research suggests that even though newborns cannot speak or understand language, our brains may indeed be built for language from birth or even before.
Jul 07, 2008
Senses Cohabit in the Visual Cortex
From the journal BrainWork: A new study shows that blind people who have partially recovered their sight can process both visual and auditory information in the visual cortex. Their visual cortex, once reorganized to interpret auditory stimulus, can once again repurpose itself – this time to be devoted to both sight and sound. This and other studies are causing neuroscientists to rethink how flexible the organization of the sensory cortices really is.
May 01, 2008
Antidepressant Debate May Miss the Mark: Suicide fears overshadow misuse in bipolar disorder
From the journal BrainWork: Psychiatric experts worry that the attention paid to the increased risk of suicide shown by some prescription medications overshadows the more pressing concern of using antidepressants to treat bipolar disorder.
May 01, 2008
Pleasure Stems from the Sizzle as well as the Steak
From the journal BrainWork: Economists and advertisers have long believed that the appeal of a certain product’s brand or value mattered only as far as the decision to buy it and did not affect a costumer’s actual enjoyment of the product. A new report by neuroscientists, based on a simple wine-tasting test, contradicts this theory and shows that when people thought a product was more expensive and luxurious they physically enjoyed it more.
May 01, 2008
Research Holds Promise for New Epilepsy Treatments
From the journal BrainWork: Though epilepsy is the second most common neurological disorder, one-third of patients do not respond to medication, meaning that there is still much work to be done in the fight against epilepsy. New research focuses on the hereditary nature of epilepsy, the genetic mutations that cause it and how to counteract them, and the use of pacemaker-like devices to diminish or stop seizures entirely.
May 01, 2008
Use of Deep Brain Stimulation Widens
From the journal BrainWork: Deep brain stimulation (DBS), in which a pacemaker-like device is implanted in the chest and connected to electrodes implanted in the brain, has already been used to treat at least 40,000 Parkinson’s sufferers. New discoveries indicate that DBS may also be a viable treatment for severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and memory problems, among many other ailments.
Mar 31, 2008
Deep Brain Stimulation Offers Hope in Depression
From the journal Cerebrum: There is a new hope for patients who have severe depression: An experimental surgical procedure, deep brain stimulation, is proving to reverse the effects of unrelenting depression by stimulating a precise network of brain cells. Jamie Talan reveals how some of the top scientists are using this procedure.
Mar 18, 2008
Findings Hint at Genetic Links in Autism
From the journal BrainWork: Recent studies about the genetic links in autism underscore the importance of new techniques in scanning the human genome. These emerging techniques enable researchers to do in a matter of hours the kind of genotyping that would previously have taken years. This in turn allows for a faster and more comprehensive analysis of DNA repositories collected from people with autism.
Mar 18, 2008
Parkinson's Research Moves Beyond Dopamine
From the journal BrainWork: For fifty years, dopamine, the brain transmitter that fails in Parkinson’s disease and leads to its characteristic movement problems, has been the primary focus of research into the illness. But dopamine does not account for many other Parkinson’s symptoms, including sleep disorders, gastrointestinal problems and dementia. Researchers are now considering alternative views, including the theory that Parkinson’s may start in the gut and spread to the nervous system and the involvement of a protein called alpha-synuclein.
Mar 18, 2008
Theory Behind Migraine Emerges
From the journal BrainWork: A new theory proposed by Richard Kraig of the University of Chicago may explain the source of migraines and their connection to the “auras” (spots in the corners of the field of vision) that precede them. Kraig believes that migraines are caused by cortical spreading depression (CSD), a flurry of abnormal brain-cell activity (the cause of the aura) that leaves cells electrically depolarized (the cause of the migraine).
Mar 04, 2008
Research Consortium Finds New Evidence Linking Arts and Learning
From the journal BrainWork: A research consortium of seven universities adds support to the idea that children who participate in the arts perform better in math and reading. The study also suggests that the focus and determination involved in practicing an art form could train the attentional network in the brain.
Feb 28, 2008
Your Brain and Heart Surgery
From Cerebrum: Patients recovering from heart surgery often suffer from short-term cognitive dysfunction, a phenomenon nick-named “pump head” because it was thought to be caused by the heart-lung bypass machine. For some patients, however, the cognitive problems are long term and have come to be considered a risk associated with heart surgery. New research suggests that this is not the case and instead indicates that the same disease that blocks the arteries of the heart may be affecting the brain as well.
Feb 01, 2008
Delicious! Disgusting! So Say Our Brains
From the journal BrainWork: The gustatory cortex in the human brain relates to the sense of taste, including the way food looks and feels. A study has shown that women with anorexia nervosa have less activity in the gustatory cortex, the first evidence that those with anorexia process food stimuli differently than other people and may in fact have an aversion to food.
Feb 01, 2008
Neural Implant Aims to Restore Speech to the Paralyzed
Dana Press News story: Arguably the most ambitious of today’s brainmachine devices is one that aims specifically to help locked-in patients by converting their inner thoughts to real-time synthesized speech. But the effort to develop this electronic “speech prosthesis” shows just how difficult it can be to meld mind with metal.
Feb 01, 2008
Screening for Childhood Disorders: Is There a Downside?
From the journal BrainWork: The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for the standardization of screening for autism spectrum disorders during regular childhood checkups. This call has created a fierce debate in the medical community. While some argue that the screening could pick up psychiatric illness early and lead to better care for children, others warn that screening at such a young, volatile age could lead to overdiagnosis and stigmatization.
Feb 01, 2008
Video Devices Further Research into Out-of-body Experiences
From the journal BrainWork: New research using video images has helped to produce the illusion of an out-of-body experience. Information about out-of-body experiences and self perception could one day be used in the diagnosis and treatment of people with illnesses such as body dysmorphic disorder.
Nov 21, 2007
Immune Proteins Limit Brain Wiring
From the journal BrainWork: One of the biggest head-scratchers in modern neuroscience was the discovery in the past decade that certain immune-system molecules-previously not even thought to be present in the brain-are in fact all over the brain and apparently are critical to brain wiring and remodeling. At a packed symposium at the Society for Neuroscience 2007 meeting, a panel of researchers in this rapidly transforming field described how immune-signaling systems are being co-opted by the brain to prune and fine-tune its synapses.
Nov 21, 2007
Neuroscientists Examine Human Response to Economic Risk
From the journal BrainWork: Building on economics research that has examined game theory and risk-based decision-making, scientists are applying their observations of brain activity to the new field of “neuroeconomics.” Their findings could be applied to treatments for brain disorders, as well as computer science, advertising and communication, and public policy and the law.
Nov 21, 2007
Researchers Uncover More Clues to Causes of Addiction
From the journal BrainWork: Dozens of studies presented at the Society for Neuroscience 2007 annual meeting offered new, albeit preliminary, insights into the cause of addiction and possibilities for treatment. Among the findings reported: an old drug may offer a new answer for addiction treatment, sugar and cocaine might release similar brain chemicals, and the combination of two common addiction habits spells double trouble for learning and memory.
Nov 21, 2007
Spinal Cord Research Moves into Clinical Phase
From the journal BrainWork: A decade of basic science discoveries in spinal cord repair and regeneration are leading to early-stage clinical trials.
Nov 21, 2007
Teen Brain's Ability to Learn Can Have a Flip Side
From the journal BrainWork: The remarkable adaptability of the adolescent brain can be a double-edged sword: The dramatic remodeling of the brain during adolescence holds tremendous opportunities for growth and learning but also appears to increase a teen's vulnerability to the long-term effects of environmental influences such as stress and drug experimentation, suggest series of separate reports at the Society for Neuroscience 2007 meeting.
Jul 01, 2007
Simple Creatures Provide Intriguing Findings
From the journal BrainWork: What causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s? How are such diseases best treated? For answers to these questions, researchers are probing the neurons of fruit flies and tiny worms called nematodes—and they are making some surprising and useful discoveries.
May 01, 2007
Proximity to an Event Influences ‘Flashbulb Memories’
For the first time, scientists have identified the brain circuitry involved in the creation of “flashbulb memories”—vivid, picturelike recollections of shocking, traumatic events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—and that personal involvement in these events may be crucial in forming these memories.
Mar 01, 2007
Imaging Sheds Light on Brain's Wiring
From BrainWork: Diffusion tensor imaging, which shows the location of the delicate neural fibers that transmit signals in the brain, is providing insight into how the living brain shares information.
Jan 01, 2007
Researchers Teach Old Drugs New Tricks
Because drug companies don't want to invest in a therapy that may never succeed-a particular obstacle in neurology, which includes very rare diseases-many researchers are finding new ways to use drugs already available.
Nov 01, 2006
Architecture and Neuroscience Intersect
Neuroscientists and architects have started to work together to try to better understand what makes a human environment rich or beneficial and how such an environment might affect an individual’s neurobiology.
Nov 01, 2006
Behavior, Stress Affect Alzheimer's Disease Risk
From the journal BrainWork: In some of the more than 500 Alzheimer’s-related presentations at the Society for Neuroscience 2006 meeting, researchers shed new light on how diet, exercise, red wine consumption, and stress may lower or raise disease risk.
Nov 01, 2006
Brain and Blood Achieve Intricate Relationship
From the journal BrainWork: The similarities between the pathways used by nerves and by blood vessels first struck anatomists hundreds of years ago; they appear clearly, for example, in the detailed drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. At the Society for Neuroscience 2006 meeting, researchers presented more than a dozen examples of neurovascular links in health and disease.
Nov 01, 2006
For Neuroethics, a Global Reach
As the field of neuroethics approaches its 5th birthday—the term was coined at a conference in spring 2002—widening awareness of the responsibilities researchers take on when they tap deeply into volunteers’ brains is giving rise to new questions in places such as Venezuela, Canada, and Japan.
Nov 01, 2006
New Vaccine Approach to Parkinson's
From BrainWork: At a Society for Neuroscience meeting in 2006, dozens of investigators reported on new immune-based strategies to treat Alzheimer's, prion diseases, and—perhaps most promising—Parkinson's.
Nov 01, 2006
Perplexing Estrogen Findings Drive Research
From the journal BrainWork: There is hope for hormone therapy in women, but it won’t be your mother’s regimen. Findings from the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in 2006.
Nov 01, 2006
Stem Cell Researchers Set Sights on Parkinson's
One of the most promising prospects for treatment of a neurodegenerative disorder lies in the use of embryonic stem cells to obtain dopamine for Parkinson’s disease. The goal is ambitious, but scientists are coming closer to reaching it.
Nov 01, 2006
Too Much of a Good Thing
From the journal BrainWork: The idea that drug addiction is a result of "learning gone wild" was bolstered by several reports at the Society for Neuroscience 2006 meeting revealing profound, drug-induced changes in the same neural circuitry the brain applies to learn useful behaviors.
Oct 01, 2006
Do Animals Have an Aesthetic Sense? (Elephants that paint, birds that make music)
From the journal Cerebrum: Mainstream science has yet to be convinced that animals have an aesthetic sense, but these days some scientists who study animals are increasingly convinced that they do have higher cognitive abilities. At the moment, interest is focused on the abilities of animals to solve problems, use tools, and communicate in meaningful ways, but some researchers have dared to suggest that animals may play because they find it pleasurable to do so.
Sep 01, 2006
A Model of Sleep's Role in the Brain
From the journal BrainWork: Though findings agree that sleep is critical to our health and well-being, experiments do not show how sleep actually acts in the brain to make that the case. Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, however, thinks he knows what sleep does and why it is so necessary.
Sep 01, 2006
Sleep Loss Affects More than the Brain
From the journal BrainWork: Researchers have known that too little sleep affects mental performance. Now they are finding that sleep loss affects a whole lot more, including the immune system, cardiovascular health, and even hunger regulation.
Aug 01, 2006
Bringing the Brain of the Child with Autism Back on Track
From the journal Cerebrum: Parents of autistic children usually witness this profound and often abrupt metamorphosis in their child’s development at some point between the one-and two-year mark. They wonder if perhaps the disorder could have been avoided had they caught it earlier or done something-anything-differently during that critical period. So far, the answer has always been no. New research, however, may change that answer.
Jul 01, 2006
Hormones Play Surprising Roles
Hunger is such a fundamental urge, and food such a vitally important reward, that the brain has a complex set of chemical messengers and receptors dedicated to appetite, eating, and energy balance. New research is showing that these messengers are involved in other kinds of reward as well.
Jul 01, 2006
Out-of-Body but in the Brain
Recent research offers evidence that out-of-body experiences and a related phenomenon, the near-death experience, are produced by abnormal brain activity.
Jul 01, 2006
Social Contact Helps 'Dust the Cobwebs'
The epidemiological evidence linking social factors and better brain health is strong and growing.
May 01, 2006
Are We in the Dark About Sleepwalking's Dangers?
From the journal Cerebrum: Sleepwalking accidents and injuries are more common than usually believed, and a de?nite health hazard for both the sleepwalker and other people. But such accidents are not well known, because both the general public and physicians are uninformed about somnambulism.
May 01, 2006
Targeting Craving Shows Therapeutic Potential
From the journal BrainWork: Cannabinoid modulators, which alter nerve cell signaling and affect craving, may hold promise as a treatment for obesity. But scientists urge caution.
Mar 01, 2006
A Brain Built for Fair Play
In his recent book, The Ethical Brain, Michael Gazzaniga, challenged scientists not only to face the ethical questions inherent in neurobiology but also to try to understand how our brains govern our ethical responses themselves. Here Donald Pfaff explores a new theory of the neuroscientific basis for the human instinct for fair play. Pfaff later developed the ideas here into the book The Neuroscience of Fair Play.
Feb 01, 2006
Why Not a National Institute on Pain Research?
Neuro-oncologist Kathleen Foley uses history and present-day research to argue that the United States needs a national institute on pain with a budget at least equivalent to budgets of the institutes on addictions. Like addiction, pain affects not only the person with the disorder but also his family and his work life. Like addiction, pain robs life of joy and meaning.
Jan 01, 2006
Improving Stroke Prevention and Treatment Now
From the journal Cerebrum: Why is the medical profession not doing better at caring for people with a potential for stroke and those who have had a stroke? Here’s how we must do better, says Louis Caplan, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Stroke Division at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Nov 01, 2005
Mental Concerts
It has long been known that Ludwig van Beethoven composed music after he became deaf. Now neuroscience research is revealing how Beethoven was able to “hear” the notes of his symphony, at least in his own head, even though he couldn’t hear the music being played on stage or the applause that followed.
Sep 01, 2005
Deep Brain Stimulation: A Technique for Mood, Too?
As interest in using the brain-stimulation technique for various neurological disorders has increased, so too has concern about proper training, patient screening, and avoidable complications.
Jul 01, 2005
An Eye on Shut-Eye
Functional brain imaging is thought to be one of the most important discoveries in sleep research in the past 100 years. Researchers are using it to look at what happens in the whole brain during sleep, both in healthy people and in those who suffer sleep disturbances such as depression, sleep apnea, and insomnia.
Jul 01, 2005
Cha-Ching! Neural Processes Underlie Economic Decisions
Since imaging technologies made their debut in the early 1990s, they have gone from providing colored pictures of specific brain areas to yielding valuable information about complex behavior. Such understanding is of importance not only to clinicians and psychotherapists but, perhaps surprisingly, to economists.
Jul 01, 2005
Peering into the Brain
From the journal BrainWork: New technologies—and the innovative ways in which scientists have harnessed them—have driven advances in neural imaging beyond what any expert predicted 10 years ago. Ever more sophisticated images from brain scans and new microscopy techniques are offering a strikingly clear glimpse of what’s going on underneath the bumpy surface of our skulls.
Oct 01, 2003
Hope for "Comatose" Patients
From the journal Cerebrum: Two physicians who study what happens in the brain after severe injury explain that, in fact, a coma is usually transitory, ending in either recovery or in a series of states of severely impaired consciousness.