May 14, 2012Much of the damage caused by stroke results from gradual processes, which might be reversible. Scientists are trying compounds that block receptors and methods of cooling the overtaxed brain. May 07, 2012When Stanley C. Froehner, Ph.D., isn’t in the lab teasing out the finer points of dystrophin, a protein complex implicated in muscular dystrophies, he enjoys taking photographs of everything from jazz performers to Alaskan fjords. His work has been featured on the cover of Journal of Neurophysiology and Seattle Real Change newspaper. May 02, 2012Treatment for smoking cessation is not a priority in psychiatric care, forcing many schizophrenics—who often smoke to manage their symptoms or the side-effects of their medication—to quit cold turkey just when they are having trouble managing their illness. Apr 23, 2012Scottish researchers find ECT quiets the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This and other recent findings might help doctors find an alternate treatment that also relieves depression but without producing memory troubles. Apr 18, 2012A bone marrow transplant prevents symptoms in young mice. Apr 02, 2012A Q&A with Baroness Susan Greenfield, an Oxford University Professor of Pharmacology and a member of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, who reflects on the potential of how new digital technologies affect who we are. Mar 28, 2012Learning and experience (i.e., memory) are closely tied to our olfactory sense, researchers have found. Can changes in the sense give us clues to future memory problems? Mar 19, 2012Itzhak Fried's work with people with epilepsy has uncovered clues to conscious awareness, memory and movement. Mar 12, 2012After months of deliberation, Dana staff and guest judge Eric Chudler have selected the winning submission to the Dana Foundation’s Design a Brain Experiment Competition. The challenge asked United States high school students to design an original brain-related experiment. Students did not complete their experiments. Instead, the competition encouraged students to use their knowledge of the brain to come up with creative ideas and hypotheses.The winning experiment, designed by Michaela Ennis, a senior at the Pingry School in New Jersey, proposes an examination of the effects of social defeat on anxious behavior, pinpointing the molecular mechanisms for that behavior. Ennis will be attending MIT next year, and has participated in summer research and scholar programs at Rutgers and Rockefeller University, and according to her teacher, Deirdre O’Mara, is a superstar in science. Mar 08, 2012“We see that explosive growth and the gawkiness on the outside—kids shooting up with long, clumsy arms and legs," says one researcher. "But there’s that same gawkiness in the brain, too. Everything is changing and it’s changing really, really fast.” Feb 27, 2012Long-lived people often share a constellation of genetic traits—as well as healthy habits. Feb 17, 2012Researchers have re-embraced an old theory that Alzheimer’s resembles transmissible ‘prion’ diseases. Here’s a quick timeline of how their thinking has changed over the past few decades. Feb 13, 2012Researchers find microparticles can carry treatments across the blood-brain barrier and target only tumor cells. Feb 09, 2012Do Antidepressants Really Work? By William Z. Potter, M.D., Ph.D., Foundation of the National Institutes of Health and Steven M. Paul, M.D., Weill Cornell Medical College 2012 02 09 Feb 09, 2012The drug, bexarotene, might be more useful in preventing dementia than in treating it. Feb 07, 2012Danling Chen, a 16-year-old 11th-grade student at Staten Island Technical High school, won first place at the 2012 New York City Regional Brain Bee. Feb 03, 2012Pressures on the brain as early as fetal development can alter development much later, researchers studying neural connections have found. Jan 31, 2012Prion-like protein aggregates aren’t always bad—they may be the key to stabilizing our long-term memories, for example. But how firm is the dividing line between “good prions” and bad ones? Jan 20, 2012We build on memory to predict the future, and might remember better if reality surprises us. Researchers offered these and other insights during the recent meeting of the Experimental Psychology Society in London this month. Jan 17, 2012Research presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in November suggests that norepinephrine and serotonin also play roles in helping us decide. |