News and Features

Who is Resilient?

Aug 31, 2010

Even under severe stress, most people don’t break down. Some researchers are turning their attention to the resilient majority for clues on how to help those who aren’t so sturdy.

Chronic Binge-drinking Kills Neural Stem Cells

Aug 30, 2010

A study in monkeys confirms that the adolescent brain has a special vulnerability to the effects of chronic alcohol abuse.

Study Supports Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Treat Depression

Aug 09, 2010

In a carefully controlled, multi-site study, a series of magnetic pulses to the scalp led to improvement in symptoms in 15 percent of patients with intractable depression.

Does Parkinson’s Disease Start Outside the Brain?

Aug 05, 2010

Several recent studies add weight to the idea that Parkinson’s disease begins within nerve cells in the intestines.

Blakemore: Plasticity Made Us Human

Aug 05, 2010

During a special lecture at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies biannual meeting, esteemed neuroscientist Colin Blakemore argued his theory of human evolution: A single mutation some 200,000 years ago that produced a 30 percent increase in brain size. Blakemore also is vice chairman of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain.

Dopamine Connections May Link Creativity, Psychiatric Disorders

Jul 27, 2010

A new study suggests that the density of a certain type of dopamine receptor on the thalamus, a brain area linked passing sensory information to the cerebral cortex, may play a role in both creativity and in such disorders as schizophrenia.

Can Down Syndrome Be Treated?

Jul 22, 2010

Recent research in animals hints that some of the mental deficits of Down syndrome might someday be treatable.

Amyloid-Beta ‘Oligomers’ May Be Link to Alzheimer’s Dementia

Jul 12, 2010

ALevels of soluble, small clusters of amyloid-beta, known as oligomers, appear to correspond closely to the progress of Alzheimer’s, researchers report. The finding could lead to better tests for Alzheimer’s and, ultimately, better treatments.

Teasing out Depression’s Genetic Pathways

Jul 07, 2010

Many people with depression need to try one or more drugs before they find one that works for them because doctors can’t be sure who will do better with which type of drug. Researchers in the young field of pharmacogenetics hope to identify genetic variations among people that can help doctors choose the correct treatments first.

Exercise Offers Direct Benefits to the Brain

Jul 02, 2010

Aerobic activity spurs the growth of new neurons as well as improving activity inside brain cells. And, according to new research, its benefits continue over the next few days.

Should Psychiatrists Prescribe Exercise for Depression?

Jun 30, 2010

As studies pile up showing the benefits of working out on mood, some researchers are campaigning for doctors to add it to their prescriptions—and spelling out how.

Optogenetics Is Opening New Doors

Jun 24, 2010

Until recently, the two basic approaches to the brain—the cellular approach and the systems approach—were quite distinct. The new field of optogentics offers an interesting example of how to fuse them, writes columnist Guy McKhann, M.D.

Current Brain Imaging May Identify Memory, but Not Truth

Jun 24, 2010

Studies using fMRI imaging to identify when a person recognizes a face are “only as good as a person’s memory,” reports one researcher. “All we could identify was a person’s belief that he or she had seen a particular face before,” but this belief could be strong even for faces the person had never seen.

Virus that Attacks Brain Cancer Headed for Clinical Trials

Jun 21, 2010

Near death from advanced brain cancer, lab rats swiftly recovered after receiving an experimental “oncolytic” virus. Clinical trials of the therapy start later this year.

Altering Conscience?

Jun 18, 2010

By studying people with brain damage—and healthy people whose moral judgments changed as they were exposed to a magnetic field—researchers are trying to trace out the neural basis for discriminating right from wrong.

Treatment to Limit Spinal Injury Damage Shows Promise

Jun 17, 2010

Researchers appear to have found a way to eliminate much of the secondary damage that occurs after spinal cord injuries, and they expect the same method to limit damage in brain injuries.

Simplifying the Search for Genetic Risk in Alcohol Dependence

Jun 10, 2010

Researchers hoping to find the genes that trigger alcohol dependence (AD) require data on large numbers of people, but few people in these sort of surveys have been through the long assessment procedure required to diagnose it. But two recent reviews suggest that asking a few questions may predict AD risk just as well as does the longer assessment, opening up some larger databases for study.

Teasing Out the Effects of Environment on the Brain

Jun 04, 2010

Researchers in the emerging field of neuroepigenetics are learning how the brain’s response to factors such as drugs, aging, and experience can alter our chromosomes—and how alternate experiences can potentially change it back.

Spelling Out the Link between Brain Networks and School Performance

Jun 03, 2010

Though understanding of the brain changes underlying ADHD and other attention disorders is still in its infancy, researchers and educators at a recent Learning & the Brain conference suggested how it could be used now to help diagnose and treat children.

Maternal Flu Infection May Lead to Increased Risk of Schizophrenia in Child

May 27, 2010

An aggravated immune response may help pregnant mothers, but harm the developing brain inside, suggest studies in animals.
[First] [Previous] [Next] [Last]

BOOK FROM DANA PRESS

Cerebrum 2010: Emerging Ideas in Brain Science 

Cerebrum 2010 Cover
This fourth annual collection brings together the foremost experts in brain science. Jay Giedd, Michael Posner, Mariale Hardiman, David Kupfer and Paul McHugh present their research – and their take – on such cutting-edge topics as the development of the teen brain, how arts education affects intelligence, the limitations of brain imaging, and how to bring more certainty and flexibility to diagnosis in the next edition of the psychiatric bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).