Brain

Impending death for paper coupons?

Representing a relatively new phenomenon in shopping, digital coupons show great promise for revolutionizing couponing.

DENVER — Researchers have identified a novel, dual-platform technology, the On-Q-ity Circulating Cancer Capture and Characterization Chip (C5), which they believe is more efficient than the commonly used single-platform device in identifying circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer.

Analyzing CTCs in blood can identify cancer cells and cancer cell mutations to provide physicians with methods for improved cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – New research shows that an intravenous (IV) treatment may cut a person's risk of dying from bacterial meningitis. The research is published in the September 29, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The treatment is called dexamethasone.

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, have become popular with backpackers and cyclists who mount them on headbands for a reliable, hands-free source of illumination. Now, a new lab at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is helping to bring these tiny but brilliant devices into your home, to help save both energy costs and the environment.

"LEDs can be very energy efficient, and they are a lot smaller and last a lot longer than light bulbs," says NIST vision scientist Wendy Davis. "They're what we'll likely use in the future to light our houses and public places."

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Apparently your mom had it right when she threatened to wash your mouth out with soap if you talked dirty. Lying really does create a desire to clean the "dirty" body part, according to a University of Michigan study.

 Chemotherapy alters brain tissue in breast cancer patients

INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center have published the first report using imaging to show that changes in brain tissue can occur in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

PHILADELPHIA – After experiencing a potentially traumatic event – a car accident, a physical or sexual assault, a sports injury, witnessing violence – as many as 1 in 5 children will develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Philadelphia, PA, September 29, 2010 – Premature infants are often examined for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This exam can be quite stressful for the neonate, causing changes in heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation, and increased crying. In a recent study published in the Journal of AAPOS, the Official Publication of the American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, researchers found that feeding infants one hour before the examination unexpectedly reduced stress but did not increase vomiting or gastric aspirates.

Many researchers have studied the relationship between the increase in sales of new antidepressants in recent decades and a simultaneous decline in the suicide rate. In a study based on figures from the Nordic countries, researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found no evidence that increased sales of the new medicines could be linked to a lower suicide rate. The researchers also did not find any relationship between reduced sales of the older and more toxic antidepressants and a reduction in suicide rates.

Noise is usually regarded as a bad thing for learning but a recentcomputational model using the ideas of stochastic resonance and dopamine claims that playing 'white noise' in class can help inattentive children learn.

The downside, say researchers writing in Behavioral and Brain Functions who tested the effect of the meaningless random noise on a group of 51 schoolchildren, was the additional finding that although it improved the memory of those that had difficulties in paying attention, it hindered the ability of those who normally do pay attention.

Washington, DC — Early life stress, such as an extreme lack of parental affection, has lasting effects on a gene important to normal brain processes and also tied to mental disorders, according to a new animal study in the Sept. 29 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

A research team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine has identified the mechanism behind a single gene linked to the causes of both Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes. The data show that a gene for a protein called SorCS1, which can cause Type 2 diabetes, impacts the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) in the brain. Abeta plays a key role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in the September 29th issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A study of employees at a west Michigan hospital showed some of the most unhealthy workers that University of Michigan researchers had ever seen.

But in four years, the workplace wellness plan at Allegiance Health in Jackson, Mich. had fueled some of the biggest improvements in employee health that those same researchers had ever witnessed.

A new study by USC researchers reveals that stressed men looking at angry faces had diminished activity in the brain regions responsible for understanding others' feelings.

Turns out the silent and stoic response to stress might be a guy thing after all.

"These are the first findings to indicate that sex differences in the effects of stress on social behavior extend to one of the most basic social transactions — processing someone else's facial expression," said Mara Mather, director of the Emotion and Cognition Lab at USC.

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – Although research has shown that teens with mental health disorders are more likely to engage in high risk sexual behaviors, like unprotected sex, a new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center suggests there is an additional risk associated with certain psychiatric diagnoses.