Washington, DC – To their surprise, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have discovered that morphine (a derivate of the opium poppy that is similar to heroin) protects rat neurons against HIV toxicity - a finding they say might help in the design of new neuroprotective therapies for patients with the infection.
Brain
Scientists have "trained" an electronic system to predict the pleasantness of novel odors, just like a human would perceive them, turning on its head the popular notion that smell is completely personal and culture-specific. The scientists, from the Weizmann Institute of Science and Edith Wolfson Medical Center, argue that the perception of an odor's pleasantness is innately hard-wired to its molecular structure, and it is only within specific contexts that personal or cultural differences are made apparent.
Chestnut Hill, Mass. (April 15, 2010) – An increase in the release of monocytes from bone marrow into the bloodstream predicts how rapidly AIDS develops in monkeys and the magnitude of monocyte turnover correlates with the severity of brain disease in AIDS, Boston College researchers report in the current edition of the online journal PLoS Pathogens.
Atlanta, April 14th, 2010 – Evidence of Neupro® (Rotigotine Transdermal System) improving motor as well as non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease was presented at the 62nd American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Toronto, Canada.
The burden of arthritis is greater for African Americans and Hispanics, despite lower prevalence among these groups according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published in the May issue of Preventing Chronic Disease. According to the Arthritis Foundation, these findings suggest a critical need to expand the reach of effective strategies aimed at arthritis prevention and management, particularly among groups bearing a disproportionate burden.
The context in which humans meet potential mates has a hidden influence on who they decide to pursue. In particular, when people have a large number of potential dating partners to select among, they respond by paying attention to different types of characteristics – discarding attributes such as education, smoking status, and occupation in favor of physical characteristics such as height and weight.
In order to be able to understand complex organs such as the brain or the nervous system, simplified model systems are required. A group of scientists led by the Frankfurt brain researcher Erin Schuman has successfully developed a novel method to grow cultured neurons in order to investigate basic mechanisms of memory. The researchers grew two separate populations of neurons in microfluidic platforms. These neurons extended their processes through tiny grooves, to meet each other and form synaptic connections.
Medication and behavioural interventions help children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) better maintain attention and self control by normalising activity in the same brain systems, according to researchers at The University of Nottingham.
New studies reveal that age-related nerve decline is associated with inflammation, differs by gender
New research investigating neurological decline in a population of "super healthy" elderly subjects found that the decline in neurological function of the peripheral nervous system attributed to aging may be related to metabolic factors, such as blood sugar levels, even if these factors are within the normal range.
In a related study of peripheral nerve function, the same group found that aging affects the nerves of men more than women later in life.
WESTCHESTER, IL - A study in the April 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine suggests that playing a video game before bedtime has only a mild effect on the sleep of older male teens.
Some of us need regular amounts of coffee or other chemical enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare us just as well.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A cat can recognize a face faster and more efficiently than a supercomputer and that's one reason a feline brain is the model for a biologically-inspired computer project involving the University of Michigan.
U-M computer engineer Wei Lu has taken a step toward developing this revolutionary type of machine that could be capable of learning and recognizing, as well as making more complex decisions and performing more tasks simultaneously than conventional computers can.
A UCSF-led study examining the impact of statins on the progression of multiple sclerosis found a lower incidence of new brain lesions in patients taking the cholesterol-lowering drug in the early stages of the disease as compared to a placebo.
Study participants received an 80 milligram daily dose of atorvastatin, marketed by Pfizer Inc. as Lipitor.
BOSTON, Mass. (April 14, 2010) — How does the brain work? This question is one of the greatest scientific mysteries, and neurobiologists have only recently begun to piece together the molecular building blocks that enable human beings to be "thinking" animals.
People who pursue happiness through material possessions are liked less by their peers than people who pursue happiness through life experiences, according to a new study led by University of Colorado at Boulder psychology Professor Leaf Van Boven.
Van Boven has spent a decade studying the social costs and benefits of pursuing happiness through the acquisition of life experiences such as traveling and going to concerts versus the purchase of material possessions like fancy cars and jewelry.