Brain | Page 435 | Science Codex

Pac-Man instead of patch: Using video games to improve lazy eye, depth perception

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Scientists have created video games that add an important element of fun to the repetitive training needed to improve vision in people - including adults - with a lazy eye and poor depth perception.

The training tools, including a Pac-Man-style "cat and mouse" game and a "search for oddball" game, have produced results in pilot testing: Weak-eye vision improved to 20/20 and 20/50 in two adult research participants with lazy eyes whose vision was 20/25 and 20/63, respectively, before the training began.

Johns Hopkins scientists present findings at the Society for Neuroscience meeting

Nanosymposium 18.10 Sat., 3:15 p.m., Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 150ALindsay Hayes and Akira Sawa

A Blood Pressure Hormone Implicated in Psychosis

Publication's debut addresses pain among older adults

The first issue of a new publication series from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) called From Policy to Practice explores pain as a public health problem and takes a look at how various policies impact the care provided to patients in a range of practice settings. It also provides readers with an overview of provisions of the Affordable Care Act that address pain research, education, training, and clinical care -- as well as steps taken to implement those provisions.

Gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability

A new study in mice, conducted by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet together with colleagues in Singapore and the United States, shows that our natural gut-residing microbes can influence the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from harmful substances in the blood. According to the authors, the findings provide experimental evidence that our indigenous microbes contribute to the mechanism that closes the blood-brain barrier before birth. The results also support previous observations that gut microbiota can impact brain development and function.

Research shows why antidepressant may be effective in postpartum depression

WASHINGTON, D.C. - An antidepressant commonly prescribed for women with postpartum depression may restore connections between cells in brain regions that are negatively affected by chronic stress during pregnancy, new research suggests.

Study: Teens who mature early at greater risk of depression

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Youth who enter puberty ahead of their peers are at heightened risk of depression, although the disease develops differently in girls than in boys, a new study suggests.

Early maturation triggers an array of psychological, social-behavioral and interpersonal difficulties that predict elevated levels of depression in boys and girls several years later, according to research by led by psychology professor Karen D. Rudolph at the University of Illinois.

It pays to have an eye for emotions

Attending to and caring about the emotions of employees and colleagues - that's for wimps, not for tough businesspeople and efficient performers, right? Wrong! An extensive international study has now shown: The "ability to recognize emotions" affects income. The corresponding author of the study is Professor Dr. Gerhard Blickle of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bonn. The results are published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Alzheimer's disease: Molecular signals cause brain cells to switch into a hectic state

This news release is available in German.

Mindfulness techniques can help protect pregnant women against depression

Pregnant women with histories of major depression are about 40 percent less likely to relapse into depression if they practice mindfulness techniques--such as meditation, breathing exercises and yoga--along with cognitive therapy, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.

Lumosity study examines lifestyle effects on cognitive training at Neuroscience 2014

Washington, D.C. - November 19, 2014 - Lumosity is presenting new research today at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience conference on how lifestyle factors such as sleep, mood and time of day impact cognitive gameplay performance. The study, titled "Estimating sleep, mood and time of day effects in a large database of human cognitive performance," analyzed over 60 million data points from 61,407 participants and found that memory, speed, and flexibility tasks peaked in the morning, while crystallized knowledge tasks such as arithmetic and verbal fluency peaked in the afternoon.

Many older brains have plasticity, but in a different place

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A widely presumed problem of aging is that the brain becomes less flexible -- less plastic -- and that learning may therefore become more difficult. A new study led by Brown University researchers contradicts that notion with a finding that plasticity did occur in seniors who learned a task well, but it occurred in a different part of the brain than in younger people.

A medium amount of physical activity can lower the risk of Parkinson's disease

A new study, published online in Brain: A Journal of Neurology today, followed 43,368 individuals in Sweden for an average of 12.6 years to examine the impact of physical activity on Parkinson's disease risk. It was found that "a medium amount" of physical activity lowers the risk of Parkinson's disease.

The Lancet Psychiatry: Coping strategies therapy significantly improves dementia carers' mental health and quality of life

A brief coping strategies therapy which provides stress relief and emotional support for people caring for relatives with dementia can reduce depression and anxiety and improve wellbeing at no extra cost to standard care, new research published in The Lancet Psychiatry suggests.

Songbirds help scientists develop cooling technique to safely map the human brain

A new diagnostic technique -- resulting from monitoring thousands of courtship calls from songbirds -- can be used to safely map the human brain during complex neurosurgery, according to research from Neuroscientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere.

The mapping process, first tested in zebra finches, involves gently placing a miniature electrical cooling device at different locations on a small region of the songbirds' brains. This slows down processing of complex neural behaviors, such as a birdsong or human speech.

Seniors draw on extra brainpower for shopping

DURHAM, N.C. -- Holiday shopping can be mentally exhausting for anyone. But a new Duke University study finds that older adults seem to need extra brainpower to make shopping decisions -- especially ones that rely on memory.

The study appearing Nov. 19 in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that older shoppers use an additional brain area to remember competing consumer products and choose the better one.