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Von Economo Neurons Discovered In Macaque Monkey Insular Cortex

Neuroscience News — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:19:18 +0000

Rare Neurons Discovered in Monkey Brains Max Planck scientists discover brain cells in monkeys that may be linked to self-awareness and empathy in humans. The anterior insular cortex is a small brain region that plays a crucial role in human self-awareness and in related neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type, the von Economo neuron (VEN), [...]

Intranasal Insulin Improves Memory in Normal Adults and in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Neuroscience News — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:55:23 +0000

I am the scientist who invented the intranasal insulin treatment that the Obama administration and NIH just announced they would provide millions of dollars in funding to further test and develop for Alzheimer’s disease. I first developed (US Patent 5,624,898: issued 1997) the non-invasive intranasal method for bypassing the blood-brain barrier to target therapeutics (including [...]

Oxytocin Could Help Improve Processing Social Information in Children With Autism

Neuroscience News — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:10:08 +0000

Oxytocin Improves Brain Function in Children with Autism Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that oxytocin, a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body, increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum [...]

Cognitive Effect of Head Impacts on Student Athletes

Neuroscience News — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:18:54 +0000

Dartmouth researchers investigate the cognitive effects of athlete head impacts. Dartmouth faculty and students played prominent roles in a recent study on the cognitive effects of head impacts among student athletes. Tested at the beginning and end of one season, 22 percent of those students who participated in contact sports scored significantly lower in memory [...]

Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain

Neuroscience News — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:31:35 +0000

Our baseline level of distrust is distinct and separable from our inborn lie detector. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on my parahippocampal gyrus. Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have found that suspicion resides in two distinct regions of the brain: the amygdala, which plays a central role [...]

Researcher Discovers Role of Gene Variant Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease in Damage to Brain Circulation, Function

Neuroscience News — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:03:05 +0000

A gene variant responsible for vascular damage to the brain is a promising new target for drug therapy to fight Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to research published on May 16 in Nature. Berislav Zlokovic, deputy director of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is the corresponding author [...]

Zebrafish Study Isolates Gene Related to Autism, Schizophrenia and Obesity

Neuroscience News — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:12:40 +0000

What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then [...]

Paralyzed Individuals Use Thought Controlled Robotic Arm to Reach and Grasp

Neuroscience News — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:10:06 +0000

NIH-funded study shows progress in brain-computer interface technology. In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own – for the first time in nearly 15 years – by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial, funded in part by the [...]

Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning and Memory

Neuroscience News — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:37:19 +0000

This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory. Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid. A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows [...]

Surgeons Restore Some Hand Function to Quadriplegic Patient

Neuroscience News — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:58:02 +0000

Technique could help those with C6, C7 spinal cord injuries. Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working [...]