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Gene responsible for management of glutamate is a promising candidate in determining risk for schizophrenia

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health have identified a relationship between a small section of one gene, the brain chemical messenger glutamate, and a collection of traits known to be associated with schizophrenia.

11 Aug 2004

Scientists have turned procrastinating primates into workaholics by temporarily suppressing a gene in a brain circuit involved in reward learning

Using a new molecular genetic technique, scientists have turned procrastinating primates into workaholics by temporarily suppressing a gene in a brain circuit involved in reward learning. Without the gene, the monkeys lost their sense of balance between reward and the work required to get it, say researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health .

11 Aug 2004

Scientists have tricked subjects in an experiment into believing that a rubber hand was part of their own body

The findings about the brain’s awareness of its own body will hopefully lead to better understanding of disorders of self-perception, as for example in brain-damaged patients who no longer recognise their own limbs after stroke, or amputees who still experience pain from limbs that are no longer there.

10 Aug 2004

Premature babies grow up to have a portion of the brain smaller than normal

Kids on a playground can be hard to tell apart. But those who were born significantly preterm may be struggling with a hidden handicap that sets them apart from their peers: specific areas of the brain that are smaller than normal, even years later.

9 Aug 2004

Overactive brain circuit brings on depression

A brain imaging study by the NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found that an emotion-regulating brain circuit is overactive in people prone to depression – even when they are not depressed.

5 Aug 2004

New hereditary spastic paraplegia research

In work reported this week, researchers have taken our understanding of HSP to a new level with the development of an animal model for the disease.

13 Jul 2004

Study shows that in older age, myelin insulation breaks down, resulting in a decline in the speed and efficiency of our brain

UCLA neuroscientists using a new MRI analysis technique to examine myelin sheaths that insulate the brain's wiring report that as people age, neural connections that develop last degenerate first.

12 Jul 2004

Having a good time can strengthen different centres in the brain and help it grow healthy brain cells

Dr Ian Reid, professor of mental health at the University of Aberdeen, told delegates that for many years psychiatrists believed that poor mental health was just caused by imbalances in various brain chemicals.

10 Jul 2004

Prosthetic devices operated by brain activity

In the July 9 issue of the journal Science, California Institute of Technology neuroscientists Sam Musallam, Brian Corneil, Bradley Greger, Hans Scherberger, and Richard Andersen report on the Andersen lab's success in getting monkeys to move the cursor on a computer screen by merely thinking about a goal they would like to achieve, and assigning a value to the goal.

8 Jul 2004

Researchers shed new light on the function of huntingtin, the protein whose mutation underlies Huntington’s disease

CNRS and Inserm research scientists at the Institut Curie have shed new light on the function of huntingtin, the protein whose mutation underlies Huntington’s disease.

8 Jul 2004

People who have early stage Alzheimer's disease could be more capable of learning than previously thought

The promising studies suggest that some people with early cognitive impairment can still be taught to recall important information and to better perform daily tasks.

4 Jul 2004

People who suffer from severe depression have more nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls emotion

Studies of postmortem brains of patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) showed a 31 percent greater than average number of nerve cells in the portion of the thalamus involved with emotional regulation.

2 Jul 2004

Brain recordings may shed light on disorders of self-perception such as schizophrenia, stroke and phantom limb syndrome

Scientists have made the first recordings of the human brain’s awareness of its own body, using the illusion of a strategically-placed rubber hand to trick the brain.

2 Jul 2004

Experimental therapy improves arm function in chronically impaired stroke survivors

An experimental therapy improves arm function in chronically impaired stroke survivors long after the possibility of spontaneous recovery has been exhausted, researchers reported today at the 5th World Stroke Congress.

26 Jun 2004

Primitive part of the brain plays a role in processing visual information unconsciously

Temporary rapidly induced blindness has provided evidence that an older, primitive part of the brain plays a role in processing visual information unconsciously.

23 Jun 2004

New approach to interpreting brain electroencephalograms could help understanding of epilepsy and autism

A team led by University of California San Diego neurobiologists has developed a new approach to interpreting brain electroencephalograms, or EEGs, that provides an unprecedented view of thought in action and has the potential to advance our understanding of disorders like epilepsy and autism.

16 Jun 2004

Artificial vibration has potential to help stroke patients recover their mobility more quickly

By artificially vibrating certain muscle parts, the brain areas and neuronal pathways responsible for movement can be trained. This has the potential to help stroke patients recover their mobility more quickly. These are the results of PhD research by Maarten Steyvers of the Department of Kinesiology, K.U.Leuven.

15 Jun 2004

Size and shape of synapses among neurons in the cerebral cortex determine long term memory capability

In a study to appear in the June 10 issue of Neuron, neuroscientists at the Picower Center for Learning and Memory at MIT show for the first time that storage of long-term memories depends on the size and shape of synapses among neurons in the outer part of the brain, the cerebral cortex.

14 Jun 2004

Brain builds early warning detection system by working out the odds on potentially harmful experiences

An experiment conducted by Dr Ben Seymour and colleagues at the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London, revealed that volunteers couldn’t recall the details of a specific test which had resulted in them receiving a mild electric shock.

10 Jun 2004

Howard Hughes researchers find Alzheimer's may leave some forms of memory intact

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have made the surprising discovery that people with Alzheimer's disease retain the capability for a specific form of memory used for rote learning of skills, even as their memories of people and events are extinguished.