brain

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'Brain Training' App Shows Promise for OCD Sufferers

Subjects with strong contamination fears saw significant relief of symptoms after one week

(Newser) - There literally does appear to be an app for almost everything, and treating symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder just got its own entry. Treatment for OCD (a condition in which patients can't stop having obsessive thoughts and engaging in repetitive behaviors) has been notoriously hit or miss: UPI reports that...

Scientists Surprised at How Good Our 'Facial Vocabulary' Is

Researchers say human brain can hold an impressive number of faces

(Newser) - Humans have historically lived in groups of about 100, yet our facial recognition skills easily adapt to a modern world where we see endless faces each day, whether in person or on TV. A new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the first to give an evidence-based estimate...

Test Tube Brains Make for Ethical Dilemma

Rapidly evolving tech has some wondering where to draw the line

(Newser) - Rapidly evolving technology now allows scientists to create bits of tissue that are extremely similar to the kind that make up parts of the human brain. Per the Washington Post , these developments are a boon for researchers, but they've forced scientists to ask themselves basic ethical questions about what...

These Slices of Human Brains Revealed an Alzheimer's Clue

Study finds potential link between 2 herpes viruses and Alzheimer's

(Newser) - It's not a we-figured-it-out moment, but it may be a clue. Scientists have discovered that two highly common herpes viruses tend to be present in an "increased" way in the brains of people who suffered from Alzheimer's, according to a study published Thursday in Neuron of nearly...

Doctors Thought He Had CTE. His Death Gave Confirmation
First CTE Diagnosis in
Living Patient Confirmed
NEW STUDY
Nov 16, 2017 9:29 AM CST

First CTE Diagnosis in Living Patient Confirmed

Fred McNeill's brain showed clumps of tau proteins before 2015 death

(Newser) - In a potentially groundbreaking first, doctors say they detected chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head injuries, in a living patient. Just weeks after Boston University researchers announced CCL11 proteins in the brain could indicate CTE in living patients, researchers in Chicago say they identified CTE...

Keep Thinking Unwanted Thoughts? Here's Why

Study finds it has to do with a neurotransmitter in the brain

(Newser) - Can't stop thinking about that time you cried in front of a girl during a Tim Burton movie on your first and only date? It might be because your brain is lacking a specific chemical, according to a study published Friday in Nature Communications . And while being unable to...

Study Finds Shrews Have Bizarre Undiscovered Ability

They shrink their brains, skulls for the winter and regrow them for the summer

(Newser) - Shrews have a bonkers and heretofore undiscovered ability that Gizmodo states sounds like "some cruel, recurring witch's curse" but that scientists say is most likely a survival mechanism. According to a study published Monday in Current Biology , the wild common shrew shrinks its skull—by up to 20%—...

Doctors Find Way to Halt Deadly Child Brain Disease

Gene therapy is 'curative' for ALD, says doctor

(Newser) - Without a risky bone-marrow transplant before symptoms appear, children with brain disease ALD can expect to live no longer than five years as nerve cells in the brain die off and erase one's ability to walk, talk, and think. Even a successful transplant can result in permanent disabilities, reports...

Women's Brains More Active Than Men's in 2 Key Areas

Those managing self-control and focus, as well as mood disorders

(Newser) - In the latest "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" debate, neuroscience jumps into the fray. In what UPI deems the "largest functional brain imaging survey ever," researchers from California's Amen Clinics used a type of 3D imaging to determine that women's brains are...

Talking to Yourself Can Actually Be a Good Thing
Talking to
Yourself Can
Actually Be a
Good Thing
NEW STUDY
Aug 1, 2017 5:44 PM CDT

Talking to Yourself Can Actually Be a Good Thing

When done in your head, in the third person

(Newser) - Talking to yourself doesn't mean you're crazy. In fact, the habit might be downright smart. That's the takeaway from a new study in Scientific Reports , which involved two separate experiments. In the first, researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan monitored the brain activity...

111 Dead NFL Players&#39; Brains Were Studied; 110 Had CTE
111 Dead NFL Players' Brains
Were Studied; 110 Had CTE
new research
Jul 25, 2017 4:22 PM CDT

111 Dead NFL Players' Brains Were Studied; 110 Had CTE

But report based on a sample of players who might not represent all players

(Newser) - Research on 202 former football players found evidence of brain disease in nearly all of them, from athletes in the NFL, college, and even high school. It's the largest update on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE , a brain disease linked with repeated head blows. CTE was diagnosed in 177...

To Keep Your Brain 10 Years Younger, Do a Crossword

Daily puzzling is linked to better memory and reasoning

(Newser) - Use it or lose it, right? Researchers may not be ready to claim that word puzzles can help stave off age-related neurological diseases like Alzheimer's, but a major new study shows that there does appear to be a link between word puzzle play and improved cognition. Analyzing data from...

The Brains in Spain Are Small Because of Rain

45 shrunken, naturally preserved brains found in mass grave

(Newser) - "Naturally preserved brains are very rare," Fernando Serrulla tells Reuters . "There are only around 100 documented cases in the world." So imagine the forensic scientist's surprise when 45 naturally preserved brains—shrunken to 20% to 30% their original size but with ridges still visible—were...

Even a Few Drinks a Week Could Hurt Your Brain
Even Moderate Drinking
Could Hurt Your Brain
NEW STUDY
Jun 7, 2017 12:14 PM CDT

Even Moderate Drinking Could Hurt Your Brain

Eight to 12 drinks a week tied to increased risk of hippocampal atrophy

(Newser) - A variety of studies have linked heavy drinking to brain damage and dementia, but a new one suggests moderate drinking might also hurt the brain and perhaps lead to memory loss. Contrary to studies suggesting drinking in moderation might actually be good for you, the latest in the British Medical ...

Lack of Sleep May Cause Brain to &#39;Eat&#39; Parts of Itself
Lack of Sleep Juices
Brain's Repair Mechanisms
New Study
May 27, 2017 2:42 PM CDT

Lack of Sleep Juices Brain's Repair Mechanisms

But that's not actually a good thing

(Newser) - A new study on mice published May 24 in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that missing out on sleep may cause parts of our brains to start eating other parts. And the Telegraph reports that's not necessarily something you want to be happening. The study revolves around two types...

'Real Detective Work' Leads to Theory on Goya's Mystery Illness

The Spanish painter was profoundly ill for months but went on to live a long life

(Newser) - In 1793, when acclaimed Spanish painter Francisco Goya was 46, he was bedridden for months with a mysterious illness that brought on headaches, dizziness, hallucinations, and even vision and hearing problems. He eventually recovered and went on to live just past his 82nd birthday, but the illness took his hearing...

Fruit May Be the Key to Primates&#39; Big Brains
Fruit May Be the Key to
Primates' Big Brains
New Study
Mar 28, 2017 5:13 PM CDT

Fruit May Be the Key to Primates' Big Brains

Study finds link between brain size in primates and those who eat fruit

(Newser) - An apple a day can keep the doctor away, but that's nothing compared to what it can do for primates, at least according to a study published Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution . Scientists have long hypothesized that primates evolved large brains because they needed them for complex social...

Our Brains May Be Suffering Thanks to GPS
Our Brains
May Be Suffering
Thanks to GPS
NEW STUDY
Mar 23, 2017 10:08 AM CDT

Our Brains May Be Suffering Thanks to GPS

Without exercise, hippocampus could begin to change

(Newser) - Maybe this helps explain why people drive into lakes because of their GPS. A study in Nature suggests that parts of our brain switch off when navigating with it. Indeed, as more and more people rely on GPS, the human ability to navigate as a whole could suffer, researchers at...

There&#39;s More Good News About Eating Mediterranean
There's More Good News
About Eating Mediterranean
NEW STUDY
Jan 5, 2017 8:47 AM CST

There's More Good News About Eating Mediterranean

The diet (perhaps not the fish) prevents brain shrinkage: study

(Newser) - A healthy diet isn't just good for your waistline, but also your brain, say scientists in a study in Neurology —the latest to tout the benefits of the Mediterranean diet . About 400 healthy Scottish volunteers kept a food diary at age 70, then underwent MRI scans of their...

Scientists Believe They've Found Fossilized Dino Brain

It would be a major first

(Newser) - Are we one step closer to Jurassic Park? Probably not, but researchers do believe they've found the first ever example of fossilized brain tissue from a dinosaur, National Geographic reports. The fossil was found on an English beach in 2004, but its unique trait—mineralized pieces of brain tissue—...

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