neurology

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Autism Starts In the Womb
 Autism Starts in the Womb 
STUDY SAYS
Mar 27, 2014 6:33 AM CDT

Autism Starts in the Womb

Finding offers new hopes for treatment

(Newser) - Autism appears to start with changes in the brain months before birth, according to new research that highlights the need for early identification and treatment of the disorder. Researchers studying the brains of deceased autistic children found abnormal patches in the cortex that suggest something went wrong either during or...

Scientists Discover 'New' Area of Brain

Region helps us ponder what could have been

(Newser) - Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence? If you find yourself plagued by the question, thank the lateral frontal pole behind each of your eyebrows, says Oxford researcher Matthew Rushworth. The lateral frontal pole is a newly identified part of your brain which, scientists believe,...

Narcolepsy Breakthrough: It&#39;s Autoimmune
Narcolepsy Breakthrough:
It's Autoimmune
STUDY SAYS
Dec 22, 2013 7:04 AM CST

Narcolepsy Breakthrough: It's Autoimmune

Researchers find 'smoking gun' confirming long-held theory

(Newser) - A group of researchers has finally found evidence to confirm what many have long suspected: Narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. The hypothesis has been swirling since 2009, when at least 900 children developed the chronic drowsiness disorder after being given a swine flu vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, Scientific American and Reuters...

2K US Veterans Lobotomized in '40s, '50s

'WSJ' profiles Walter Freeman's medical legacy

(Newser) - In the first detailed account of the Veterans Administration's psychosurgery program, the Wall Street Journal reveals the extent to which lobotomies were used on veterans in the 1940s and '50s, before antipsychotic drugs came on the market and public opinion dipped. Unearthed documents show how one of the...

Inside the Fight for Junior Seau's Brain

How the NFL directed Seau's brain to the NIH

(Newser) - An in-depth report from Frontline and ESPN's Outside the Lines describes the fight for Junior Seau's brain following his suicide last year—a fight that ESPN reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, who are working on a book and documentary about brain injuries in football, call "a...

Bored? Experts Want to Study Your Brain

Boring activities can affect your health and productivity

(Newser) - Feeling bored? That's just fascinating to researchers in the little-known field of boredom studies, the Wall Street Journal reports. They gather at events like the third annual Boring Conference in East London, and orate on subjects such as toast and out-of-date portable keyboards. Participants in their studies are asked...

Beta Blockers May Cut Alzheimer&#39;s Risk
Beta Blockers May Cut Alzheimer's Risk
STUDY SAYS
Jan 8, 2013 12:33 AM CST

Beta Blockers May Cut Alzheimer's Risk

Study finds fewer brain changes in those using blood pressure drugs

(Newser) - A class of drugs already widely used to control high blood pressure may also significantly reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. Researchers found that men who took beta blockers for hypertension had fewer signs of the brain shrinkage and other changes associated with...

Test Spots Alzheimer's Decades Before Start of Symptoms

Brain starts to change many years before problems surface

(Newser) - Researchers have spotted very early signs of Alzheimer's disease in patients decades before symptoms usually appear, raising hopes that the disease can be treated before the brain degenerates badly, the BBC reports. Tests on people in their 20s destined to develop the inherited, early-onset form of the disease revealed...

Blood Sugar Might Be Shrinking Your Brain

Even high end of normal appears harmful, researcher say

(Newser) - We've all been told sugar rots the teeth—but the brain as well? A new study has linked blood sugar levels even at the high end of normal to shrinkage of parts of the brain involved in memory and emotions, reports ABC . The "robust" link between blood sugar...

Scientists Get Step Closer to Decoding Our Thoughts

Computers track brain activity as words are heard

(Newser) - Scientists have taken a big step toward being able to decode our thoughts. Researchers working with brain surgery patients taught computers to decipher the brain activity that takes place when words are heard. The brain, they found, breaks sounds down into their consistent acoustic frequencies. Using that computer model, they...

Worrying Yourself Sick? Science Has a Cure

Doctors pinpoint the so-called 'nocebo' effect

(Newser) - Worried that it's unhealthy to be glued to the Internet, surfing through stories? That anxiety alone could cause health problems—and doctors are now uncovering the neurological roots of this so-called "nocebo" effect, according to an award-winning essay by Penny Sarchet in the Guardian . The opposite of the...

Do Your Brain a Favor: Meditate


 Do Your Brain 
 a Favor: Meditate 
studies say
Sep 25, 2011 2:24 PM CDT

Do Your Brain a Favor: Meditate

Other coping mechanisms do more harm than good: research

(Newser) - Humankind has developed plenty of coping mechanisms over the centuries, from long walks to hard drugs. While many of these methods have endured, not all of them are in our brains’ best interests, writes Alice Walton at Forbes . Smoking and drinking, for example, can lead to a vicious cycle of...

Scientists Recreate Movies From Brain Activity

Process could someday let us look in on dreams

(Newser) - Scientists at UC Berkeley have made a major advancement in the field of mind reading, reconstructing YouTube videos based on brain scans from people who’d seen them. Researchers would put subjects into an MRI machine and track their brain activity as they viewed videos. Once they’d build a...

Human Brains Shrink, but Not Those of Other Primates

 Only Human Brains Shrink 
study says
Jul 26, 2011 1:37 PM CDT

Only Human Brains Shrink

Monkeys keep their gray matter throughout their lives

(Newser) - Next time you start to feel mentally superior to a chimp, think again. It turns out that while human brains shrink as they age, chimpanzee brains do not, a new George Washington University study has discovered. The findings upend the conventional wisdom that all primates saw their brains shrink over...

50% of Alzheimer's Cases May Be Preventable

Tackling risk factors could cut number of cases, researchers say

(Newser) - At least half of all cases of Alzheimer's disease are linked to common risk factors, and researchers believe the number of cases could be sharply reduced if people took steps to tackle those underlying issues. To reduce the risk, researchers say people need to stay active both mentally and...

5 Myths About Your Brain
 5 Myths About Your Brain 
May 30, 2011 6:00 PM CDT

5 Myths About Your Brain

No, we don't just use 10% of the thing

(Newser) - The brain is much mythologized in mainstream culture—so much so that many believed “facts” are actually fiction, reports the Smithsonian:
  1. We use just 10% of our brains. Nope, brains scans show that even basic tasks use a large portion of the brain—and even a small brain injury
...

Oregon Woman Wakes From Surgery With Weird Accent

Karen Butler believed to have rare 'foreign accent syndrome'

(Newser) - Oregon native Karen Butler woke up from dental surgery with an accent that's not from Oregon—or anywhere else in the world. Butler, 56, who experts believe may be a victim of the rare but real condition "foreign accent syndrome," now speaks with an accent described as...

Scientists Unveil 'Brain Atlas'
 Scientists Unveil 'Brain Atlas' 
Apr 13, 2011 8:07 AM CDT

Scientists Unveil 'Brain Atlas'

Allen Institute maps gene activity in body's most complex organ

(Newser) - Researchers probing the staggering complexities of the human brain now have a map to help them find their way around. Scientists have unveiled a computerized "atlas of the brain," which combines several imaging techniques to map features including nerve structure and gene activity. The project, funded by Microsoft...

Hospitals Try to Prove Out-of-Body Experiences

Researchers hang images in emergency room to test near-dead

(Newser) - Researchers in the US and UK have devised a devilishly simple plan for putting claims of out-of-body experiences to the test. Since patients who knock on death’s door often report watching themselves being resuscitated from above, researchers have taken the step of hanging images face-up from the ceilings in...

The Strange Odyssey of Einstein's Stolen Brain

And the breakthrough it led to

(Newser) - When Thomas Harvey performed Albert Einstein's autopsy, he removed his brain, which was standard procedure. But what he did next wasn't standard at all: He put the brain in a jar of formaldehyde and made off with it. NPR relates the strange tale in a segment this morning. Harvey said...

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