http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- You wouldn't want a car with no brakes. It turns out that the developing brain needs them, too. http://www.physorg.com/news178374711.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:35:23 EST news178374711 (PhysOrg.com) -- Oxford University scientists are using brain-scanning technology to understand how we learn to recognise and 'read' faces as children. http://www.physorg.com/news177940432.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:54:55 EST news177940432 A study of 145 preschool children reports, for the first time, that when the concentrations of two common phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are elevated their sons are less likely to play with male-typical toys and games, such as trucks and play fighting. http://www.physorg.com/news177573699.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:02:35 EST news177573699 (PhysOrg.com) -- Baby Einstein videos have become a staple in many American households until recently when the Walt Disney Company decided to refund the product, acknowledging that these ever-popular videos were not intended to be educational or promote better brain development among young children. http://www.physorg.com/news176624111.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:20:00 EST news176624111 Prenatal sex-based biological differences extend to genetic expression in cerebral cortices. The differences in question are probably associated with later divergences in how our brains develop. This is shown by a new study by Uppsala University researchers Elena Jazin and Björn Reinius, which has been published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry. http://www.physorg.com/news175527913.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:46:41 EST news175527913 For decades, scientists have thought the faulty neural wiring that predisposes individuals to behavioral disorders like autism and psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia must occur during development. Even so, no one has ever shown that a risk gene for the disease actually disrupts brain development. http://www.physorg.com/news174908711.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:20:03 EST news174908711 The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral cortex -the outermost layer of neurons commonly referred to as gray matter -are created equal, soon they irrevocably commit to forming specific cortical regions. But how the stem cells' destiny is determined has remained an open question. http://www.physorg.com/news174665793.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:17:33 EST news174665793 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a key molecular player in guiding the formation of synapses - the all-important connections between nerve cells - in the brain. This discovery, based on experiments in cell culture and in mice, could advance scientists' understanding of how young children's brains develop as well as point to new approaches toward countering brain disorders in adults. http://www.physorg.com/news174223835.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:33:06 EST news174223835 Two University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists have been awarded nearly $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to map how genes are expressed in different regions of the human brain throughout development. http://www.physorg.com/news173724588.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:50:35 EST news173724588 A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells outside the body. http://www.physorg.com/news173695955.html Medicine & Health Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:52:58 EST news173695955 UCSF researchers have successfully used protease inhibitors to restore to normal levels a key protein involved in early brain development. Reduced levels of that protein have been shown to cause the rare brain disorder lissencephaly, which is characterized by brain malformations, seizures, severe mental retardation and very early death in human infants. http://www.physorg.com/news171459656.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:41:58 EST news171459656 In laying down the neural circuitry of the developing brain, billions of neurons must first migrate to their correct destinations and then form complex synaptic connections with their new neighbors. http://www.physorg.com/news171285199.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:15:07 EST news171285199 In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University have found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast communications network of connections in the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news170503954.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:13:27 EST news170503954 (PhysOrg.com) -- A form of partial epilepsy associated with auditory and other sensory hallucinations has been linked to the disruption of brain development during early childhood, according to a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). http://www.physorg.com/news170255472.html Medicine & Health Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:11:45 EST news170255472 Hoping to broaden understanding about the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids, a Purdue University-based international consortium has launched a Web site and newsletter campaign to educate the public, physicians and veterinarians. Bruce Watkins, Purdue professor of nutrition and director of the International Omega-3 Learning and Education Consortium for Health and Medicine, said most people know that Omega-3 fatty acids are good for them and can often name a few foods that contain them, but that's about it. http://www.physorg.com/news169926193.html Medicine & Health Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:44:37 EST news169926193 Until now immediate cooling of the newborn infant was the only treatment that could possibly prevent brain damage following oxygen deprivation during delivery. New research findings from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, in collaboration with Zhengzhou University in China, open up the possibility of a new and effective treatment that can be started as late as two days after birth. http://www.physorg.com/news169209024.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:31:03 EST news169209024 A genetic search that wound its way from patients to mouse models and back to patients has uncovered an unlikely gene critically involved in a common birth defect which causes mental retardation, motor delays and sometimes autism, providing a new mechanism and potentially improving treatment for the disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news169052103.html Medicine & Health Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:56:31 EST news169052103 Rather than sticking to a single DNA script, human brain cells harbor astonishing genomic variability, according to scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The findings, to be published in the Aug. 5, 2009, advance online edition of Nature, could help explain brain development and individuality, as well as lead to a better understanding of neurological disease. http://www.physorg.com/news168697506.html Medicine & Health Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:25:34 EST news168697506 The effects of amphetamines on gene expression in zebrafish have been uncovered. This new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, provides clues to the genetics that underlie susceptibility to addiction by describing the nad zebrafish mutant, which does not feel the rewarding effects of the drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news168245721.html Biology Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:10:01 EST news168245721 The molecular machinery that helps brain cells migrate to their correct place in the developing brain has been identified by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The finding offers new insight into the forces that drive brain organization in developing fetuses and children during their first years. Disruption of this brain-patterning machinery can cause epilepsy and mental retardation and understanding its function could give new insight into such disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news166887881.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:20:01 EST news166887881 Just like a conductor cueing musicians in an orchestra, Fgf10, a member of the fibroblast growth factor (Ffg) family of morphogens, lets brain stem cells know that the moment to get to work has arrived, ensuring that they hit their first developmental milestone on time, report scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the July 16, 2009, edition of the journal Neuron. http://www.physorg.com/news166882306.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:40:01 EST news166882306 A study by scientists at Penn State provides new information about the genes that are involved in a mammal's early brain development, including those that contribute to neurological disorders. The study is the first to use high-throughput sequencing to uncover active genes in developing brains, and it is likely the best evidence thus far for the activity in the brain of such a large number of genes. http://www.physorg.com/news166724083.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:15:13 EST news166724083 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered that abnormalities in a gene important for learning and memory are a cause of autism. http://www.physorg.com/news165160161.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:20:01 EST news165160161 Alcohol consumption by pregnant women hinders brain development in their children by interfering with the genetic processes that control thyroid hormone levels in the fetal brain, a new animal study found. http://www.physorg.com/news163850392.html Medicine & Health Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:00:29 EST news163850392 Researchers studying a difficult-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy called infantile spasms have developed a line of mice that experiences seizures with features closely resembling those occurring in patients with infantile seizures. These genetically engineered mice provide a new opportunity for scientists to test treatments that may benefit children. http://www.physorg.com/news163077300.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:15:31 EST news163077300 There are several risk factors for the development of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Based on an increasing number of studies linking these risk factors with Vitamin D deficiency, an article in the current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (May 2009) by William B. Grant, PhD of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC) suggests that further investigation of possible direct or indirect linkages between Vitamin D and these dementias is needed. http://www.physorg.com/news162562458.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 May 2009 13:14:53 EST news162562458 Iron plays a large role in brain development in the womb, and new University of Rochester Medical Center research shows an iron deficiency may delay the development of auditory nervous system in preemies. This delay could affect babies ability to process sound which is critical for later language development in early childhood. http://www.physorg.com/news160674444.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 16:47:55 EST news160674444 A first of its kind study examining the effects of methamphetamine use during pregnancy has found the drug appears to cause abnormal brain development in children. The research is published in the April 15, 2009, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://www.physorg.com/news159037630.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:07:37 EST news159037630 After about seven months growing in the womb, a human fetus spends most of its time asleep. Its brain cycles back and forth between the frenzied activity of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the quiet resting state of non-REM sleep. But whether the brains of younger, immature fetuses cycle with sleep or are simply inactive has remained a mystery, until now. http://www.physorg.com/news158861665.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:14:54 EST news158861665 (AP) -- Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what's considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found. http://www.physorg.com/news157962218.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Apr 2009 07:38:23 EST news157962218