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. A new study published this week in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics finds that operative plans for removing Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma, or JPA, tumors in the thalamus of the brain can be augmented with Diffusion Tensor Imaging, or DTI. The sensitivity of DTI imaging allows for the visualization of nerve fiber bundles in the brain. This information can maximize the potential of completely removing the tumor while avoiding damage to the fiber bundles that are directly related to motor functions of the patient. http://www.physorg.com/news179151614.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:21:16 EST news179151614 A Swiss research team has found that using an animal's own brain cells (autologous transplant) to replace degenerated neurons in select brain areas of donor primates with simulated but asymptomatic Parkinson's disease and previously in a motor cortex lesion model, provides a degree of brain protection and may be useful in repairing brain lesions and restoring function. http://www.physorg.com/news176014548.html Medicine & Health Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:56:51 EST news176014548 The human brain consists of about 100 billion (1011) neurons, which altogether form about 100 trillion (1014) synaptic connections with each other. A crucial mechanism for the generation of this complex wiring pattern is the formation of neuronal branches. The neurobiologists Dr. Hannes Schmidt and Professor Fritz G. Rathjen at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered a molecule that regulates this vital process. At the same time they have succeeded in elucidating the signaling cascade induced by this molecule. http://www.physorg.com/news172769003.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:40:01 EST news172769003 The belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, according to new research. As a result, previous findings may have overestimated atrophy and underestimated normal size for the older brain. http://www.physorg.com/news171605735.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:30:01 EST news171605735 Brain imaging shows playing Tetris leads to a thicker cortex and may also increase brain efficiency, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes. A research team based in New Mexico is one of the first to investigate the effects of practice in the brain using two image techniques. http://www.physorg.com/news171008209.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:17:19 EST news171008209 A drug currently FDA-approved for use in diabetes shows some protective effects in the brains of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine report in a study currently available online in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. http://www.physorg.com/news162578834.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 May 2009 17:47:49 EST news162578834 Older adults may have difficulty understanding speech because of age-related changes in brain tissue, according to new research in the May 13 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that older adults with the most difficulty understanding spoken words had less brain tissue in a region important for speech recognition. The findings may help explain why hearing aids do not benefit all people with age-related hearing difficulties. http://www.physorg.com/news161367888.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 May 2009 17:25:14 EST news161367888 Push-ups, crunches, gyms, personal trainers -- people have many strategies for building bigger muscles and stronger bones. But what can one do to build a bigger brain? Meditate. http://www.physorg.com/news161355537.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 May 2009 13:59:50 EST news161355537 Autoimmune disease is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body's own material just as aggressively as it would attack a foreign pathogen. Multiple sclerosis, MS for short, is just one such autoimmune disease, and is one of the most common neurological diseases in the 20 to 30 years age group. The disease can have very severe consequences for those afflicted, since the body's defenses attack the central nervous system. It has long been assumed that myelin is the most important target for the misdirected immune response. This white, fat-rich protective layer of specialized cells enshrouds the long extensions of neurons. However, the central nervous systems of MS patients also exhibit damage in the gray matter, where the nerve cell bodies are located. How the patient's disability develops depends greatly on the damage of the gray matter. An international group headed by medical scientist Professor Edgar Meinl of LMU Munich has now discovered a possible connection: The protein Contactin-2 is produced both in the myelin sheathing and by neurons in the gray matter - and is attacked by misdirected immune factors. "Our results suggest that these processes also play a role in MS patients," says Meinl. "It could even be that proteins existing both in myelin and in the gray matter are in fact the critical points of attack." http://www.physorg.com/news160305310.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:15:33 EST news160305310 (PhysOrg.com) -- The human brain stores some kinds of memories for a lifetime. But when our eyes are open and looking at things, our gray matter also creates temporary memories that help us process complex tasks during the few seconds these visual memories exist. For decades, scientists have held that such short-term memories don`t suddenly disappear, but grow gradually more imprecise over the course of several seconds. http://www.physorg.com/news160162970.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:43:40 EST news160162970 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the pathogen that causes mononucleosis, appears to play a role in the neurodegeneration that occurs in persons with multiple sclerosis, researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Trieste, Italy, have shown. http://www.physorg.com/news155229747.html Medicine & Health Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:22:54 EST news155229747 (PhysOrg.com) -- As people age, memory and the ability to carry out tasks often decline. Scientists looking for ways to lessen that decline often have focused on the "gray matter" -- the cortical regions where high-level functions such as memory are located. http://www.physorg.com/news150562618.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:56:58 EST news150562618 A new study published in Journal of Neuroimaging shows that MRI scans used on multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to determine if the disease has affected gray matter in the brain can identify those at-risk for progression of disability. http://www.physorg.com/news145122340.html Medicine & Health Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:45:40 EST news145122340 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Alberta researchers have identified several regions of the brain that appear to be altered in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. http://www.physorg.com/news139061289.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:08:09 EST news139061289