Newsline — Friday, June 12, 2015 16:30
The First Specialty-specific Data Registry Measures Approved for Neurosurgery
Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollutants Linked to Cognitive, Behavioral Impairment
Monday, April 20, 2015 13:00
A recent study demonstrates a strong relationship between prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) exposure and long-term brain disturbances in information processing and behavioral control. Researchers from the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health have published their findings in JAMA Psychiatry regarding common emissions from heating elements, hazardous waste, tobacco use and cooking and their effects on unborn children. PAH has been found to easily pass through the placenta directly; earlier animal studies concluded that long-term development was hindered by excessive exposure to pollutants before birth. Researchers expanded this theory by using MRI to track the brain development of young children after cataloguing their prenatal pollutant exposure. “This is the largest MRI study to date of how early life exposure to air pollutants, specifically PAH, affect the developing mind,” said the author. “Our findings suggest that PAH are contributors to ADHD and other behavioral problems, due to the pollutants’ disruptive effects on early brain development.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Phone Counseling Reduces Pain, Disability After Back Surgery
Monday, April 20, 2015 9:10
Research recently published online in the journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation suggests that having a short series of phone conversations with trained counselors can substantially boost recovery and reduce pain in patients after spinal surgery. The phone calls are designed to enrich standard pre- and post-operative care by reinforcing the value of sticking with physical therapy and back-strengthening exercise regimens. The study involved 122 patients ages 46 to 72 who underwent surgery between 2009 and 2012 to correct spinal stenosis. All patients were prescribed either home exercise programs or physical therapy to help speed recovery; about one-half of them also received a series of phone counseling sessions from a trained spinal surgery counselor to discuss the importance of exercise in their recovery. Overall, patients who got such phone calls participated in physical therapy and home exercise at higher rates and had less pain and less disability six months after their surgery, compared with the standard-approach group. Six months after surgery, 74 percent of patients who received phone counseling experienced significant improvements on standard…
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Do Long Sleepers Have Increased Stroke Risk?
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 16:58
A new study declares that there is a strong correlation between excessive amounts of sleep and stroke risk, resulting in a 46-percent increase in chances of stroke in individuals sleeping more than eight hours a night. A researcher from the University of Cambridge recently published this study in the journal Neurology. Beginning with a study sample of 9,692 individuals with an average age of 62, sleep habits were surveyed, and the participants were studied for an average of 9.5 years. Of the 986 participants who reported more than eight hours of sleep, 52 had a stroke — a heavily increased percentage compared to the 211 stroke victims in the larger group of 6,684 who reported normal sleep habits. “We don’t know yet whether long sleep is a cause, consequence or early marker of ill health,” said the study author. “More research is needed to understand the relationship between long sleep and stroke.” These findings were confirmed after removing variations in health and physical features, drawing into question the origin of this strong correlation. To learn…
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Blending Imaging Techniques to Create a Molecular Microscope
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 14:12
According to a paper recently published in the journal Nature Methods, Vanderbilt University researchers have achieved the first image fusion of mass spectrometry and microscopy. Combining the best features of both imaging modalities allows scientists to see the molecular make-up of tissues in high resolution — technology that may improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Using a mathematical approach called regression analysis, the researchers mapped each pixel of mass spectrometry data onto the corresponding spot on the microscopy image to produce a new, “predicted” image. The introduction of this technology, essentially a “molecular microscope,” helps reveal the function of these molecules and how function is changed by diseases like cancer. The senior author of the paper suggests that the technique could redefine the surgical margin. To learn more about this study, click here.
Study Reveals How Bad Experiences Change the Brain to Produce Memories
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 13:00
A study, recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, confirmed longstanding speculations regarding how painful memories are internally processed in the brain. Designed to test the century-old Hebbian hypothesis, the study analyzed the neuron connections formed following auditory tones combined with mild electric shocks in order to evaluate how these memories were formed compared to normal stimuli. By silencing electrical activity within the amygdala neurons during this experiment, memories concerning the painful stimuli were found to be identical to those without the painful shocks. This revealed that during pain, the brain strengthens the connections that effectively form the memory as a survival instinct to associate the situation with threats to well-being. The lead researcher reported, “This takes us a step closer to understanding how aversive experiences are translated by the nervous system into unpleasant memories. These processes for triggering aversive memory storage may represent a general mechanism controlling memory formation that is shared across other learning systems in the brain.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Elevated Protein in Blood Predicts Post-Concussion Symptom Severity
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 9:00
New research has found that elevated levels in the blood of the brain-enriched protein calpain-cleaved αII-spectrin N-terminal fragment (SNTF) shortly after sports-related concussion can predict the severity of post-concussion symptoms in professional athletes. The complete findings were recently released in the Journal of Neurotrauma. This new study builds on previous research showing that elevated blood levels of SNTF on the day of a mild traumatic brain injury treated in the emergency room predicted those patients who would go on to suffer diffuse axonal injury and long-term cognitive dysfunction. The study enrolled 288 players in the top Swedish professional ice hockey league. Each of the 28 players who suffered a concussion during the first half of the 2012-2013 season received serial blood draws and was evaluated daily for symptom resolution using the latest sports concussion treatment guidelines. Eight of the concussed players were symptom-free within a few days of their injury, but 20 of the players had persistent post-concussion symptoms requiring they be withheld from play six days or longer. Compared to those players who were…
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A New Way to Diagnose Brain Damage From Concussions, Strokes, Dementia
Monday, December 29, 2014 13:00
New technology from the Tufts University School of Engineering will allow for real-time brain circulation imaging without any invasive impact on patients, enhancing both intensive treatment options and general brain monitoring. Coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy (CHS) is a technique that measures blood flow, volume and oxygen consumption within the brain by using fiber optics to project near-infared light into the scalp. The light is then absorbed by cells throughout the brain before being reflected back into sensors, which use mathematical calculations to form a real-time movement map of the brain’s circulation. This process is described as non-invasive and low-impact for the patient, usable in a wide variety of applications to monitor various aspects of brain health. “CHS is based on measurements of brain hemodynamics that are interpreted according to unique algorithms that generate measures of cerebral blood flow, blood volume and oxygen consumption. This technique can be used not only to assess brain diseases but also to study the blood flow and how it is regulated in the healthy brain,” said the inventor. To learn more…
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Can Poor Sleep Lead to Dementia?
Monday, December 29, 2014 9:00
People who have sleep apnea or spend less time in deep sleep may be more likely to have changes in the brain that are associated with dementia, according to a study recently published online the the journal Neurology. The study found that those who don’t have as much oxygen in their blood during sleep are more likely to have micro infarcts than people with higher levels of oxygen in the blood. In addition, people who spent less time in slow wave sleep were more likely to have loss of brain cells than people who spent more time in deep sleep. For the study, 167 Japanese American men had sleep tests conducted in their homes when they were an average age of 84. All were followed until they died an average of six years later, and autopsies were conducted on their brains to look for micro infarcts, loss of brain cells, the plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy bodies found in Lewy body dementia. “[The] findings suggest that low blood oxygen levels and…
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Danger of Repeat Head Injuries: Brain’s Inability to Tap Energy Source
Tuesday, December 23, 2014 13:00
Researchers have published an animal study in the journal Neurobiology of Disease that details new findings regarding the healing of brain injuries and how secondary injuries during the healing process can severely limit recovery. Researchers studied the rate of recovery in mice brains following head injuries over 20 days, finding that the brain spiked its energy usage six days following the injury in order to recover from the damage. However, when secondary injuries took place three days before this energy spike, insulin receptor damage appeared to limit the ability to process glucose, and this necessary energy surge was made impossible, thus limiting overall recovery. “With injury, the damaged cells are not able to use energy even though they need it and the glucose is there. It appears that’s because the signals are messed up. It’s the same thing seen in Alzheimer’s patients. Cells are chronically undernourished even though the sugar level might be high,” the author revealed. To learn more about this study, click here.