Newsline — Tuesday, March 31, 2015 14:39
Migraine Sufferers May Have Double Stroke Risk
Electrical Stimulation ‘Tunes’ Visual Attention
Tuesday, March 31, 2015 9:20
New findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science challenge scientists’ current understanding of how visual attention is focused and the roles of short and long-term memory. Researchers have long known that attention could be tuned, like a radio dial, to hone in on specific features, but how and where in the brain the so-called ‘tuning’ occurs has remained an open question. During the study, researchers passed a very weak electrical current through the brains of healthy volunteers using a process called transcranial direct-current stimulation, allowing volunteers to much more quickly find target objects embedded in arrays of distracting objects. Results of the study showed that after 20 minutes of passing safe levels of electrical current through electrodes placed on the head, the volunteers were able to more effectively focus attention on the searched-for targets, with dramatic increases in speed. “These new findings provide evidence that long-term memory representations can also underlie our ability to rapidly configure attention to focus on certain objects, and that long-term memory performance can be sharply…
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Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury in Prisons
Monday, March 30, 2015 15:11
A new study reports a high rate of past traumatic brain injury within incarcerated individuals, surpassing rates found in previous studies, which also reported a high correlation. Students from the University of Denver screened inmates from a “high-risk” ward in which they had been labeled as dangers to themselves or others based on their behavior. Previously, studies reported that the majority of American prison inmates sustained traumatic head injuries. In the current study, nearly all inmates screened reported a history of traumatic brain injury. Press coverage of the study reports, “Nearly every inmate screened — 96 percent — had a traumatic brain injury. That’s significantly higher than national statistics showing 67 percent to 80 percent of inmates in jails and prisons have a traumatic brain injury, and far higher than the estimated six percent to 8.5 percent of the general population.” This study has led to a regional treatment program with the Colorado Brain Injury Program, spanning 14 prisons, with the goal of treating relevant symptoms of brain injury, which are commonly found in hostile inmates….
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Broca’s Area is the Brain’s Scriptwriter
Monday, March 30, 2015 9:14
For 150 years, scientists have known that a brain region called Broca’s area plays a key role in speech production, but its exact functions have been a mystery. However, a study recently conducted at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine using recordings from the surface of the brain revealed that Broca’s area is active early in the process of forming sentences and ends its work before a word is actually spoken — which is sooner than previously believed. This new insight about Broca’s area, which is located in the frontal cortex above and behind the left eye, could ultimately benefit the treatment of language impairments due to stroke, epilepsy and brain injuries, according to the senior author of the study, and an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University. “We were interested in studying how information flows through the brain during speech,” the author said. “…and in this study, for the first time, we were able to record very precisely the timing of activation of different centers of the brain during different language…
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Cerebral Palsy — It Can be in Your Genes
Friday, March 27, 2015 9:00
In recent findings published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers from the Australian Collaborative Cerebral Palsy Research Group, based at the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, discovered at least 14 percent of cerebral palsy cases are likely caused by a genetic mutation. It has long been believed that cerebral palsy occurs when a child experiences a lack of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth; however, after researchers mapped the DNA from cerebral palsy families, they found the likely cause of the condition in 14 percent of cases. A genetic scientist from the University of Adelaide explained that because cerebral palsy is at least partly genetic in origin, there will be significant changes in the approach to diagnosis, management and treatment of the condition. To read more about this study, click here.
Helmet Add-Ons May Not Lower Concussion Risk in Athletes
Thursday, March 26, 2015 13:00
Recent testing reports that popular football-helmet accessories designed to increase head stability and reduce rates of concussion are not substantially effective, despite popular claims. The study was conducted by BRAINS, Inc., and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Researchers enhanced the typical drop test used by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, which realistically simulates head impacts. Sensors were placed in a dummy’s head to measure linear and angular rotational responses to helmet impacts at 10, 12 and 14 miles per hour. Results of the study showed linear acceleration impacts, typical of drop tests, were reduced by 11 percent, but angular impacts were only reduced by two percent. “These findings are important because angular accelerations are believed to be the major biomechanical forces involved in concussion,” said the author of the study. “Few add-on products have undergone even basic biomechanical evaluation. Hopefully, our research will lead to more rigorous testing of helmets and add-ons.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Novel Drug Mechanism Developed for Fighting Brain Cancer
Thursday, March 26, 2015 9:00
Researchers at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have developed and characterized a molecule that interferes with the internal regulation of cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct. The novel mechanism was found to be effective against glioma cells, and could be applicable to other highly aggressive cancers. “We have elucidated the mode of action of a drug that destroys glioma cells in a manner that has not previously been described,” said the study’s author. “We anticipate that it will lead to new treatments to fight cancers that are resistant to standard therapies.” The researchers performed a series of studies utilizing high-content analysis which quantifies changes in living cells in response to a drug treatment. The focus was put on the effects of a patented small molecule previously developed at UC Davis, known as UCD38B, on four different human glioma cell lines. The research team’s study showed that UCD38B is effective against such non-dividing glioma cells, as well as dividing cells destroyed by conventional therapy. They found that UCD38B acts by targeting a cellular regulatory…
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Long-term Housing May Not be Best for Adults with TBI
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 13:00
A wide-scale survey of Canadian traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients reveals that a striking majority of patients were being housed in nursing homes despite their young age and physical health, which may contribute to poorer treatment methods being utilized. The Toronto Rehab, University Health Network published findings in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, illustrating the visible age- and treatment- gap between TBI patients and geriatric nursing-home residents, drawing attention to the possible complications. The study also showed that 42 percent of TBI patients in nursing homes were prescribed psychotropic drugs. This unusually high rate of diagnosis warrants further analysis to determine why this is occurring. Other areas of research compared nursing homes to home care, mental health and complex continuing-care facilities. “Our next focus will be to look at the health outcomes for people with TBI in these four care settings,” said the author of the study. “This will be imperative to determine the support and care necessary for optimal long-term health and quality of life.” To learn more about this study, click here.
Brain Tumor Patients Fare Better with Private Insurance
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 9:00
According to a study published in the journal Neurosugery, brain tumor patients who are uninsured or used Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications compared to those with private insurance. During the study, researchers from the University of Florida Health analyzed data from 566,346 hospital admissions involving brain tumor cases between 2002 and 2011. The study found that the uninsured and Medicaid patients were also at greater risk of developing a new medical condition in the hospital and 25-percent more likely to die during their stay. Additionally, people who are uninsured or use Medicaid also are less likely to benefit from early detection of brain tumors because they have less access to health care than those with private insurance, noted the study’s lead author. “When private-insurance patients start to have a problem, it gets picked up really fast. They go to a primary doctor, who makes a quick referral to a neurologist or neurosurgeon,” he said. However, people who use Medicaid don’t always have that benefit, and sometimes wait to go to an…
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One-Third of Americans Don’t Have Access to Stroke Center Within One Hour
Tuesday, March 24, 2015 13:00
Survey data indicates that over one-third of the U.S. population is unable to be treated by a stroke center within an hour of ambulance response, due to geographic scarcity of these centers. The study, published in the journal Neurology, by an author from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, reports data from 2010 in which the 811 certified stroke centers in the U.S. were profiled and measured in distance. Travel distance, under ideal conditions via ambulance, was measured for the general population to their nearest stroke center. There were no centers certified as comprehensive centers, which the author argues is inhibiting overall treatment success. “There are geographic differences in stroke incidence, especially in rural areas and in the Stroke Belt,” the author said. “Reduced access to specialized stroke care in these areas has the potential to worsen these disparities. This emphasizes the need for oversight of developing systems of care.” The study recommends the conversion of a small portion of primary stroke centers into comprehensive centers to statistically give…
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