Newsline — Tuesday, February 17, 2015 9:00
Synthetic Oil Drug May Bring Promise for Huntington’s Disease
Active Learning Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults
Friday, February 13, 2015 13:00
According to a study conducted by researchers at Canisius College and the University of Texas’ Center for Vital Longevity, older adults who learn a new, mentally-demanding skill can improve their cognitive function. Participants in the study were assigned to learn a new skill — digital photography, quilting or both — all of which required active engagement, working memory, long-term memory and other high-level cognitive processes. Other participants were asked to participate in more familiar activities such as doing crossword puzzles, watching documentaries and listening to classical music. To account for the possible influence of social contact, some participants were assigned to a group that included field trips and entertainment. “At the end of three months, we found that only the group who learned digital photography grew in their memory skills,” said the lead researcher. The participants — who were computer novices — had to remember a series of steps, learn to use Adobe Photoshop and mount their photos. “The key, is that the group was productively engaged and consistently challenged during their activity.” Next steps…
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Scientists Develop Imaging Test for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Friday, February 13, 2015 9:00
A groundbreaking, new MRI technique used by the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute revealed how children with autism can be diagnosed using an accelerated scanning process in order to determine their facial-recognition capabilities. Designed originally to allow researchers to scan sensitive children without long periods confined in the scanning chamber, this technology quickly allowed researchers to study how autistic children perceived faces and discovered a visible cognitive difference when participants were shown images of themselves. The control group reported higher cognitive activity while viewing a self-portrait. However, the autistic participants had a drastically reduced response — which is speculated as a self-awareness difference. “We went from a slow, average depiction of brain activity in a cognitive challenge to a quick test that is significantly easier for children to do than spend hours under observation. The single-stimulus functional MRI could also open the door to developing MRI-based applications for screening of other cognitive disorders.” This new technique will allow the study of mathematical processing in cognitive disorders, as well as contributing to MRI technology with potential…
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Sleep Plays Bigger Role in Memory and Learning in Young Adults
Thursday, February 12, 2015 13:00
In a recent study conducted by Baylor University’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory, researchers found that sound sleep in young and middle-aged people helps memory and learning, but as they hit their seventh, either and ninth decades, older adults generally don’t sleep as much, or as well —and sleep is not as strongly linked to memory. The study notes that the benefits of a sound night’s sleep for young adults are diverse and unmistakable — with deep sleep helping memory reinforcement by taking pieces of a day’s experiences, replaying them and strengthening them for better recollection. “If sleep benefits memory and thinking in young adults but is changed in quantity and quality with age, then the question is whether improving sleep might delay — or reverse — age-related changes in memory and thinking,” said an assistant psychology and neuroscience professor at Baylor. As people grow older, they wake up more at night and have less deep sleep and dream sleep — both of which are important for overall brain functioning. Researchers’ extensive review began with…
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Nearly One in Five Adult Epilepsy Patients Have ADHD Symptoms
Thursday, February 12, 2015 9:00
A new study published in the journal Epilepsia, conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, reveals a striking prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms among epileptic adults. The wide-scale survey reported that ADHD symptoms were four-times more likely to occur in diagnosed epileptics than in other populations, occurring more frequently than other commonly associated conditions. The author of the study stated, “Physicians who treat epilepsy often attribute depression, anxiety, reduced quality of life and psychosocial outcomes to the effects of seizures, antiepileptic therapies and underlying central nervous system conditions. Our findings suggest that ADHD may also be playing a significant role. However, we don’t know yet if ADHD in epilepsy is synonymous with ADHD in the general population, which is often responsive to treatment. As a next step, we need to validate measures to screen for ADHD specifically in epilepsy and clarify the nature of ADHD symptoms in adults with epilepsy. This will lay the foundation for future trials of treatments that offer the promise of rendering major improvements in the quality…
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Specifics of Concussive Brain Damage Revealed in Study of Former NFL Players
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 13:00
Using a series of imaging and cognitive tests, researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine gathered evidence of accumulated brain damage that could be linked to specific memory deficits in former NFL players, experienced decades after they stopped playing football. Results of the small study, which used nine former players, provide further evidence for potential long-term neurological risks to football players who sustain repeated concussions. “We’re hoping that our findings are going to further inform the game,” said a Johns Hopkins University psychiatry professor. “That may mean individuals are able to make more educated decisions about whether they’re susceptible to brain injury, advise how helmets are structured or inform guidelines for the game to better protect players.” During the study, researchers used tests to directly detect deficits and to quantify localized molecular differences between the brains of former players and healthy people who didn’t play football. Results from the control volunteers’ tests showed no evidence of brain damage or structural abnormalities. However, PET scans of the group of former NFL players showed that on average,…
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Study Finds Lead Negatively Impacts Cognitive Functions of Boys More than Girls
Wednesday, February 11, 2015 9:00
A new study published in the Journal of Environmental Health, conducted by Creighton University’s College of Arts and Sciences, reports that females are less impacted by high levels of lead than males. The study also discovered how impairment from lead poisoning is visible in early childhood. During the study, 40 young children were analyzed in regards to executive function and reading skills, selected geographically for their proximity to the largest lead cleanup area in the nation (due to widespread contamination from a major refinery). While males with high levels of lead in their bloodstream exhibited below average comprehension, females with similar lead levels were visibly less affected. “The study supports existing research suggesting that estrogen and estradiol in females may act as neuroprotectants against the negative impacts of neurotoxins. The findings also add to the evidence that lead exposure has a negative impact on cognitive functioning, especially those functions housed within frontal areas of the brain. Executive functions are controlled largely by the prefrontal cortex, while reading skills rely more heavily on the temporal or parietal…
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Drug Candidates Can Target Pathways Involved in Parkinson’s Cell Destruction
Tuesday, February 10, 2015 13:00
In a pair of recent studies published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Scientific Robots, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have shown drug candidates that can target biological pathways involved in the destruction of brain cells in Parkinson’s disease. The studies suggest that it’s possible to design highly effective and highly selective (targeted) drug candidates that can protect the function of mitochondria, which provide the cell with energy, ultimately preventing brain cell death. These drug candidates act on what are known as “junk” kinases — JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 — each an enzyme with a unique biological function. JNK is linked to many of the hallmark components of Parkinson’s disease, such as oxidative stress and programmed cell death. “These are the first isoform selective JNK 2/3 inhibitors that can penetrate the brain and the first shown to be active in functional cell-based tests that measure mitochondrial dysfunction,” said the lead author of both studies. The new studies raise the hope for potential therapy that could prevent the gradual degeneration of brain cells in…
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Psychopathic Violent Offenders’ Brains Can’t Understand Punishment
Tuesday, February 10, 2015 9:00
MRI scanning has allowed researchers from the King’s College London to analyze how those with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) respond cognitively to punishment within the legal system to determine if traditional correctional institutions address their pathology correctly. The study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, describes how diagnosed sociopaths who were currently incarcerated were tested (compared to a control group) with a game designed to shift an action from positive to negative, with a point deduction in order to study how the individual responded upon realizing their actions were no longer acceptable. “We observed reductions in gray matter volumes bilaterally in the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex and temporal poles relative to the other offenders and to the non-offenders. Abnormalities were also found in white matter fiber tracts in the dorsal cingulum, linking the posterior cingulate cortex to the medial prefrontal cortex that were specifically associated with the lack of empathy that is typical of psychopathy,” said the author of the study. While normal prisoners reacted to the rule change by processing it as an obstacle,…
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Possible Therapeutic Target for Mysterious Brain Blood-vessel Disorder
Monday, February 9, 2015 13:00
Abnormal, leak-prone sproutings of blood vessels in the brain, called cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs), can lead to seizures, strokes, hemorrhages and other serious conditions, yet their precise molecular cause has never been determined. However, cardiovascular scientists at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have studied this pathway in heart development and discovered an important set of molecular signals, triggered by CCM-linked gene defects that could potentially be targeted to treat the disorder. Although CCMs have a relatively high prevalence (1 in 200), they typically go undiagnosed until symptoms arise and can only be treated by brain surgery. Research on CCMs has been slowed by the difficulty of recreating the disease in lab animals. Previous studies have shown that CCM genes remain lethal to fetal mice, even when they are limited to the endothelial cells that line blood vessels and the heart. In the new study, researchers used advanced techniques to restrict CCM gene disruption to the endothelial cells of the developing heart, leaving the mouse vascular system to develop otherwise normally….
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