Summaries | Headlines

Protein Inhibitor Tangles With Alzheimer's Disease (February 18, 2007) -- A hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the abnormal accumulation of phosphorylated forms of a protein known as tau. In a new study, Mayo Clinic researchers have now shown in mice that a drug that ... > full story

How Do We Stop Genocide When We Begin To Lose Interest After The First Victim? (February 18, 2007) -- Follow your intuition and act? When it comes to genocide, forget it. It doesn't work, says a University of Oregon psychologist. The large numbers of reported deaths represent dry statistics that ... > full story

Artificial Retina Could Help Blind Regain Partial Sight (February 17, 2007) -- Patients who have gone blind are a step closer to perhaps one day regaining some of their sight. Researchers at the USC Doheny Eye Institute announced the next step in their efforts to advance ... > full story

Getting On Your Nerves ... And Repairing Them (February 16, 2007) -- In a study to be published in the March 2007 issue of the FASEB Journal, scientists from East Carolina University report that a key molecular mechanism, RNA interference (RNAi), plays a role in the ... > full story

Doctors' Own Fear Of Death Linked To Hastening Death Of Very Sick Newborns (February 16, 2007) -- Doctors who fear their own death say they are more prepared than other doctors to hasten death in sick newborns for whom further medical treatment is considered futile, reveals research published ... > full story

Hopkins Scientists Uncover Cause Of Antipsychotic Drug Weight Gain (February 16, 2007) -- Johns Hopkins brain scientists have hit on how and why some powerful drugs used for treating mental illnesses cause patients to gain so much weight that they often develop life-threatening ... > full story

Landmark Addiction Study Finds People Underestimate Power Of Drug Cravings (February 16, 2007) -- A novel experiment conducted by Carnegie Mellon University Professor George Loewenstein and colleagues may explain why people try a drug, such as heroin, for the first time despite ample evidence ... > full story

More Than Meets The Tongue: Color Of A Drink Can Fool The Taste Buds Into Thinking It Is Sweeter (February 16, 2007) -- Does orange juice taste sweeter if it's a brighter orange? A new study in the March issue of the Journal of Consumer Research finds that the color of a drink can influence how we think it tastes. In ... > full story

Computer Model Mimicks How Brain Recognizes Street Scenes (February 16, 2007) -- Scientists have developed a computational model of how the brain processes visual information and applied it to a complex, real world task: Recognizing the objects in a busy street scene. The ... > full story

Marker That Identifies Energy-producing Centers In Nerve Cells Can Help Track Metabolic Changes Related To Aging And Diseases (February 16, 2007) -- A protein that causes coral to glow is helping researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to light up brain cells that are critical for the proper functioning of the central nervous ... > full story

Being Around Friends Can Impair Your Memory (February 16, 2007) -- You're watching a basketball game with some buddies and decide to order pizza during the commercial. Researchers from Indiana University found that people in a group setting exposed to brand ... > full story

Building A Better Painkiller: Neuroscientists Explain Inner Workings Of Critical Pain Pathway (February 16, 2007) -- Morphine and other opioids are among the most potent painkillers around. For the first time, Brown University neuroscientists explain why these drugs work so well on the calcium channels in the pain ... > full story

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Communication -- Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common protocol. "Communication studies" is the academic discipline focused on communication forms, processes and meanings, ... > full article

Brain -- In animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the control center of the central nervous system. In most animals, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory ... > full article

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (sometimes referred to as ADD for those without hyperactivity) is thought to be a neurological disorder, always present from childhood, which manifests ... > full article

Encephalopathy -- Encephalopathy is a nonspecific term describing a syndrome affecting the brain. Generally, it refers to involvement of large parts of the brain (or the whole organ), instead of identifiable changes ... > full article

Limbic system -- The limbic system is the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. It affects motivation and is more active in ... > full article

Human brain -- The human brain is the center of the central nervous system in humans as well as the primary control center for the peripheral nervous system. The brain controls "lower" or involuntary activities ... > full article

Amygdala -- The amygdala (Latin, corpus amygdaloideum) is an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe. Shown to play a key role in the processsing of emotions, the amygdala ... > full article

Hypothalamus -- In mammals, the hypothalamus is a region of the brain located below the thalamus, forming the major portion of the ventral region of the diencephalon and functioning to regulate certain metabolic ... > full article

Central nervous system -- The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in ... > full article

Spinal cord -- The spinal cord is a part of the vertebrate nervous system that is enclosed in and protected by the vertebral column (it passes through the spinal canal). It consists of nerve cells. The cord conveys ... > full article

Sensory neuron -- Sensory neurons are nerve cells within the nervous system responsible for converting external stimuli from the organism's environment into internal electrical impulses. For example, some sensory ... > full article

Pheromone -- A pheromone is any chemical produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many ... > full article

Virtual reality -- Virtual reality (VR) is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily ... > full article

Lead poisoning -- Lead poisoning is a condition, also known as plumbism or painter's colic, caused by increased blood serum lead levels. The symptoms of lead poisoning include neurological problems, such as reduced ... > full article

Intelligence quotient -- An intelligence quotient or IQ is a score derived from a set of standardized tests developed to measure a person's cognitive abilities ("intelligence") in relation to their age group. An IQ test does ... > full article

Cognition -- The term cognition is used in several loosely-related ways to refer to a facility for the intelligent processing of information. In psychology, it is used to refer to the mental processes of an ... > full article

Aptitude -- An aptitude is an innate inborn ability to do a certain kind of work. Aptitudes may be physical or mental. Aptitude and intelligence quotient are related, and in some ways opposite, views of human ... > full article

Memory -- Memory is the ability of the brain to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. Although traditional studies of memory began in the realms of philosophy, the late nineteenth and early ... > full article

Mnemonic -- A mnemonic is a memory aid. Mnemonics are often verbal, something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something. Mnemonics rely not only on repetition to ... > full article

Dementia -- Dementia is progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Particularly affected areas may be memory, attention, ... > full article