A team of neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients with electrodes implanted directly on the brain. The researchers found that low-frequency rhythms of brain activity, when brain waves move up and down slowly, primarily drive...
Category: <span>Mental health</span>
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Immune cells cross blood-brain barrier in multiple sclerosis
Researchers probing the mechanisms of nerve tissue damage in multiple sclerosis have identified two ways in which white blood cells overcome the blood-brain barrier to wreak havoc in the highly protected environment of the brain and spinal cord. How do white blood cells penetrate the blood-brain barrier in MS? A new study investigates. In a...
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Neurodegeneration: New cell death mechanism revealed
New research reveals how a dysfunction in the brain’s so-called self-digestion system leads to cell death in neurodegenerative disorders. The newly discovered mechanism may lead to new therapies for conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. When the brain’s ‘housekeeping’ mechanism fails, neurons start degenerating. New research shows how. A healthy brain has a self-cleaning...
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Dementia study sheds light on how damage spreads through brain
Insights into how a key chemical disrupts brain cells in a common type of dementia have been revealed by scientists. Brain tissue from people with Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) showed that the protein builds up in vital parts of neurons that connect cells and may jump from one cell to another through these connections. Scientists...
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Now you like it, now you don’t: Brain stimulation can change how much we enjoy and value music
Enjoyment of music is considered a subjective experience; what one person finds gratifying, another may find irritating. Music theorists have long emphasized that although musical taste is relative, our enjoyment of music, be it classical or heavy metal, arises, among other aspects, from structural features of music, such as chord or rhythm patterns that...
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Brain astrocytes linked to Alzheimer’s disease
Astrocytes, the supporting cells of the brain, could play a significant role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. This is the first time researchers have discovered a direct association between astrocytes and AD. Published in Stem Cell Reports, the study investigated the brain cell...
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Benzodiazepines increase mortality in persons with Alzheimer’s disease
Benzodiazepine and related drug use is associated with a 40 percent increase in mortality among persons with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. The findings were published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. The study found that the risk of death was increased right from the initiation...
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Take a fantastic 3-D voyage through the brain with new immersive virtual reality system
Wyss Center, Geneva, Switzerland – A new immersive virtual reality (VR) experience now offers a unique way to visualize and interact with large volumes of 3D anatomical brain data. The system, developed by researchers from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering and the University of Geneva, has applications in neurotechnology development, research and surgeon...
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Cognitive training enhanced innovative thinking and brain networks in older adults
Researchers at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas have demonstrated in a pilot study that cognitive training improves innovative thinking, along with corresponding positive brain changes, in healthy adults over the age of 55. The study, published recently in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, reveals that a specific strategic cognitive training program enhanced innovation in healthy...
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Brain imaging reveals ADHD as a collection of different disorders
Researchers have found that patients with different types of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have impairments in unique brain systems, indicating that there may not be a one-size-fits-all explanation for the cause of the disorder. Based on performance on behavioral tests, adolescents with ADHD fit into one of three subgroups, where each group demonstrated distinct impairments in...