Category: <span>Neuroscience</span>

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Treating sleep apnea greatly improves stroke patients’ neurological and functional recovery

A large study has found that commencing treatment for sleep apnea as soon as possible after a stroke or a mini-stroke significantly improves speech impairment and other neurological symptoms as well as walking and other physical functioning. “We have shown, for the first time in a randomized controlled study, that for individuals who have had...

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Discovery of new neurons in the inner ear can lead to new therapies for hearing disorders

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified four types of neurons in the peripheral auditory system, three of which are new to science. The analysis of these cells can lead to new therapies for various kinds of hearing disorders, such as tinnitus and age-related hearing loss. The study is published in Nature Communications.  When sound reaches...

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Cocaine addiction traced to increase in number of orexin neurons

A study in Biological Psychiatry identifies a critical role of the orexin system in the expression of an addicted state in rats A study in cocaine-addicted rats reports long-lasting increases in the number of neurons that produce orexin–a chemical messenger important for sleep and appetite–that may be at the root of the addiction. The study, performed by researchers at...

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Turning off the brain’s ‘pain center’ could finally bring relief to millions of chronic nerve pain suffers, study finds

About 10 percent of the population lives with chronic nerve pain  Neuropathic is especially hard to treat and its burning, numbness and stinging don’t respond well to opioids  Scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital discovered a central group of neurons where pain and touch get interpreted in the brain  By turning these ‘off’ they brought relief...

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Brain has natural noise-cancelling circuit

To ensure that a mouse hears the sounds of an approaching cat better than it hears the sounds its own footsteps make, the mouse’s brain has a built-in noise-canceling circuit. It’s a direct connection from the motor cortex of the brain to the auditory cortex that says essentially, “we’re running now, pay no attention to...

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Six questions you can ask a loved one to help screen for suicide risk

Suicide rates in the United States have increased by 25-30 percent since 1999. This is particularly true for youth ages 12-24, with increases of approximately 30 percent over the same period. In Alachua County, Florida, where I teach and practice at the University of Florida, the base rate for suicides among youth ages 12-17 had been about five...

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Training Athletes’ Dynamic Vision with System Originally Designed to Detect Brain Injuries

SyncThink is a company known for making eye-tracking devices that can help to diagnose brain concussions. Their FDA-cleared EYE-SYNC technology is already being used by a number of university sports programs, as well as by major hospitals. Now the same technology is being adapted to help athletes in demanding sports to improve their dynamic vision and to help...

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FDA approves magnetic brain-zapping helmet to treat OCD sufferers who don’t respond to therapy or drugs

Over two percent of the population develops obsessive-compulsive disorder at some point over the course of their lives  Repetitive thoughts, compulsions, and behaviors can disrupt these peoples’ lives and isolate them   OCD is characterized by an overly-active brain circuit  Transcranial magnetic stimulation uses magnetic pulses to disrupt the electrical activity in this circuit A similar...

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Attention network plays key role in restoring vision after brain damage

About one-third of patients who have suffered a stroke end up with impaired vision, losing up to half of their visual field. This partial blindness was long considered irreversible, but recent studies have shown that vision training after optic nerve and brain damage can restore or improve vision. A new study published in the journal...