It is difficult to open up a magazine or newspaper today without seeing a headline trumpeting the presence of a “mental health crisis” —particularly on our college and university campuses. Indeed, if the media coverage is to be believed, we are drowning in a sea of mental illness that threatens to overwhelm post-secondary institutions. The call...
Tag: <span>Mental Health</span>
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Worn Like a Helmet, a New Brain Scanner Aims to Make It Easier to Treat Kids with Epilepsy
New, wearable brain scanner. Credit: Wellcome A brain scanner now used to guide treatment of patients with epilepsy and other neurological disorders is bulky and challenging to use on fidgety young children—but researchers hope it might soon be replaced by a new machine that’s not much bigger than a bike helmet. Scientists at University College...
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Researchers look for clues in big data to enlist stem cells for brain repair
A team at the University of Toronto’s Medicine by Design has combined the latest genomic technology with machine learning in a new study that sheds light on brain stem cells, providing insights that could one day help the brain heal itself. “This research tells us more about how adult neural stem cells are formed in...
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Cell therapy could improve brain function for Alzheimer’s disease
PET scan of a human brain with Alzheimer’s disease. Like a great orchestra, your brain relies on the perfect coordination of many elements to function properly. And if one of those elements is out of sync, it affects the entire ensemble. In Alzheimer’s disease, for instance, damage to specific neurons can alter brainwave rhythms and...
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The human brain contains ‘waste pipes,’ study reveals
Groundbreaking research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows that the brain has lymphatic vessels, allowing it to process “waste” leaked from the blood vessels. This may shed fresh light on the relationship between the brain and the immune system. MRI brain scans confirm the existence of lymphatic vessels in the brain. The...
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Too much sugar may harm men’s mental health
The downfalls of high sugar consumption are not limited to poor dental health and weight gain; a new study finds that eating too much sugar may also increase men’s long-term risk of mental health disorders. Researchers found that men who consumed more than 67 grams of sugar daily from sweetened foods and beverages were much...
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Facebook and Brain-computer interface
In brief: Regina Dugan, Former DARPA executive and current head of Facebook’s mysterious Building 8, has released information about the work that the social media giant has been doing on brain-compute-interface meant to let you “communicate using only your mind” B8 the project the Facebook team is currently working on aims at 4 primary objects....
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Suppressing single protein greatly extends life span of mice with ALS- like disease
Summary: A set of experiments at Standford reveals that suppressing a protein called Ataxin 2 dramatically extends survival and improves motor function in a mouse model of ALS. ALS: A study led by researchers at Standford University School of Medicine has discovered a new possible therapeutic approach for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis- a progressive neurodegenerative disease....
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Retraining the brain to see after stroke
Patients who suffered from partial blindness after a stroke regained sight after undergoing Visual training designed by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Flaum Eye institute. A new study in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology gives first evidence that vision could be revived back in patients who suffered...
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Toxoplasma infection and neurodegenerative disease
Summary: Toxoplasma gondii, A protozoan parasite, infects almost a third of the world’s population. Workings on mice biomedical scientists reveal that Toxoplasma infection leads to a disruption of neurotransmitters in the brain and postulates that it triggers neurological disease in those already who are predisposed to such infection. Infection leads to a significant increase in...