Latest Neurology / Neuroscience News From Medical News Today.

Total news: 513
Last news: May 3, 2008 11:00:00

The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary boasts 22,000 pages of definitions. While that may seem far from succinct, new research suggests the reference manual is meticulously organized to be as concise as possible - a format that mirrors the way our brains make sense of and categorize the countless words in our vast vocabulary. - [Read more]

Unlike adults, children younger than eight cant integrate different forms of sensory input to improve the accuracy with which they perceive the world around them, according to a pair of studies reported online in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press, on May 1st.The findings suggest that the perceptual systems of developing children might require constant recalibration - through the use of one sense to fine-tune another and vice versa, according to the researchers. - [Read more]

A ground-breaking guide aimed at promoting the benefits of specialist nurses in the care of people with long term neurological conditions is launched today.The important document results from a unique partnership between three of the UKs leading charities for neurological conditions, the MS Society, Epilepsy Action and the Parkinsons Disease Society, with the Department of Health, Royal College of Nursing and NHS National Workforce Projects. - [Read more]

A common component of the contraceptive pill (progesterone) could improve the neurologic outcome for patients with severe head injuries, according to a study published in BioMed Centrals open access journal Critical Care.Traumatic brain injury (TBI), such as that caused by traffic accidents, falls and sporting injuries, is a major cause of death and disability. - [Read more]

"Mind games may improve our performance at work", reads the headline in The Times. The newspaper reports that a new study has shown that volunteers who took part in "rigorous exercises designed to tax their mental agility… stimulated problem-solving abilities in the brain that can be applied to a variety of circumstances. - [Read more]

This week at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Navigation and Intra-Operative Imaging division at Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) unveiled the latest in neurosciences surgical solutions, the StealthStation® S7TM system. The StealthStation S7 offers personalized navigation support for surgeon and surgical staff, with superior visualization and information display capabilities as well as streamlined workflow options. - [Read more]

New brain imaging research published this week shows that, after consuming alcohol, social drinkers had decreased sensitivity in brain regions involved in detecting threats, and increased activity in brain regions involved in reward. The study, in the April 30 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, is the first human brain imaging study of alcohols effect on the response of neuronal circuits to threatening stimuli. - [Read more]

A Jeopardy-like psychiatry quiz competition, an academy award winning actress telling her personal story about living with mental illness, and a lecture on the relationship between music and brain disorders will be featured at the 161st American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., May 3-8. -- MINDGAMES CHAMPIONSHIP MINDGAMES is a national team competition for psychiatry residents at the APA Annual Meeting. - [Read more]

Is medicated memory manipulation ethically sound? And perhaps more importantly, who should be charged with the decision to deliver such a treatment: patient or physician? Elisa Hurley, a philosophy professor, is seeking answers to these questions in her research currently underway at The University of Western Ontario. - [Read more]

Transplanted cells can survive in the brain for over one and half decades. However, some of the transplanted cells developed Parkinson-like features which is very surprising. These are the main findings of a study on grafting of new neurons to the brain in patients with Parkinsons disease. The study, headed by a team of researchers from Lund University in collaboration with London scientists headed by Professor Tamas Revesz, has been published in a recent issue of Nature Medicine. - [Read more]

The 23rd Colloque Medecine et Recherche of La Fondation Ipsen dedicated to the Alzheimer series was held in Paris on 28 April 2008. Entitled "Intracellular Traffic and Neurodegenerative Disorders" this meeting gathered fourteen leading researchers focused on the intracellular world. - [Read more]

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced that data on the use of its deep brain stimulation (DBS) system for severe, treatment resistant depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) will be presented by Ali Rezai, M.D., neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and investigator in the research, at the annual scientific meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). - [Read more]

Research on traumatic spinal cord injuries is hampered by a reliance on animal experiments that dont accurately predict human outcomes, says a new study in the upcoming edition of the peer-reviewed journal Reviews in the Neurosciences. The review was written by scientists with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. - [Read more]

Psychologists at the University of Liverpool have discovered that children as young as six are as adept at recognising possible verbs and their past tenses as adults.In a study conducted by the Universitys Child Language Study Centre, children aged between six and nine were given sentences containing made-up verbs such as the duck likes to spling and were asked to judge the acceptability of possible past tense forms. - [Read more]

While the medical malpractice system in the United States can provide remediation for negligent medical care, its overzealous application can have devastating effects on practicing surgeons, and inevitably hurt patient care by limiting the scope of care available to the general population.There are currently an estimated 3,229 active neurosurgeons in the United States certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgeons (ABNS). - [Read more]

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Brown University, and Massachusetts General Hospital will present results of a long-term outcome study that builds on previous promising research, which has shown that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a potentially effective treatment option for people with treatment resistant major depression.The World Health Organization rates major depression as the top cause of disability worldwide. - [Read more]

Young women who took the commonly used epilepsy drug phenytoin for one year showed significant bone loss compared to women taking other epilepsy drugs, according to a study published in the April 29, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.Researchers tested the bone health of 93 women with epilepsy who were between the ages of 18 and 40 and were taking the epilepsy drugs phenytoin, carbamazepine, lamotrigine or valproate. - [Read more]

Currently, the most common form of surgery for treating cervical degenerative disc disease is an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). More than 200,000 cervical procedures are performed each year in the United States to relieve compression on the spinal cord or nerve roots. Spinal fusion surgery creates a solid union between two or more vertebrae to help strengthen the spine and alleviate chronic neck pain. - [Read more]

Brain tumors are the most common solid cancer of childhood and are presently the leading cause of death in children, excluding trauma. In 2005, an estimated 43,800 new cases of primary nonmalignant and malignant brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors were diagnosed in the United States. Of these, an estimated 3,410 cases were diagnosed in children. The overall mortality rate attributed to primary brain and CNS tumors was estimated at 12,760 in 2005. - [Read more]

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) affects approximately 30,000 Americans every year, with 90 percent of all cases caused by cerebral aneurysms that have ruptured, the latter of which is referred to as aneurysmal SAH. Worldwide statistics vary greatly depending on the country and demographics, ranging from as low as 5.1 cases per 100,000 persons to as high as 19.6 cases per 100,000 persons, based on age-adjusted incidence studies. - [Read more]