neurology

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Scientists Spot Secret in Michelangelo God

Sistine painting contains brain diagram

(Newser) - Michelangelo used the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to conceal a message the church would have found blasphemous, according to a pair of neuroanatomists. God's oddly lumpy neck in The Separation of Light from Darkness, a detail that has long puzzled art historians, is actually a completely accurate depiction of...

Insomnia Linked to Shrinking Brains

Decision-making part of the brain less dense in chronic insomniacs

(Newser) - In news unlikely to make insomniacs rest any easier, a study has linked sleepless nights to loss of gray matter for the first time. Neurologists using brain imaging technology found that chronic insomniacs had significantly lower brain density in the parts of the brain responsible for resting and decision-making. They...

NFL Adds Concussion Rules
 NFL Adds Concussion Rules 
Nov 23, 2009 7:48 AM CST

NFL Adds Concussion Rules

Teams must now keep independent neurologists on hand

(Newser) - Facing heat from both players and Congress, the NFL is adopting new policies designed to protect players in the event of a concussion. Teams will soon be required to keep an impartial, independent neurologist on hand to treat players for concussions. Players won’t be allowed to return to the...

Dopamine: Produces the Rush, Not the Pleasure
Dopamine: Produces the Rush, Not the Pleasure
chemical revisited
Oct 27, 2009 10:23 AM CDT

Dopamine: Produces the Rush, Not the Pleasure

The "it" neurotransmitter stimulates drive, not good feeling

(Newser) - Dopamine has become the decade’s “it” neurotransmitter, just as serotonin was in the ‘90s. But the popular image of dopamine as the brain chemical in charge of making us feel good, and hooking us on craving that feeling, a “Bacchus in the brain,” is misleading...

Your Brain Has a Neuron Just for Tom Cruise

...and another for every celeb you recognize, study finds

(Newser) - You have a neuron in your brain devoted entirely to recognizing Tom Cruise. Another specializes in Barack Obama, yet another LeBron James, and, yes, Jon and Kate are taking up two. By studying a decade worth of brain activity, researchers have discovered a series of cells that act like celebrity...

Playing Tetris Boosts Brain Power

Study claims game has building blocks for better grey matter

(Newser) - Playing Tetris leaves people's brains better-equipped to deal with more than just an onslaught of falling blocks, according to a new study. Researchers—funded by the video game's makers—took brain scans of adolescent girls before and after three months of daily Tetris playing and found that some parts of...

Scientist Seeks Help for the Hopelessly Lost

Brain disorder causes people to get lost even in their own homes

(Newser) - A Canadian neuroscientist has discovered a brain disorder that causes sufferers to spend their lives hopelessly lost even in their own neighborhoods, reports the Canadian Press. People with developmental topographical disorientation utterly lack the ability to form mental maps and orient themselves, leaving them with no idea how to navigate...

Artificial Brain Could Be Just 10 Years Away

(Newser) - A functional artificial brain could be built within the next decade, leading scientist and brain-builder Henry Markram told a tech conference. Markram, who leads a project seeking to reverse engineer the mammalian brain from lab data, says his team has already duplicated parts of the rat brain, the BBC reports....

Immunotherapy Offers New Hope on Alzheimer's

(Newser) - An immune-system booster already used in the treatment of other diseases could prove to be a powerful weapon in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, researchers have found. Analyzing the records of patients who received intravenous immunoglobulin—IVIg—they discovered that recipients were 42% less likely to develop Alzheimer's, HealthDay reports.

'Rogue' Protein Spread Key to Alzheimer's

Discovery casts light on tangles found in brains of disease sufferers

(Newser) - A protein linked to Alzheimer’s can run amok in the brain, affecting healthy tissue, scientists have found. All nerve cells contain the tau protein, but a “rogue form” can lead to protein clumps in cells, called neurofibrillary tangles, that are believed to play a major role in Alzheimer’...

'Walk and Die' Syndrome Likely Killed Richardson

Head injury from ski fall caused delayed bleeding in the brain

(Newser) - The head injury Natasha Richardson sustained in a skiing accident produced what doctors call "walk and die" syndrome, a UCLA neurologist tells the Los Angeles Times. Patients in such cases at first seem fine, walking and talking normally, but they swiftly deteriorate due to delayed bleeding from an...

Sleepwalker Stirs Yuks Off-Broadway

Sleepwalking With Me wins praise from neurologists

(Newser) - Fighting off an imaginary Brad Pitt and leaping from a second-story window confirmed it: Mike Birbiglia was ready to turn his sleepwalking stories into a one-man show, Newsweek reports. Launched off-Broadway in November, the comedic Sleepwalk With Me is drawing raves from reviewers and sleep researchers alike. "Mike...

Scientist: Love's Just Brain Chemicals

...that could someday be reproduced in a lab

(Newser) - An American neurologist is determined to prove wrong the poets who say love is beyond understanding, reports the BBC. The Emory professor argues that neurochemical reactions in certain parts of the brain can explain love, raising the possibility that scientists could someday create drugs to bring love back to dying...

Left-Handed Men Earn More: Study
Left-Handed
Men Earn
More: Study
Nov 29, 2008 4:27 AM CST

Left-Handed Men Earn More: Study

Southpaws struggle in school but surpass righties at work

(Newser) - Left-handed men earn an average of 5% more than right-handed men, two British and Irish studies have discovered. The studies found that southpaw males tended to do worse in school—possibly because of trouble adapting to a right-handed world—but were more successful as adults. Female lefties, however, did worse...

Scientists Wipe Mouse Memories

Treatment selectively erased memories of electric shocks

(Newser) - Scientists have succeeded in blanking selected memories from the brains of mice, Reuters reports. After brain protein levels were manipulated, the mice lost the memory of an electric shock but didn't forget anything else. The researchers said it was doubtful that it would be possible—or desirable—to do the...

Brain Pacemakers May Revolutionize Treatment

(Newser) - The precise application of electricity to certain areas of the brain—the same principles a pacemaker uses for the heart—is showing promise for people with an array of illnesses such as Parkinson's, severe depression, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's, the Chicago Tribune reports. The treatment, called deep brain stimulation, remains in...

Archery's Terrifying Secret
 Archery's Terrifying Secret
Aug 1, 2008 7:09 AM CDT

Archery's Terrifying Secret

Experts can't even say the name of biggest fear: target panic

(Newser) - The greatest fear of elite archers is something called "target panic"—an affliction that keeps some from releasing their bow, and causes others to shoot wildly as soon as the bull's-eye comes into sight. Many archers won't even say the words, although the condition has at some time...

'Pre-Dementia' on the Rise
 'Pre-Dementia' on the Rise
Jul 29, 2008 5:33 AM CDT

'Pre-Dementia' on the Rise

Mild impairment strikes nearly a million elderly a year, especially men

(Newser) - Almost a million Americans each year develop a mild form of memory loss that is often a precursor to Alzheimer's, according to new research. Mild Cognitive Impairment—more serious than normal "senior moments"—was found to be more common in men, the Los Angeles Times reports. Doctors warn...

Hands-Free Phones Still Dangerous Driver Overload

Scientists say any kind of phone use makes for risky driving

(Newser) - California motorists are now banned from using cell phones, but scientists say the move won't make the freeways any safer, reports the Los Angeles Times. Research shows that it is the lack of attention rather than occupied hands that impacts safety, and that drivers chatting on phones with both hands...

Ted Kennedy to Undergo Brain Surgery Today

Procedure begins at 9am; chemo to follow

(Newser) - Ted Kennedy will undergo brain surgery this morning at Duke University Medical Center to treat his malignant tumor, CNN reports. Afterwards, he will begin chemotherapy, but he doesn’t expect it to sideline him for long. “After completing treatment, I look forward to returning to the United States Senate...

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