Summary: A novel surgical nerve-transfer procedure that reroutes healthy nerves to inactive ones is helping people with quadriplegia regain function in their arms and hands. Source: University of Montreal Plastic surgeons Dominique Tremblay and Élie Boghossian of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (MRH), and researchers at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine, have developed a refined nerve … Read more

Pregnant women in Austria commonly suffer from iodine deficiency, which can negatively affect the developing brain of their unborn child. This conclusion comes from a joint study by the Endocrinology and Metabolism Unit at the University Department of Internal Medicine III, the University Department of Gynaecology at the Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Vienna), and … Read more

University of Miami researchers develop a method to visualize protein interactions in a living organism’s brain. How proteins coordinate inside the brain remains one of neuroscience’s central puzzles. The human brain contains more than a trillion neurons, each packed with millions of proteins that carry out signaling, structural and metabolic roles. Understanding when and where … Read more

Summary: In healthy adults, normal day-to-day mood swings do not appear to alter confidence in decisions. Source: BIAL Foundation This study is the first to test whether everyday fluctuations in mood and related variables—such as stress, sleep quality, or enjoyment of food—are linked to changes in metacognitive states like confidence and response vigor. The findings … Read more

Walt Whitman’s famous line, “I am large, I contain multitudes,” has taken on new biological meaning. New research from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital shows that as we develop, individual brain cells can carry different genomes. The study, published Oct. 2 in Science, documents substantial numbers of somatic mutations—genetic changes that arise after … Read more

Large multicenter study finds early arterial stiffness linked to subtle brain injury in middle-aged adults A major, collaborative study led by the UC Davis School of Medicine has demonstrated for the first time that arterial stiffening appears in people as young as their 40s and is associated with subtle structural brain changes linked to later … Read more

Summary: A retrospective study indicates that people treated with lithium, a medication commonly used for bipolar disorder, had a lower incidence of dementia compared with those who did not receive lithium. Source: University of Cambridge Researchers at the University of Cambridge report an association suggesting lithium use may reduce the risk of developing dementia, a … Read more

Summary: Brain performance can improve in some older adults when they perform a challenging cognitive task while walking. Source: University of Rochester Scientists seeking clues to prolonged cognitive vitality have long searched for so-called “super-agers”—people whose brains maintain or even improve function despite aging. New research from the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the … Read more

Protein deposits linked to dementia alter brain activity during sleep Sleep disturbances are a common symptom in people with Alzheimer’s disease, often appearing before noticeable memory loss. Sleep is also crucial for consolidating memories: during deep non-REM sleep the brain generates slow oscillations, or slow waves, that help transfer newly learned information into long-term storage. … Read more

Summary: A UCL-led study indicates that amyloid beta deposits in the brain’s blood vessels may, in some cases, have been transmitted decades earlier by contaminated neurosurgical instruments. Source: UCL. Amyloid beta protein deposits in brain blood vessels may have been transmitted via contaminated neurosurgical instruments, according to a new UCL-led analysis. Published in Acta Neuropathologica, … Read more