Henry VIII may have suffered repeated traumatic brain injuries similar to those experienced by football players and others who receive repeated blows to the head, according to research by a Yale University expert in cognitive neurology. (more…)
UCLA psychologists have used brain-imaging techniques to study what happens to the human brain when it slips into unconsciousness. Their research, published Oct. 17 in the online journal PLOS Computational Biology, is an initial step toward developing a scientific definition of consciousness.
“In terms of brain function, the difference between being conscious and unconscious is a bit like the difference between driving from Los Angeles to New York in a straight line versus having to cover the same route hopping on and off several buses that force you to take a ‘zig-zag’ route and stop in several places,” said lead study author Martin Monti, an assistant professor of psychology and neurosurgery at UCLA. (more…)
Technique may lead to earlier diagnosis, tracking of brain disorders in athletes
Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year.
Despite the devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury and the large number of athletes playing contact sports who are at risk, no method has been developed for early detection or tracking of the brain pathology associated with these injuries. (more…)
A new study in the journal Neuron suggests that the brain uses a different region than neuroscientists had thought to associate objects and locations in the space around an individual. Knowing where this fundamental process occurs could help treat disease and brain injury as well as inform basic understanding of how the brain supports memory and guides behavior.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Where are you?
Conventional wisdom in brain research says that you just used your hippocampus to answer that question, but that might not be the whole story. The context of place depends on not just how you got there, but also the things you see around you. A new study in Neuron provides evidence that a different part of the brain is important for understanding where you are based on the spatial layout of the objects in that place. The finding, in rats, has a direct analogy to primate neuroanatomy. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Concussions and even lesser head impacts may speed up the brain’s natural aging process by causing signaling pathways in the brain to break down more quickly than they would in someone who has never suffered a brain injury or concussion.
Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology and the U-M Health System looked at college students with and without a history of concussion and found changes in gait, balance and in the brain’s electrical activity, specifically attention and impulse control, said Steven Broglio, assistant professor of kinesiology and director of the Neurotrauma Research Laboratory. (more…)
Study shows religious participation and spirituality processed in different cerebral regions
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Scientists have speculated that the human brain features a “God spot,” one distinct area of the brain responsible for spirituality. Now, University of Missouri researchers have completed research that indicates spirituality is a complex phenomenon, and multiple areas of the brain are responsible for the many aspects of spiritual experiences. (more…)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.7 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries each year. Stephanie Reid-Arndt, chair and assistant professor of health psychology in the University of Missouri School of Health Professions, has launched The Brain Injury Guide and Resources at https:// braininjuryeducation.com/ to provide a resource for people to understand traumatic brain injuries.
“Brain injuries aren’t visible like other injuries, and often, people with brain injuries can be misunderstood,” Reid-Arndt said. “Direct results of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) include cognitive difficulties, changes in behavior or difficulty managing anger that are direct results of the brain injuries. Unfortunately, these symptoms are often misconstrued as willfully uncooperative behavior.” (more…)
IBM Corporate Headquarters, Armonk NY. Image credit: IBM
LAS VEGAS, – 26 Oct 2010:
IBM today announced a new project in which researchers at Columbia University Medical Center will utilize IBM’s streaming analytics technology to potentially detect severe complications in brain injured patients up to 48 hours earlier than traditional methods.
For patients that have suffered a bleeding stroke from a ruptured brain aneurysm, recovery can involve serious complications. One of the most severe and frequent complications is delayed ischemia, a life threatening condition in which the brain does not get enough blood to function properly. Currently, detectable symptoms only appear once blood flood has been significantly reduced, forcing medical professionals to be reactive instead of preventative in their treatment. In 20 percent of patients with this complication, there are no observable symptoms at all and it is only after it is too late that their doctor realizes that the patient needed treatment. (more…)
