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New Study Suggests Link Between Estrogen, Blood Pressure

By Guest PostMay 28, 2011Healthanti oxidant resveratrol, blood pressure, brain, carrie northcutt, chronic exposure, effects of menopause, estrogen only hrt, hannah garver, heart failure, high blood pressure, hormone, huawei zhao, hypertension, joseph haywood, long term exposure to estrogen, madhan subramanian, michigan state university, mohankumar, p s mohankumar, priya balasubramanian, rostral ventrolateral medulla, stress in the body, superoxide, women

EAST LANSING, Mich. — While recent studies have shown long-term exposure to estrogen can be a danger to women – overturning physicians’ long-held beliefs that the hormone was good for their patients’ hearts – the process by which estrogen induces high blood pressure was unclear.

In a new study, Michigan State University researchers found long-term estrogen exposure generates excessive levels of the compound superoxide, which causes stress in the body. The buildup of this compound occurs in an area of the brain that is crucial to regulating blood pressure, suggesting that the estrogen-induced buildup causes increased blood pressure. (more…)

From the Beginning, the Mind Knows the Difference Between Night and Day

By Guest PostApril 28, 2011Scienceaugust kampf-lassin, basic human behaviors, biological rhythms, brain, brian prendergast, circadian rhythms, circadian system, hamster circadian visual system, primates, sunrise, sunset, university of chicago, visual stimuli

The brain is apparently programmed from birth to develop the ability to determine sunrise and sunset, new research on circadian rhythms at the University of Chicago shows.

The research sheds new light on brain plasticity and may explain some basic human behaviors, according to Brian Prendergast, associate professor in psychology, and co-author of a paper published April 27 in the journal PLoS One. The lead author is August Kampf-Lassin, an advanced graduate student at the University. (more…)

Study of How Brain Corrects Perceptual Errors Has Implications For Brain Injuries, Robotics

By Guest PostMarch 24, 2011Sciencebiological and artificial systems, brain, david bowie, david wozny, flash of light, ladan shams, mars rovers, milliseconds, NASA, perception of the sound, perceptual systems, radio static, rehabilitation from brain injuries, robotic recalibration, sensory recalibration, shams, shams and wozny, spatial map, static environments, ventriloquist illusion

“Don’t you wonder sometimes about sound and vision?” — David Bowie

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration — the brain’s automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems — can occur instantly.

“Until recently, neuroscientists thought of sensory recalibration as a mechanism that is primarily used for coping with long-term changes, such as growth during development, brain injury or stroke,” said Ladan Shams, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and an expert on perception and cognitive neuroscience. “It appeared that extensive time, and thus many repetitions of error, were needed for mechanisms of recalibration to kick in. However, our findings indicate we don’t need weeks, days, or even minutes or seconds to adapt. To some degree, we adapt instantaneously. (more…)

Does Social Anxiety Disorder Respond to Psychotherapy? Brain Study Says Yes

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2011Culture, Healthbrain, brain electrical interactions, capital punishment, delta beta coupling, diane santesso, disorder, eegs, electroencephalograms, emotion, hamilton, louis schmidt, martin antony, medication, nervous system, neurological effects, ontario, ontario mental health foundation, physiologic change, psychotherapy, randi mccabe, real-time, rene sommer, same-sex marriage, social anxiety, vladimir miskovic

When psychotherapy is helping someone get better, what does that change look like in the brain? This was the question a team of Canadian psychological scientists set out to investigate in patients suffering from social anxiety disorder. Their findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science.

Social anxiety is a common disorder, marked by overwhelming fears of interacting with others and expectations of being harshly judged. Medication and psychotherapy both help people with the disorder. But research on the neurological effects of psychotherapy has lagged far behind that on medication-induced changes in the brain. (more…)

‘Brain Can Learn to Overcome Sleep Apnea’

By Guest PostFebruary 3, 2011Healthairways, brain, brain chemical, breathe, depth of breathing, enhance breathing, john peever, noradrenaline, normal lung activity, north americans, obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory muscles, sleep apnea

*From sound science to sound sleep*

New research from U of T could provide some restful nights for the 18 million North Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.

In a recent study that appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, U of T scientists demonstrated that repeated obstruction of the airways requires release of the brain chemical noradrenaline. The release of this chemical helps the brain learn to breathe more effectively and purposefully. (more…)

Research Indicates Green Tea Protects Against Alzheimer’s and Cancer

By PravdaJanuary 10, 2011Health, Sciencealzheimer, ancient chinese remedy, beta amyloid, brain, Britain, cancer, dementia, development of alzheimer, diseases, ed okello, green tea, hydrogen peroxide, intestinal enzymes, models, newcastle university, polyphenols, protein, tea, tumor cells

A study by Newcastle University in Britain, indicates that green tea may protect the brain from diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. The research, published in the journal Phytomedicine, also suggests that the ancient Chinese remedy that has been popularized throughout the world may also have an important role in protecting the body against cancer.

In the study, scientists investigated whether the beneficial properties of green tea, which had already been proven in newly prepared and undigested tea, were still active once the tea was digested. (more…)

UCLA Researchers Identify Molecular Program for Brain Repair Following Stroke

By Guest PostNovember 13, 20101 commentHealth, Scienceadult brain, atrx, axons, brain, brain stroke, carmichael, cells, DNA, drug, gene, giovanni coppola, healing process, molecular cascade, mouse, neurons, peri infarct tissue, s thomas carmichael, stroke

Mouse Stroke. An MRI of a mouse brain after stroke. The mouse section has been stained to show cell bodies. Image credit: University of California

A stroke wreaks havoc in the brain, destroying its cells and the connections between them. Depending on its severity and location, a stroke can impact someone’s life forever, affecting motor activity, speech, memories, and more.

The brain makes an attempt to rally by itself, sprouting a few new connections, called axons, that reconnect some areas of the brain. But the process is weak, and the older the brain, the poorer the repair. Still, understanding the cascade of molecular events that drive even this weak attempt could lead to developing drugs to boost and accelerate this healing process.

Now researchers at UCLA have achieved a promising first step. Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience, senior author Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, a UCLA associate professor of neurology, and colleagues have, for the first time, identified in the mouse the molecular cascade that drives the process of reconnection or sprouting in the adult brain after stroke. (more…)

‘Study Reveals Why Brain Has Limited Capacity for Repair After Stroke’

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2010Health, Scienceadult disability, brain, brain cells, brain repair, chemical system, neurological recovery, phasic inhibition, recovery, stroke, stroke damage, tom carmichael, tonic inhibition

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain’s limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.

Now, a new UCLA study published Nov. 3 in the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain’s ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as “tonic inhibition” immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability. (more…)

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