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Binge Eating Curbed by Deep Brain Stimulation in Animal Model
Researchers link facial structure to kidney disease
ALS trial shows novel therapy is safe
Technology that improves your brain
Shoulder Injuries in Baseball Pitchers Could be Prevented with 3-D Motion Detection System
Mammograms reveal response to common cancer drug
New light shed on early stage Alzheimer's disease
New Study about Facebook and Romantic Relationships

Binge Eating Curbed by Deep Brain Stimulation in Animal Model

Posted: 24 Apr 2013 06:13 AM PDT

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in a precise region of the brain appears to reduce caloric intake and prompt weight loss in obese animal models, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The study, reported in the Journal of Neuroscience, reinforces the involvement of dopamine deficits in increasing obesity-related behaviors such as binge eating, and demonstrates that DBS can reverse this response via activation of the dopamine type-2 receptor.

Researchers link facial structure to kidney disease

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 02:48 PM PDT

Researchers at King’s College London’s Dental Institute have shown that people with a certain kind of kidney disease have characteristic facial features that may reflect the genetic mutation they carry.

A team led by Professor Sharpe—an expert in craniofacial development and stem cell biology at the Institute—has published a paper detailing this phenomenon in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

ALS trial shows novel therapy is safe

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 02:38 PM PDT

An investigational treatment for an inherited form of Lou Gehrig’s disease has passed an early phase clinical trial for safety, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Massachusetts General Hospital report.

The researchers have shown that the therapy produced no serious side effects in patients with the disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The phase 1 trial’s results, available online in Lancet Neurology, also demonstrate that the drug was successfully introduced into the central nervous system.

Technology that improves your brain

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 09:25 AM PDT

Improving brain function is one of the topics explored in the latest issue of Technology and Innovation – Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®. The special issue, which also contains studies on medical technology and health care delivery, contains two articles on brain health: one on preventing and curing mental illness and one on improving the brain through training.

The BRAINnet Foundation uses technology to prevent and cure mental illnesses

Shoulder Injuries in Baseball Pitchers Could be Prevented with 3-D Motion Detection System

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 09:14 AM PDT

A new 3-D motion detection system could help identify baseball pitchers who are at risk for shoulder injuries, according to a new study.

The system can be used on the field and requires only a laptop computer. Other systems that evaluate pitchers’ throwing motions require cameras and other equipment and generally are confined to indoor use.

Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine surgeon Pietro Tonino, MD, is a co-author of the study, published in the journal Musculoskeletal Surgery.

Mammograms reveal response to common cancer drug

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 09:08 AM PDT

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a method for assessing the effect of tamoxifen, a common drug to prevent the relapse of breast cancer. The key lies in monitoring changes in the proportion of dense tissue, which appears white on a mammogram, during treatment. Women who show a pronounced reduction in breast density during tamoxifen treatment have a fifty per cent reduction in breast cancer mortality. This tool provides doctors with the possibility to assess whether a patient is responding to tamoxifen at an early phase of treatment.

New light shed on early stage Alzheimer's disease

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 08:57 AM PDT

The disrupted metabolism of sugar, fat and calcium is part of the process that causes the death of neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from Karolinska Institutet have now shown, for the first time, how important parts of the nerve cell that are involved in the cell's energy metabolism operate in the early stages of the disease. These somewhat surprising results shed new light on how neuronal metabolism relates to the development of the disease.

New Study about Facebook and Romantic Relationships

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 08:51 AM PDT

A Western Illinois University faculty member who published a widely covered study about Facebook and narcissism last year has authored another study about Facebook and romantic relationships.