A recent study of individuals with drug and treatment-resistant depression that received Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in the subcallosal cingulate region of the brain (SCG or Cg25) indicates that deep brain stimulation is relatively safe and results in improvement in patients about one month after treatment. The improvement in the depression continued during the one [...]
West Nile Virus is mainly a mosquito borne virus that mainly infects birds but also affects other animals including humans and other mammals. West Nile virus appeared in the US in 1999 with viral encephalitis reported in humans and horses. In 2007, the number of human West Nile cases reported was 3,623 and [...]
Recently published research shows that a cure for Parkinson’s disease could could be developed with a patient’s own stem cells.
The Griffith University researchers published a paper in Stem Cells journal showing that adult stem cells taken from the noses of human Parkinson’s patients gave rise to dopamine-producing brain cells when transplanted into the brain of [...]
Here is an interesting story showing that the development of autism has a strong genetic component. A number of parents who used the same sperm donor had children who developed autism. The sperm donor was an individual with high intelligence and other desirable characteristics according to the sperm bank information.
The first child described is [...]
Standard antidepressant medications work well for many patients with depression but not for everyone . Other options exist but are used much less often. Treatments like electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT )are reserved for only a few patients. Other treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation ( TMS ) appear to hold promise but are still in [...]
Scientists from the University of Washington have located gene abnormalities that could explain how schizophrenia develops in some patients. Researchers identified gene deletions and extra (duplicated) segments of DNA which are more frequent in people with the schizophrenia. It was discovered that abnormalities occur in genes related to the [...]
It sounds like a badly written Sci-Fi script but a company called Cyberdyne (Japan’s CYBERDYNE, Inc.) is developing a suit that will augment human strength and give you the ability to do things that would not ordinarily be possible for you. The mechanical suit will also hold the possibility of making handicapped people move around [...]
Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin coating around nerves. Multiple sclerosis symptoms are extremely variable and range from mild to debilitating. In the relapsing remitting form, new symptoms occur in discrete attacks. Multiple Sclerosis is poorly understood and difficult to treat. Multiple sclerosis research from University of [...]
Due to the intoxicating effects marijuana possesses, it has been made illegal in most countries. But this very quality is due to the fact that it marijuana mimics the effects of chemicals that the brain already uses for many important functions. Brain mechanisms use cannabis like compounds called endocannabinoids to [...]
coffee—————–
The most recent scientific studies indicate that caffeine, the most commonly ingested psychoactive drug in the world, is protective against a number of acute and chronic neurological disorders including stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.
High levels of serum cholesterol and associated damage to the blood brain barrier (BBB) has been suggested as important mechanisms in the [...]
