ScienceDaily: Nyt om Mind & Brain

A pilot study shows driving while talking on a hands-free cellular device leads to more driving errors than driving alone.

Students did equally well on a test whether reading from a digital book or a printed one, new research shows.

Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL.

Scientists have developed a novel experimental model that reproduces for the first time this pattern of alpha-synuclein brain spreading and provides important clues on the mechanisms underlying this pathological process. They triggered the production of human alpha-synuclein in the lower rat brain and were able to trace the spreading of this protein toward higher brain regions. The new experimental paradigm could promote the development of ways to halt or slow down disease development in humans.

New research presented today shows that formation of new neurons in the hippocampus -- a brain region known for its importance in learning and remembering -- could cause forgetting of old memories by causing a reorganization of existing brain circuits. Researchers argue this reorganization could have the positive effect of clearing old memories, reducing interference and thereby increasing capacity for new learning.

How can healthy people who hear voices help schizophrenics? Finding the answer for this is at the center of research conducted by a group of scientists in Norway.

In the search for medication against Alzheimer's disease, scientists have focused on -- among other factors -- drugs that can break down Amyloid beta (A-beta). After all, it is the accumulation of A-beta that causes the known plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The starting point for the formation of A-beta is APP.

Biological processes are generally based on events at the molecular and cellular level. To understand what happens in the course of infections, diseases or normal bodily functions, scientists would need to examine individual cells and their activity directly in the tissue. The development of new microscopes and fluorescent dyes in recent years has brought this scientific dream tantalizingly close. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now presented two studies introducing new indicator molecules which can visualize the activation of T cells. Their findings provide new insight into the role of these cells in the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The new indicators are set to be an important tool in the study of other immune reactions as well.

Approximately a year ago, the journal Science published an article about bexarotene as a potential Alzheimer's drug -- a significant breakthrough and an important starting point for further Alzheimer's research. Now other researchers have tested this candidate drug in various Alzheimer's animal test models. Their results were different, as were those of two American study groups. Therefore, they have recommended that bexarotene should not be tested on patients.

A new report indicates that more than one in five parents of teens aged 12 to 17 (22.3 percent) think what they say has little influence on whether or not their child uses illicit substances, tobacco, or alcohol. This report by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also shows one in ten parents said they did not talk to their teens about the dangers of using tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs -- even though 67.6 percent of these parents who had not spoken to their children thought they would influence whether their child uses drugs if they spoke to them.

People eating at fast food restaurants largely underestimate the calorie content of meals, especially large ones, according to a new article.

Two out of five medical students have an unconscious bias against obese people, according to a new study.

Don't doubt it when a woman harried by hot flashes says she's having a hard time remembering things. A new study published online in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society, helps confirm with objective tests that what these women say about their memory is true.

Aortic arch pulse wave velocity, a measure of arterial stiffness, is a strong independent predictor of disease of the vessels that supply blood to the brain, according to a new study.

Cinnamon: Can the red-brown spice with the unmistakable fragrance and variety of uses offer an important benefit? The common baking spice might hold the key to delaying the onset of -- or warding off -- the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

An anti-cancer drug reverses memory deficits in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model, new research shows. The article reviewed previously published findings on the drug bexarotene, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in cutaneous T cell lymphoma.

Scientists report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.

Nearly two-thirds of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma -- a common tumor that forms in the nerve cells of children -- cannot be cured using tumor-killing cancer drugs. A new study reveals a new genomic approach to screen for compounds that inhibit tumor growth by causing cancer cells to differentiate. Using this screening method, the researchers identified a compound that causes neuroblastoma cells to differentiate, uncovering promising new treatment strategies.

A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain’s unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose brains are better at suppressing background motion perform better on standard measures of intelligence.

Teams of highly respected Alzheimer’s researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.