Latest Neurophysiology Stories

Team apply new procedure to rapidly induce nerve regeneration in mammals American scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. Their results are published today in the Journal of Neuroscience Research. "We have developed a procedure which can repair severed nerves within minutes so...

Researchers reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older New findings, led by neuroscientists at the University of Bristol and published this week in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, reveal a novel mechanism through which the brain may become more reluctant to function as we grow older. It is not fully understood why the brain's cognitive functions such as memory and speech decline as we age. Although work published this year...

Scientists have now discovered how different brain regions cooperate during short-term memory Holding information within one’s memory for a short while is a seemingly simple and everyday task. We use our short-term memory when remembering a new telephone number if there is nothing to write at hand, or to find the beautiful dress inside the store that we were just admiring in the shopping window. Yet, despite the apparent simplicity of these actions, short-term memory is a complex...

A recent study by sleep researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is the first to suggest that a person's emotional response after witnessing an unsettling picture or traumatic event is greatly reduced if the person stays awake afterward, and that sleep strongly "protects" the negative emotional response. Further, if the unsettling picture is viewed again or a flashback memory occurs, it will be just as upsetting as the first time for those who have slept after viewing compared...

In a new study on fruit flies, the nanoparticles do not harm cells or interfere with the brain's normal function In the images of fruit flies, clusters of neurons are all lit up, forming a brightly glowing network of highways within the brain. It's exactly what University at Buffalo researcher Shermali Gunawardena was hoping to see: It meant that ORMOSIL, a novel class of nanoparticles, had successfully penetrated the insects' brains. And even after long-term exposure, the cells and the...

BOSTON, Jan. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The first lawsuit against a trucking company acknowledging that sleep apnea played a role in a highway death reached a settlement last week. A Texas family was awarded over $3 million dollars after a driver rear-ended John Lindsay's vehicle on a Texas interstate in May of 2010. Evidence showed that the driver had refused to treat his previously diagnosed sleep apnea and the company did not ensure follow up care was provided. (Logo:...

Quite early in its development, the mammalian brain has all the raw materials on hand to forge complex neural networks. But forming the connections that make these intricate networks so exquisitely functional is a process that occurs one synapse at a time. An important question for neuroscience has been: how exactly do stable synapses form? How do nerve cells of particular types know which of their cortical neighbors to "synapse" with, and which to leave out of their emerging networks?...

Lighter sleep and breathing problems lead to trouble controlling blood sugar, despite adherence to diabetic health guidelines A new study suggests that young diabetics may be struggling to get a good night's sleep, resulting in worse control of their blood sugar, poorer school performance and misbehavior. "Despite adhering to recommendations for good diabetic health, many youth with Type 1 diabetes have difficulty maintaining control of their blood sugars," said Michelle Perfect, PhD,...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – The current treatment for strokes is attention and concentration training using computer and pencil-and-paper tasks. According to this study, transcranial magnetic stimulation, where a large electromagnetic coil is placed against the scalp, appears to be much more effective by creating currents that stimulate nerve cells. "The treatment is based on the theory that hemispatial neglect, a condition where one said of the body can’t function properly, results when a...

New research suggests that using magnetic stimulation of the nerve cells in the brain of a stroke patent may help them recover faster. Hemispatial neglect is a condition in which a stroke patient is unable to see or recognize anything on the left side of their body. The condition is common after a stroke occurs on the right side of the brain.  Currently, doctors treat the condition through attention and concentration training using computer and pencil-and-paper tasks. A new study...