ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Skin test may shed new light on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases Posted: 24 Feb 2015 01:49 PM PST Scientists have discovered a skin test that may shed new light on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The study showed that skin biopsies can be used to detect elevated levels of abnormal proteins found in the two diseases.

Sensor-packed smartphones can read your mood, guard your data, and wreak havoc in the wrong hands Posted: 24 Feb 2015 12:47 PM PST Smartphones have replaced nearly every conceivable gadget, but computer scientists are teaching them some new tricks. The researchers are adapting accelerometers, GPS chips, gyroscopes and other sensors to make phones that can read a user's mood, eliminate passwords, protect financial transactions and more.

Use of neuroscience in law may face political resistance Posted: 24 Feb 2015 11:31 AM PST Republicans and Independents disapprove of neuroscience-informed criminal justice reforms when the reforms are seen as being too lenient with criminal defendants. When framed differently, however, there is stronger support for neurolaw.

Teen girls from rural areas more likely to have undiagnosed asthma, be depressed Posted: 24 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST Teen girls who live in rural areas are more likely than their male counterparts to have undiagnosed asthma, and they often are at a higher risk of depression, according to researchers. "There's a lot of speculation about why females are more likely to be undiagnosed," says the lead researcher. "Maybe it's because boys are more likely to get a sports physical for athletics and they catch it then. Or maybe it's because girls attribute asthma symptoms to something else, like anxiety. That needs further study."

Together, nanotechnology, genetic interference may tackle 'untreatable/ brain tumors Posted: 24 Feb 2015 10:13 AM PST There are no effective available treatments for sufferers of Glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive and devastating form of brain tumor. Now a study may offer hope to the tens of thousands diagnosed with gliomas every year, using a nanomedical treatment first engineered to tackle ovarian cancer tumors.

Unique emotion recognition treatment leads to significant improvement in children with high-functioning autism Posted: 24 Feb 2015 10:11 AM PST A unique emotion recognition treatment has been found highly effective for children with high-functioning autism. Children in the treatment group demonstrated significantly improved emotion-recognition skills and lower parent ratings of autism symptoms.

Unexpected outcomes for elderly couples who stop driving Posted: 24 Feb 2015 09:09 AM PST Even if just one member of a couple stops driving, negative consequences result for both the driver and non-driver, a study concludes. The researcher recommends that the elderly and their adult children carefully discuss and plan for the transition to driving cessation.

Decline in smoking rates may increase lung cancer mortality due to inadequate screening guidelines Posted: 24 Feb 2015 08:29 AM PST A decline in smoking rates may mean that many people who could have benefited from early detection of lung cancer are dying because they don’t qualify for low-dose CT scans, according to a group of researchers.

Findings may help with the management of anticoagulant-related bleeding within the brain Posted: 24 Feb 2015 08:29 AM PST Among patients with oral anticoagulation-associated intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding within the brain), reversal of international normalized ratio below a certain level within 4 hours and systolic blood pressure less than 160 mm Hg at 4 hours were associated with lower rates of hematoma (a localized swelling filled with blood) enlargement, and resumption of anticoagulant therapy was associated with a lower risk of ischemic events without increased bleeding complications, according to a study.

Taking NSAIDs with anti-clotting medications, risk of bleeding, cv events Posted: 24 Feb 2015 08:29 AM PST Among patients receiving antithrombotic therapy (to prevent the formation of blood clots) after a heart attack, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was associated with an increased risk of bleeding and events such as heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death, even after short-term treatment, according to a study.

Cross-cultural communication: Much more than just a linguistic stretch Posted: 24 Feb 2015 07:28 AM PST Mandarin-speakers' rely more on tone of voice rather than on facial cues to understand emotion compared to English-language speakers. This may be due to the limited eye contact and more restrained facial expressions common in East Asian cultures.

24 hour news amnesia: How swiftly the public forgets murderers and their victims Posted: 24 Feb 2015 06:17 AM PST Almost eight out of ten people cannot recall the names of the UK’s most notorious serial killers, paedophiles or their victims, despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of these cases over the past decade.

Cyberbystanders: Most don't try to stop online bullies Posted: 24 Feb 2015 06:17 AM PST In a new study, 221 college students participated in an online chat room in which they watched a fellow student get “bullied” right before their eyes. Only 10 percent of the students who noticed the abuse directly intervened, either by confronting the bully online or helping the victim.

Keep calm, anger can trigger a heart attack! Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:38 AM PST The risk of a heart attack is 8.5 times higher in the two hours following a burst of intense anger, researchers have found after investigating the link between acute emotional triggers and high risk of severe cardiac episodes. High levels of anxiety were associated with a 9.5 fold increased risk of triggering a heart attack in the two hours after an anxiety episode.

'Massive' tobacco industry third party lobbying for revised European Directive Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:38 AM PST The tobacco industry deployed 'massive' third party lobbying to subvert revised European regulations on tobacco products, helped by regulatory reforms that seem to have made it easier for corporate interests to influence public health legislation, reveals research.

The numbers are in: As many as two in three smokers will die from their habit, Australian study concludes Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST A large-scale population study of 200,000 people puts tobacco death toll as high as two in every three smokers, scientists report. The research is the first evidence from a broad cross-section of the population to show the smoking-related death toll is as high as two thirds.

First portable system for monitoring patients with Parkinson's disease tested on 50 people from different countries Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:31 AM PST The evolution of Parkinson's is monitored in real time through a new portable system, with results sent to the doctor to improve the prescription of medication, developers report.

Facebook in mourning: mediatization of death and RIP pages as virtual shrines Posted: 24 Feb 2015 05:29 AM PST In the wake of high a profile death, it is increasingly common to see mass public outpourings of grief on RIP Facebook pages. This article explores media coverage of death and its relation to public expression of grief via social media.

Neuroscientists literally change the way we think: Advantages of a wandering mind Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:45 PM PST Does your mind wander when performing monotonous, repetitive tasks? Of course! But daydreaming involves more than just beating back boredom. In fact, according to a new study, a wandering mind can impart a distinct cognitive advantage.

Sobering effect of the love hormone Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:44 PM PST Giving drunken rats oxytocin counteracts its intoxicating effects, researchers have found. "In the rat equivalent of a sobriety test, the rats given alcohol and oxytocin passed with flying colours, while those given alcohol without oxytocin were seriously impaired," a researcher said. This 'sobering-up' effect of oxytocin has yet to be shown in humans but the researchers plan to conduct these studies in the near future.

Resistance to aspirin tied to more severe strokes Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:41 PM PST People who exhibit a resistance to aspirin may be more likely to have more severe strokes than people who still respond to the drug, according to a new study.

Master gene regulatory pathway revealed as key target for therapy of aggressive pediatric brain cancer Posted: 23 Feb 2015 01:41 PM PST Working with cells taken from children with a very rare but ferocious form of brain cancer, scientists have identified a genetic pathway that acts as a master regulator of thousands of other genes and may spur cancer cell growth and resistance to anticancer treatment.

Stuttering: New insight on treatment, physiological basis Posted: 23 Feb 2015 12:48 PM PST New insight into the treatment of stuttering as well as understanding its physiological basis has been provided by two recent studies, providing information on both the treatment of stuttering as well as understanding its physiological basis.

Teaching students about National Socialism and the Holocaust does not foster tolerance and open-mindedness Posted: 20 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST There appears to be a discrepancy between the desired and actual learning outcomes of National Socialism and Holocaust education at German schools. A new study has shown the need to rethink the teaching methods that might foster a positive, yet self-critical national identity among adolescents.