ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Experts call for a tobacco-free world by 2040 Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:22 PM PDT Leading public health researchers today call for the sale of tobacco to be phased out by 2040, showing that with sufficient political support and stronger evidence-based action against the tobacco industry, a tobacco-free world -- where less than 5 percent of adults use tobacco -- could be possible in less than three decades.

Parents' depression can lead to toddlers in trouble Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT A father's depression during the first years of parenting -- as well as a mother's -- can put their toddlers at risk of developing troubling behaviors such as hitting, lying, anxiety and sadness during a critical time of development, according to a new study.

E-cigarette advertising makes one crave ... tobacco? Posted: 12 Mar 2015 02:38 PM PDT Television advertisements for e-cigarettes may be enticing current and even former tobacco smokers to reach for another cigarette. The researchers studied more than 800 daily, intermittent, and former smokers who watched e-cigarette advertising, and who then took a survey to determine smoking urges, intentions, and behaviors.

Boosting a natural protection against Alzheimer's disease Posted: 12 Mar 2015 12:39 PM PDT A gene variant has been identified by researchers that may be used to predict people most likely to respond to an investigational therapy under development for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study, is based on experiments with cultured neurons derived from adult stem cells.

Magnetic nanoparticles could allow brain stimulation without wires Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:29 AM PDT Researchers have developed a method to stimulate brain tissue using external magnetic fields and injected magnetic nanoparticles -- a technique allowing direct stimulation of neurons, which could be an effective treatment for a variety of neurological diseases, without the need for implants or external connections.Magnetic nanoparticles could allow brain stimulation without wires.

Political liberals display greater happiness, study shows Posted: 12 Mar 2015 11:29 AM PDT What does it mean to be happy? Is it how happy you say you are, or is it how happy you act? Previous research has found that political conservatives report being happier than political liberals. But psychologists have discovered that those on the left exhibit happier speech patterns and facial expressions.

Largest review of clinical trials to assess risk of patients using Varenicline Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:36 AM PDT Findings from the largest review of clinical trials to date to determine whether patients prescribed the smoking cessation drug Varenicline (brand name Champix in the UK) are at an increased risk of neuropsychiatric events are have been published.

Preventing heart cells from turning to bone Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Human cells have been used to discover how blood flow in the heart protects against the hardening of valves in cardiovascular disease. What's more, they've identified a potential way to correct this process when it goes wrong by flipping the switch on just a handful of genes. These findings may have implications for related conditions, like hardening of the arteries, which causes heart attacks and stroke.

Mind reading: Spatial patterns of brain activity decode what people taste Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Scientists have revealed how taste is encoded in patterns of neural activity in the human brain.

Cells target giant protein crystals for degradation Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Researchers engineered a fluorescent protein that rapidly assembles into large crystals inside living cells, and showed that cells actively targeted the crystals for degradation. The unprecedented size and purity of these crystals allowed an analysis of the protein's structure directly within the intact cell. The researchers observed the crystallization process and the cell's responses in real-time, potentially transforming the production and study of protein crystals.

New work schedule could cure your 'social jetlag' Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PDT Many of us are walking around all the time in a fog caused by 'social jetlag.' That's what happens when we lose sleep because our daily schedules don't match our bodies' natural rhythms. The condition can be a particular problem for shift workers, who work into the night or on a shifting schedule. Now, researchers report that sleep and workers' wellbeing could be improved if schedules took workers' biological clocks into account.

Optogenetics without the genetics Posted: 12 Mar 2015 09:25 AM PDT Light can be used to activate normal, non-genetically modified neurons through the use of targeted gold nanoparticles. This new method represents a significant technological advance with potential advantages over current optogenetic methods, including possible use in the development of therapeutics.

Sweet nanoparticles target stroke Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:22 AM PDT Materials resulting from chemical bonding of glucosamine, a type of sugar, with fullerenes, kind of nanoparticles known as buckyballs, might help to reduce cell damage and inflammation occurring after stroke. A team has tested this on mice, opening the door to potential new drugs for the cerebrovascular accident.

Metaphor usage highlights social bonds and increases understanding of others' emotions Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:22 AM PDT Observe whether two people use metaphors in conversation with each other if you want to guess how close they are as friends. Or sharpen your ability to tune into other people’s emotional or mental states by observing the metaphors they use. Why is this? Because metaphors can in fact help one to ‘mind read,’ according to experts.

Actresses must be picky about with whom they work to survive in movie industry Posted: 12 Mar 2015 06:21 AM PDT Actresses need to be pickier than men about with whom they work if they want to survive in the movie industry, suggests a new study.

Teen cannabis users have poor long-term memory in adulthood Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:29 AM PDT Teens who were heavy marijuana users -- smoking it daily for about three years -- had an abnormally shaped hippocampus and performed poorly on long-term memory tasks, reports a new study. The hippocampus is important to long-term memory, which is the ability to remember life events. The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals' early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana.

Non-invasive ultrasound technology treats Alzheimer’s-like symptoms and restores memory in mice Posted: 12 Mar 2015 05:28 AM PDT Scientists have found that non-invasive ultrasound technology can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease and restore memory. Researchers discovered that the innovative drug-free approach breaks apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that result in memory loss and cognitive decline.

Healthy eating, exercise, and brain-training program results in slower mental decline for older people Posted: 11 Mar 2015 06:04 PM PDT A comprehensive program providing older people at risk of dementia with healthy eating guidance, exercise, brain training, and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors appears to slow down cognitive decline, according to the first ever randomized controlled trial of its kind.

Exercise may help keep seniors moving longer despite old age brain decline Posted: 11 Mar 2015 03:57 PM PDT Older people who are physically active may be protecting themselves from the effects of small areas of brain damage that can affect their movement abilities, according to a new study. The results remained the same after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect the relationship, such as body mass index (BMI), depression and vascular disease.

Rat brains point to lead's role in schizophrenia Posted: 11 Mar 2015 01:05 PM PDT A study of the brains of rats exposed to lead has uncovered striking similarities with what is known about the brains of human schizophrenia patients, adding compelling evidence that lead is a factor in the onset of schizophrenia.

Brain development controlled by epigenetic factor Posted: 10 Mar 2015 02:39 PM PDT The importance of a key epigenetic regulator in the development of the hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with learning, memory and neural stem cells, has been made more clear, thanks to a first-of-its-kind study.

More older adults from US doing volunteer work in other countries Posted: 10 Mar 2015 01:02 PM PDT Studies find that 290,000 older adults from the US volunteer abroad each year. New work explores the motivations of older adults and the obstacles to international volunteer work among this population.

Ensuring respect and dignity in the ICU Posted: 10 Mar 2015 01:00 PM PDT Identifying loss of dignity and lack of respectful treatment as preventable harms in health care, researchers have taken on the ambitious task of defining and ensuring respectful care in the high-stakes environment of the intensive care unit (ICU).