Study suggests human sense of smell is stronger than we think
From the Rutgers University press release: When it comes to our sense of smell, we have been led to believe that animals win out over humans: No way can we compete with dogs and rodents,…
Study expands understanding of how the brain encodes fear memory
From the UC Riverside press release: Research published by scientists at the University of California, Riverside on “fear memory” could lead to the development of therapies that reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).…
New hope for patients with primary progressive aphasia
From the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care press release: A Baycrest Health Sciences researcher and clinician has developed the first group language intervention that helps individuals losing the ability to speak due to a rare form…
How shifts in excitation-inhibition balance may lead to psychiatric disorders
From the Elsevier press release: In a special issue of Biological Psychiatry titled “Cortical Excitation-Inhibition Balance and Dysfunction in Psychiatric Disorders,” guest editors Dr. Alan Anticevic and Dr. John Murray, both of Yale University, bring…
Neuronal targets to restore movement in Parkinson’s disease model
From the Carnegie Mellon University press release: Researchers working in the lab of Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Aryn Gittis, have identified two groups of neurons that can be turned on and off to alleviate the…
Study suggests Alzheimer’s disease likely not caused by low body mass index
From the Endocrine Society press release: A new large-scale genetic study found that low body mass index (BMI) is likely not a causal risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, as earlier research had suggested, according to…
Men and women show equal ability at recognizing faces
From the Penn State press release: Despite conventional wisdom that suggests women are better than men at facial recognition, Penn State psychologists found no difference between men and women in their ability to recognize faces…
Review highlights why animals have evolved to favor one side of the brain
From the Cell Press press release: Most left-handers can rattle off a list of their eminent comrades-in-arms: Oprah Winfrey, Albert Einstein, and Barack Obama, just to name three, but they may want to add on…
To improve chronic pain, get more sleep (coffee helps too)
From the Boston Children’s Hospital press release: New research from Boston Children’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shows that chronic sleep loss increases pain sensitivity. It suggests that chronic pain sufferers can…
Shortage of progranulin is a frequent cause of frontotemporal dementia
From the VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) press release: In a recent study in Human Molecular Genetics, researchers from VIB and KU Leuven led by prof. Philip Van Damme, reveal a novel function for progranulin…