A new study using brain scans has determined that differences in the thickening of the cortex and not brain size have more to do with intelligence. The BBC says the study followed the brain of over 300 children.
The US National Institute of Mental Health used scans to study development of the cortex, which is responsible for thinking, in 307 children.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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The AFP reports that a new study by scientists from Swinburne University of Technology’s Brain Sciences Institute in Melbourne have found cellphones can affect brain function. They study of patients making a 30-minute phone call found a lower reaction time but increased memory.
The researchers conducted a series of psychological tests on 120 volunteers as they were exposed to mobile phone emissions for half an hour. Another set of tests was conducted on volunteers who were not exposed to mobile phone radiation but thought they were.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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The BBC reports that new studies have shown that healthy brain cells are very vulnerable to chemo drugs.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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KPHO Phoenix has a developing story about a local boy who was killed by a deadly amoeba he is believed to have picked up while swimming in Lake Havasu.
A 14-year-old Lake Havasu boy has become the sixth victim to die nationwide this year of a microscopic organism that attacks the body through the nasal cavity, quickly eating its way to the brain.
Aaron Evans died Sept. 17 of Naegleria fowleri, an organism doctors said he probably picked up a week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu.
According to the Centers For Disease Control, Naegleria infected 23 people from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials said they’ve noticed a spike in cases, with six Naegleria-related cases so far — all of them fatal.
Such attacks are extremely rare, though some health officials have put their communities on high alert, telling people to stay away from warm, standing water.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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Technology Review reports that an Isreali company called NovoCure is testing a new cancer fighting weapon that uses a weak electric fields to destroy cancer cells. The article says the process has destroyed every type of cancer cell in animal tests. Studies are being done on breast cancer in Europe and on glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer in the U.S. and Europe. The technology works because cancer cells divide more quickly and have a different shape than normal cells. This feature of cancer cells allows them to be destroyed by the electric field while normal cells survive unscathed.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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Scientists have discovered that astrocytes act independently of neurons to connect with blood vessels and control the flow of nutrients and oxygen in the brain. A LiveScience.com article discusses the new findings that were reported in Nature Neuroscience.
Astrocytes produce fat-like lipid neurons used to create their outer membranes and they also produce glutamate, the most abundant neurotransmitter in the nervous system and one of the most important chemical messengers in the brain.
Recent experiments, however, revealed that astrocytes form connections with blood vessels and control the flow of nutrients, including oxygen, to neurons. When brain activity increases, neurons trigger astrocytes to release calcium, which in turn affects other chemical messengers that can cause blood vessels to either dilate or contract.
Astrocytes may be one of the keys to the brain repairing after brain damage and to finding cures for alzheimer’s and dimensia.
Posted on 5th April 2008
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