It has been known for years that babies in utero (womb) suffer ill effects from their mothers’ exposure to tobacco, drugs and alcohol. A new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and performed by Michael Rivkin of Children’s Hospital Boston showed that children exposed to these... Read more →

Researchers at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) and Washington University School of Medicine have recently shifted their focus of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research from understanding the role that plaques and other neurological changes play in the progression... Read more →

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a poorly understood disease that affects patients at an early age and, usually, lasts a lifetime. Factors that predispose to the development of MS include genetics, geographic location, sex and birth month, suggesting an interesting nature-nurture interaction in this disease... Read more →

Approximately every 15 seconds, someone in America suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI). There are about 1,500,000 new brain injuries each year. Most of these are mild concussions — which can have lasting cognitive effects — but many are much more severe. Approximately 50,000 Americans... Read more →

Most long distance runners have experienced the “runner’s high” — a feeling of enhanced mood and relaxation following a strenuous run. Its presence is unmistakable, but also hard to explain, and even harder to scientifically prove. Recently, researchers used high-tech brain imaging... Read more →

Despite the fact that functional MRI was discovered in the early 90’s, scientific research related to its clinical applications is still at an early stage. The first paper on the use of functional MRI (fMRI) in Alzheimer’s disease came out as late as 1999. Today, fMRI is being intensively... Read more →

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are two diagnosis that remain difficult discern, both to patients and physicians. Both produce nonspecific symptoms of fatigue and pain, with no clear underlying cause. They are a diagnosis of exclusion, given when all other possibilities have been ruled out. Many... Read more →