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 of... 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 →

Women take a lot of criticism for premenstrual syndrome, being accused by male friends and partners of irritability and moodiness. Now, women may have a good explanation for their behavior. During the 2 weeks before their period, women experience a gradual surge of progesterone secretion. Progesterone... Read more →

Law enforcers now have all the proof they need for tougher anti-cell phone measures for drivers, as the latest published neurological study shows that there is a 37% reduction in parietal cortex activity with driving. Arguments that there are many among us who can multi-task well have taken a back seat... Read more →

A three-year multicenter study called Learning, Arts, and the Brain is finally close to solving the problem of whether art makes us smarter or whether smarter people are drawn to arts. The question is not purely rhetorical, as in recent years educationists have debated about the relevance of arts in... Read more →

Functional MRI (fMRI) is one of the most widely used experimental tools in neuroscience today, which allows us to study blood flow patterns to different parts of the brain during a given task. For example during solving mathematical problems, a typical fMRI pattern is seen. Recently however, psychological... Read more →

The brains of chronic pain patients fail to maintain the state of “activity equilibrium” seen in healthy patients. New research has demonstrated that a key emotional control center in the frontal lobe remains active constantly in chronic pain, while in pain-free patients it shuts down in... Read more →