Tag: the brain

A single protein could be the key to treating hydrocephalus

A new study in mice identified a mechanism responsible for brain fluid production

When feeling sick feels great: New study reveals a close link between reward and unease

A recent study shows how mice can be made to prefer sickness, nausea, and stress over feeling well, just be removing one specific receptor from the brain. This could open the door to new treatments against various types of malaise associated with disease.

Can electric pulses to the brain boost your creativity?

Two entrepreneurs want to boost your creativity by sending a current through your brain, but most brain scientists are sceptical. ScienceNordic gave the method a try.

Do some people drink too much because of changes in the brain?

Scientists believe they have found a reason why some people find it impossible to resist the craving for alcohol. “This finding may be a solid piece in a huge puzzle,” says a Norwegian researcher.

The brain assigns symbolism to inanimate objects

Areas of the brain associated with social skills and language are activated when we relate to symbolic objects, like the national flag, shows new research.

Antipsychotics can make you fat

Psychosis medications can also lead to an increased appetite, shows new research. It could explain why some people react so dramatically to treatment.

How we recall the details of a good book

We retain the main aspects of the plot in a coherent story. But an erratic tale shifts our attention to the nuances, shows new research.

Are ADHD drugs prescribed needlessly to disadvantaged children?

ADHD medications are prescribed more than three times as much to children of parents with low-skilled jobs, compared with the children of more educated parents, new research shows.

Sleep more, remember better

Sleep deprivation links to poorer memory in stressed situations.

Parkinson's disease may start in the Stomach

New study shows Parkinson's disease begins in the gut and creeps up the vagus nerve to the brain, offering hope for new treatments

Hard squeeze of the arm may help stroke victims

New study suggests that patients with acute ischemic stroke might benefit from the hard squeeze of the arm from a blood pressure cuff. Why this helps is anyone’s guess.

A ‘feeling’ prosthesis was only the starting shot

Earlier this year, a Danish amputee became the first ever person to feel through his prosthetic limb. The main findings of the project are underway, and the project has just been granted an additional €6 million for further research.

Light therapy to help brain-damaged patients

A new research project aims to study what therapeutic effects a special type of light that changes colour during the day has on patients with severe brain damage.

Blood poisoning doubles risk of heart attack and stroke

Patients with blood poisoning from pneumonia and urinary tract infection have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke than other hospitalised patients.

Intensive schizophrenia treatment shows great promise

A new study has looked into the effect of intensive treatment programmes for young people with schizophrenia. The results show that we should stick with the intensive treatment.

Social intelligence: The brain mirrors behaviour of others

New study may help us understand why some people with autism and schizophrenia find it hard to cope socially.

Morning light relieves anxiety

The right light in the morning can reduce anxiety responses in healthy people, new study shows.

Untested chemicals damage children’s brains

The number of industrial chemicals with a proven neurotoxicity effect on children’s brains has doubled since 2006. Meanwhile, the number of children with developmental disorders such as autism and ADHD is on a rise. Scientists are raising the alarm.

Why do headless chickens run?

The brain does not control all body movements. Some movements are to a great extent controlled by neural networks in the spinal cord. This is why a chicken can run away after you chop its head off. A new study takes a closer look at this strange phenomenon.

A new angle on cognitive failures

The ability to pay attention to our surroundings is associated with the levels of the GABA neurotransmitter in the visual parts of the brain, new study reveals.

Do neurons alone cause consciousness?

Our thoughts and emotions may not only be controlled by the brain’s neurons. Study sheds new light on how the brain works.

Emotions mapped out in the body

Finnish researchers have studied how emotions such as happiness, nervousness and anger feel in the body. The results led to a colourful outline of the physical reactions to emotions.

Danish researcher wins ‘mini-Nobel Prize’

A Danish researcher has won a ’mini-Nobel Prize’ for catapulting the medical condition ‘water on the brain’ from oblivion into the spotlight.

Head injury can cause mental illness

If you suffer a head trauma, your risk of developing certain mental disorders increases significantly – in some cases by more than 400 percent, new study reveals.

Study explains why H1N1 flu can cause narcolepsy

New study explains why many people were affected by narcolepsy during the swine flu epidemic in 2009. The discovery may lead to improved diagnoses and better treatment.

Where do we look when driving around a corner?

Using the latest eye-tracking technology and vehicle telemetry, a Finnish researcher has investigated the visual behaviour of driving a car through curves.

Your visual experiences remain stable over time

One would imagine that we – without knowing it – see physical objects differently depending on how old we are. But this does not appear to be the case, new study finds.

Antidepressants in pregnancy do not cause autism

Contrary to recent research, a comprehensive new study shows that the use of antidepressants during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism in the child.

Unknown ’food function’ discovered in the brain

A specific area of our brain responds strongly to the sight of food we have previously tasted – even before we become conscious of what we’re looking at. This function is likely to influence our choice of food.

How childplay inspired new artificial brain

We can throw and catch a ball because our brain uses patterns to recognise situations and react to them. This form of pattern recognition is now being used to develop an artificial brain, which in record time can simulate buildings and produce a fatigue life estimation.

Implanted electrodes curtail Parkinson’s

New research documents why electrical stimulation of the brain enables Parkinson’s patients to reduce medications.

Hormone removes the pleasure of smoking

A peptide prevents the brain of a smoker from registering satisfaction from a cigarette.

Brain scans can detect migraine

Migraine attacks cause a lasting change in the brain, and this change can be detected in a brain scan, new study reveals. This helps doctors to determine whether or not a person is actually suffering from migraine.

New imaging technique predicts efficiency of cancer treatment

Scientists have found a new method for assessing whether aggressive brain cancer can be treated with drugs. With the new technique, pictures of the chaotic network of blood vessels in tumours can reveal whether the patient will live longer with treatment.

Architecture activates both old and new brain processes

Our appreciation of architecture involves more brain processes than previously assumed. Evolutionarily speaking, the processes take place not only in the primitive reward system, but also in a much younger part of the brain.

Hunger increases support for social welfare

If we are hungry when we’re asked about our attitude towards welfare, we are more likely to show support for a social welfare policy. This is a biological impulse which ensures survival, new research suggests.

Old migraine theory crumpling

The cause of migraine headaches seems to be in the neural system of the brain, not in dilated blood vessels.

You can become hypersensitive to pain

Prolonged pain in e.g. the knees can make your central nervous system extra sensitive, so that the pain remains even after the cause of the pain is gone.

Infections may cause depression

New study establishes a link between infections and mental health. If you have had a severe infection, your risk of suffering e.g. a depression increases by 62 percent.

Parkinson’s spreads faster than we thought

The brain of a Parkinson’s patient is damaged at an early stage, even when the symptoms are mild, new study finds.

Cause of depression still eludes us, says neuroscientist

Almost 500.000 Danes suffer from depression. We don't know why they are sick and we give them medicine to treat symptoms not causes, says neuroscientist.

New theory on cause of migraine

New study suggests that we have been misunderstanding the cause of migraine headaches for decades.

Manipulated mouse brains help us understand ADHD

A Danish professor is lighting up mouse brains to better understand how nerve cells are affected by dopamine. The researchers behind the technique – optogenetics – were recently awarded a prestigious Danish research prize.

Why exercise gets on your nerves

It’s not only the muscles that experience fatigue during exercise. It happens to our nerve cells too. New study uncovers the dual role of serotonin.

Gambling addiction can be spotted in the brain

New study reveals impaired communication across various brain regions in compulsive gamblers. This suggests that gambling addiction may be more due to a deviation in the brain than a weakness of character.

Ear surgeons practice on virtual dismembered brain

Otologists can now hone their surgical skills with a new Danish computer program, which is currently being translated into several languages.

Gamblers get a kick out of making risky decisions

Compulsive gamblers get more excitement and pleasure from making risky decisions than from winning, new study shows.

Faulty braking system leads to depression

New rat study reveals that the brains of depressive people are incapable of controlling the activity in certain brain areas – the innate braking system doesn’t work. The discovery could lead to new types of antidepressants.

Mercury pollution robs EU kids of billions

Global mercury pollution affects children’s brain functions and thus also their odds of getting a low-salary job. The total annual loss of life earnings amounts to €9 billion.

Fixing the heart via the brain

Thyroid gland complications can lead to heart trouble. Swedish researchers think help can be found in the brain.

Inflammation can cause depression

Inflammation in the body gives a two- to threefold risk of depression.

An intense workout boosts motor learning

A single session of intense exercise can improve motor memory and motor skill learning.

Hot brains impair athletic performance

It’s not just muscle fatigue that impairs athletic performance in hot conditions. Your brain temperature and central fatigue also play a key role.

Bullying weakens the body

Harassment, social isolation or intimidating abuse in the workplace is not only psychologically destructive – it’s also stressful physically. Symptoms are similar to posttraumatic stress.

Why premature babies get bad eyesight

Impaired vision in extremely premature babies is often caused by brain damage, new study shows.

New genetic research highlights influences on children’s development

Two normally occurring variants in hitherto unknown genes influence the size of children’s heads. International research has set new standards for studies in genes’ importance for children’s development.

Psychological traumas intensify whiplash

Injuries from traffic accidents are compounded by posttraumatic stress disorder. Pain rehabilitation should start by treating psychological trauma, new study suggests.

Artificial comas can cause kidney failure

Inducing a patient into an artificial coma can end with kidney failure, making the patient’s condition even worse. This practice should be changed, says researcher.

Flu drug helps severely brain damaged patients recover

A drug used for treating influenza reduces the length of the waking-up phase for patients with severe brain damage.

Green spaces boost your health

Living close to a green area is likely to make you a healthier and happier person, says report.

How stress can cause depression

Studies with rats and humans reveal how chronic stress can result in a depression.

Stopping treatment with blood-thinning drug can be fatal

Patients being treated with the blood-thinning medicine warfarin should be wary of breaking off their treatment as they then run a considerable risk of developing blood clots in the brain.

Stress and exercise repair the brain after a stroke

New research reveals that a combination of stress and exercise can shorten the rehabilitation period after a stroke.

How music touches the brain

New method reveals how different musical features activate emotional, motor and creative areas of the brain.

What gives a Xmas song the X factor?

White Christmas, Blue Christmas, Last Christmas ... it's the same Christmas songs that you hear endlessly repeated on the radio and in shopping malls every year. But what is it that makes these songs so enduringly popular?

Nicotine worsens processing ability

Nicotine gives you a kick-start, but the benefit stops there. New research shows that nicotine affects our information processing ability in several ways.

Depression can damage the brain

People suffering from depression run the risk that their brains shrink and will remain smaller after the disease is over. The discovery provides new knowledge about the brain and new understanding of how antidepressants work.

What’s it like to be a bee?

Information obtained from the tiny brain of a fly, cockroach or bee can be applied to studying the far more complex information processing mechanisms found in humans.

Antidepressants can cause heart failure

Antidepressants containing the active ingredient Citalopram can cause potentially serious heart rhythm disturbances, a new study shows.

Uncharted area of the brain discovered

Researchers have unveiled a previously unknown area of the brain, a discovery which could lead to new kinds of psychiatric drugs.

Your face reveals what you are eating

New research links facial expressions to the taste of what we eat. In the future it will be difficult to conceal what we actually think food tastes like.

Your smartphone can scan your brain

Now you can connect a headset with electrodes to your smartphone, so you can read your brain’s signals while on the move.

Hypnosis makes multitasking a breeze

People with brain damage can become better at performing multiple tasks by using hypnosis, new studies indicate.

Blood test can unveil Alzheimer's

A Danish biotech firm has developed a new test which can detect, from a bog standard blood sample, whether the person concerned has Alzheimer's disease. The test can even reveal the disease in its early stages.