Brain and Nervous System News & Features

Researchers wanted to see if they could predict someone’s age based on the way that their brain used fuel, or metabolism. On average, women appeared to be younger than men in terms of brain age.

"Our ultimate goal is to develop technologies that can decode the internal voice of a patient who is unable to speak," said the study’s author.

Brain scans show that some adolescents who've tried marijuana just a couple of times exhibit significant increases in the volume of their gray matter.

Don't take your brain's powers for granted. Here's what you can do -- throughout your life -- to stay sharp.

A 32-year-old Tennessee man has been diagnosed with the rare human form of mad cow disease, also known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

3 previously paralyzed people can now walk with minimal assistance, Swiss researchers report. They need only the aid of crutches or a walker, thanks to incredibly precise electrical stimulation of their spinal cord combined with intensive rehabilitation, the scientists say.

A small new study suggests that repeated impacts to the head that were not as severe as concussions did not result in brain damage to young athletes. The researchers say they need to follow the kids longer.

A year after a concussion, as many as 31 percent of kids ages 4 to 15 still had symptoms that included inattention or fatigue, researchers report.

Infection typically occurs when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moving the kickoff line forward by just five yards -- from the 35- to the 40-yard line -- reduced the average annual concussion rate in Ivy League football by more than 68 percent, a new study says.

Researchers are cautiously optimistic after paralyzed patients took steps on their own in two studies of spinal cord stimulators.

Brain scans on 16 of the participants indicated that short bouts of mild exercise appeared to trigger an instant uptick in communication between the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the cortical brain regions. Both brain areas are key to processing memory.

The electrical stimulator he has is one designed for nerve pain. The research team received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use it in this new way.

More than 80 percent of the 250,000 Americans with a spinal cord injury lose the ability to urinate at will after their injury and rely on a catheter to drain urine. But long-term catheter use is inconvenient and can pose infection risks.

Radiation treatment for medulloblastoma, the most common type of childhood brain tumor, can leave young survivors struggling to remember recent events, a small study has found. But survivors' ability to recall things that happened before radiation wasn't affected.

A person’s risk of suicide more than triples in the first six months after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and it stays significantly higher over the long term, a new Danish study suggests.

In the study, the researchers analyzed the brain tissue of 15 patients who had survived a year or more after a  traumatic brain injury (TBI) and compared that tissue with brain tissue from 15 healthy controls. They found the TBI patients had higher levels of abnormal tau proteins.

The boy's intellect, visual perception and object recognition skills have all remained age-appropriate, even with a large portion of his brain gone.

The condition is common in elderly people -- affecting about 30 percent of those aged 70 and older, based on a recent study. It is much less prevalent in younger adults, but when it happens there is cause for concern.

Vitamin D Little Help Against Brain Diseases By Robert PreidtHealthDay Reporter MONDAY, July 16, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D does little to defend your brain against multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease, a new review shows.The finding is based on an analysis of more than 70 studies."Our work counters an emerging belief held in some quarters suggesting that higher levels of vitamin D can impact positively on brain health," said study author Krystal Iacopetta, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Adelaide, in Australia."Past studies had found that patients with a neurodegenerative disease tended to

Brains May Be as Unique as Fingerprints By Robert PreidtHealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, July 13, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that no two brains are alike, as genetics and experience make their mark on your mind."With our study, we were able to confirm that the structure of people's brains is very individual," said study author Lutz Jancke. He is a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland."Just 30 years ago, we thought that the human brain had few or no individual characteristics," Jancke said. "Personal identification through brain anatomical characteristics was unimaginable."But this

Are Concussions Tougher on Athletes With ADHD? By Amy Norton                  HealthDay Reporter         THURSDAY, July 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Young athletes with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might be at higher risk of developing depression and anxiety symptoms after a concussion, a preliminary study suggests.        The study, of nearly 1,000 college athletes, found those with both ADHD and a history of concussion scored higher on measures of depression and anxiety. That was in comparison to athletes without ADHD and those with the disorder but

Feel Younger Than Your Years? Your Brain Shows It By Alan MozesHealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, July 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- For seniors who feel years younger than they really are, a new study suggests it might not be their imagination."We found that people who feel younger have the structural characteristics of a younger brain," explained lead author Jeanyung Chey. She is a professor in the department of psychology & program for brain sciences at Seoul National University in South Korea.Chey and her colleagues focused on a group of Korean adults drawn from an aging study. The researchers

One theory is that contagious yawning is related to empathy, and that people with higher levels of empathy yawn more often when someone else yawns, compared to people with lower levels of empathy or those with a mental disorder.

The findings, published online May 25 in JAMA Network Open,  are based on a sample of 831 patients who went to a top-level trauma center with a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).