Feed your brain with the latest findings in neuroscience research.

Research Consortium Finds New Evidence Linking Arts and Learning
March/April 2008

Research Consortium Finds New Evidence Linking Arts and Learning

by Brenda Patoine

For the first time, coordinated, multi-university scientific research brings us closer to answering the question: Are smart people drawn to the arts or does arts training make people smarter?

Theory Behind Migraine Emerges

by Jm Schnabel

The connection between the pain and the aura people with migraines experience has long been a mystery, but an emerging theory tightly links the two.

Parkinson's Research Moves Beyond Dopamine

Parkinson's Research Moves Beyond Dopamine

by Brenda Patoine

After nearly 50 years of focusing on dopamine, the brain transmitter system that fails in Parkinson’s disease, experts in the field are increasingly convinced of the need to consider other possible culprits to solve the riddle of this disabling neurodegenerative disorder. A protein called alpha-synuclein is at the top of the list.

Findings Hint at Genetic Links in Autism

by Tom Valeo

Several studies published almost simultaneously in three journals have identified genes linked to autism, underscoring the power of new techniques for scanning the human genome.

News from the Frontier

News from the Frontier

Poverty and the brain 

Gene therapy treats brain tumors 

Microfluid chip aids studies of neuronal growth 

Chronic pain harms the brain  (with image, at left)

Screening for Childhood Disorders: Is There a Downside?
January/February 2008

Screening for Childhood Disorders: Is There a Downside?

by Brenda Patoine

Recent recommendations by the nation’s top pediatricians association to screen all infants for autism spectrum disorders has raised questions about the potential downsides of widespread screening for ASD and other childhood neuropsychiatric disorders. 

November/December 2007

Researchers Uncover More Clues to Causes of Addiction

by Kathlyn Stone

Dozens of studies presented at the SfN annual meeting offered new, albeit  preliminary, insights into the cause of addiction and possibilities for treatment

Imaging Method Sheds Light on War’s Toll in the Brain

Imaging Method Sheds Light on War’s Toll in the Brain

by Tom Valeo

A new form of imaging offers hints that that post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury—two common problems facing veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq—may both produce a type of damage barely recognized until now.

New Technologies Map the Frontiers of Brain Research

New Technologies Map the Frontiers of Brain Research

by Tom Valeo

A clear picture of how neural networks link to one another and coordinate mental activity amounted to science fiction until recent years, and it still remains decades from fruition. But researchers are optimistic.