News

Saturday, March 17, 2018
New York Times: Clint Frazier is part of baseball's evolution on concussions

Michael Collins, PhD, says there are six types of concussions, each with about 20 subtypes.  "Science is progressing rapidly now that we know it’s not a homogeneous thing.” Learn More

Wednesday, March 14, 2018
CNN: Public Health researchers question negative findings about opioid antidote

Mary Hawk, PhD, James Egan, PhD, and Chris Keane, ScD, counter a study that suggests that use of the lifesaving drug naloxone may lead to increased opioid use and more crime. Learn More

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
The learning brain is less flexible than we thought

A CMU-Pitt team reports in Nature Neuroscience that they found definite limits to how quickly the brain can reorganize its neural activity when trying to master a new task.  Learn More

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Molecular phenotypes of depression are dramatically different in men and women

A study in Biological Psychiatry by lead author Marianne Seney, PhD, indicates distinct pathology, and suggests that men and women may need different types of treatment for depression.   Learn More

Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Pittsburgh Courier: The link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's

About 75 percent of people with Down syndrome have Alzheimer’s after age 60, says Peter D. Bulova, MD. Brain scans show high levels of amyloid after age 40. Learn More

Monday, March 12, 2018
WESA: Sleep loss from daylight savings makes many people sluggish and emotional

It can take up to eight weeks to adjust to the new schedule, says Brant Hasler, PhD, who studies how sleep and circadian rhythms affect mood and motivation. Learn More

Friday, March 9, 2018
NPR's All Things Considered: Q&As about opioids and chronic pain

Pain medicine specialist Ajay Wasan, MD, answers NPR listeners' questions about getting the right treatment. Learn More

Thursday, March 8, 2018
NATURE Outlook: Mind-reading devices that can free paralyzed muscles

Robert Gaunt, PhD, and colleagues continue their work with a man who is quadriplegic and is able to feel a sense of touch through a robotic arm that he operates with his brain. Learn More

Tuesday, February 27, 2018
What's new in spina bifida research?

Amy Houtrow, MD, PhD, co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, which covers research presented at the Third World Congress on Spina Bifida Research and Care. Learn More

Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Bradley Nindl combines research with active duty as commander in US Army Reserve

Nindl directs the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, where he studies cognitive and physical performance of military members, as well as impact of space travel on astronauts. Learn More

Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Delerium in the ICU raises risk of long-term cognitive decline

A study in Lancet Respiratory Medicine shows more than half of ICU patients with acute respiratory failure or shock, or both, develop delirium, with cognitive effects evident a year later. Learn More

Thursday, February 22, 2018
Pittsburgh Courier: Researchers try to figure out why African Americans have highest rate of Alzheimer's

"We want to know if there’s a difference in the early stages of the disease and if the disease progresses differently," says Ann B. Cohen, PhD. Learn More

Thursday, February 22, 2018
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Chuck Noll Foundation awards several grants for head-injury research

One study by Ava Puccio, PhD, will test for biomarkers of tau protein in sweat collected from people who have had a subconcussive hit to the head.  Learn More

Thursday, February 22, 2018
Independent neurons may be key for better vision

Marlene Cohen's lab found that the amount of correlated activity among groups of neurons in the visual cortex predicts how well animals will perform a visual task. Learn More

Thursday, February 22, 2018
NATURE News: Who exactly counts as an adolescent?

 “I don’t believe the brain has an abrupt change that will determine the end of adolescence,” says Beatriz Luna, PhD, who studies neurocognitive development. Learn More

Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Children with a depressed parent do better if families have social support

"Our study suggests that for fathers as for mothers, even mild symptoms of depression can impair parenting," says graduate student Lindsay Taraban. Learn More

Monday, February 19, 2018
FDA offers new path for developing Alzheimer's drugs

"We actually have a very rich and diverse pipeline" of possible drugs that could be taken before a person becomes cognitively impaired, Oscar Lopez, MD, says.   Learn More

Friday, February 16, 2018
Genes that affect dopamine pathways may predict recovery from traumatic brain injury

A "risk score" based on five specific genes shows potential for personalizing therapy to maximize quality of life after TBI, says Mark Linsenmeyer, MD. Learn More

Thursday, February 8, 2018
Zika may not be the only virus to cause brain damage in fetuses

New studies show West Nile and Powassan viruses can cause brain damage and fetal death in mice. Carolyn Coyne, PhD, urges monitoring of pregnant women where mosquitoes carry these flaviviruses. Learn More

Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Months-long cognitive impairment seen after knee replacement in patients over 60

"It was surprising to observe such significant effects of orthopedic surgery on the human brain," says Haiqing Huang, PhD, co-lead author of the study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Learn More

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