Recent Memory News from ScienceDaily:

• Why it doesn’t get dark when you blink
• New insights into the way the brain combines memories to solve problems
• New method enables accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
• Capitalizing on sleep-wake cycle can drastically increase digital ad profits from social media
• Opioid users could benefit from meth-relapse prevention strategy, study finds
• Eye movements take edge off traumatic memories
• Artificial synaptic device simulating the function of human brain
• This is how the brain forgets on purpose
• Novel epigenetic control found for critical brain proteins in memory strengthening
• Past memory cues help people juggle numerous pieces of information
• Greener neighborhoods may be good for children’s brains
• Do you know how and why you forget passwords?
• Sexual violence haunts women with vivid memories decades later
• Hypertension drugs could prevent memory loss in lupus patients, study suggests
• Severely traumatized refugees may not necessarily develop PTSD
• Genes that regulate how much we dream
• Autobiographical memory tested for early Alzheimer’s detection
• How cannabis and cannabis-based drugs harm the brain
• To understand working memory, scientists must resolve this debate
• Learning to ask older adults better questions about their memory
• Map of a billion brain links reveals clues about how we think
• Psychologists find that acting is the key to remembering tasks
• Brain game doesn’t offer brain gain
• How stimulant treatments for ADHD work
• The big picture: Mouse memory cells are about experience, not place

Recent Brain Injury News from ScienceDaily:

• New cause of brain bleeds identified
• Possible molecular pathway for neurodegeneration in prion diseases
• Zombie cells found in brains of mice prior to cognitive loss
• Brain recovery: Activity, not rest, may speed recovery after brain injury
• Minding the brain to curb pain hypersensitivity
• A new generation of pain medications
• New CDC guidelines detail treatment of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury
• A new theory for phantom limb pain points the way to more effective treatment
• Attention network plays key role in restoring vision after brain damage
• B cells among factors leading to brain lesions in multiple sclerosis
• Concussions loosen insulation around brain cells
• Vicious circle leads to loss of brain cells in old age
• Stroke doubles dementia risk, concludes large-scale study
• Electronic device implanted in the brain could stop seizures
• Better understanding of potential regeneration after brain/spinal cord injury
• Novel brain network linked to chronic pain in Parkinson’s disease
• Secret tunnels discovered between the skull and the brain
• Four out of 10 patients with atrial fibrillation have unknown brain damage
• Signaling cascade that repairs damaged nerve cells characterized
• Study identifies distinct origin of ADHD in children with history of brain injury
• Rethinking the stroke rule ‘time is brain’
• Amputees feel as though their prosthetic limb belongs to their own body
• Researcher reveal insights into brain circuitry
• Study of 21 retired NFL and NHL players doesn’t find evidence of early onset dementia
• Map of a billion brain links reveals clues about how we think

Other News:  Brain Injury/Memory Loss

• Forgotten Dementia Sufferers Helped Through Art.  While medical researchers continue the search for advanced diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dementia, a researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London is focusing on improving the experiences of those already suffering with the devastating disease for whom any cure would be too late.  ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2011)

• Potential Target for Treating Common Form of Early-Onset Dementia Identified. UCLA scientists have discovered that a key signaling pathway plays an important role in the brain disorder frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and may offer a potential target for treatment. The journal Neuron publishes the findings in its Sept. 22 edition. ScienceDaily (Sep. 22, 2011)

• Humor as Effective as Medication in Treating Agitation in Dementia. Humor therapy is as effective as widely used antipsychotic drugs in managing agitation in patients with dementia — and avoids serious drug side effects, a new study shows. ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2011)

• Human genetics study identifies the most common cause of ALS and dementia. Scientists have made an exciting breakthrough in unraveling the genetic basis of two debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Two independent studies identify a new human genetic mutation as the most common cause of ALS and FTD identified to date. ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2011)

• Lasers Light the Path to Neuron Regeneration.  Lasers have been used to fabricate tiny scaffolds to be used as delivery vehicles to drop cells off at damaged locations and help treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2011)

• Diabetes May Significantly Increase the Risk of Dementia.  People with diabetes appear to be at a significantly increased risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in the September 20, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ScienceDaily (Sep. 20, 2011)

• A Squirt of Insulin May Delay Alzheimer’s. A small pilot study has found preliminary evidence that squirting insulin deep into the nose where it travels to the brain might hold early Alzheimer’s disease at bay, University of Pennsylvania researchers said. via Gina Kolata in the New York Times. (Sept. 12, 2011)
• Have We Met Before? Direct Connections Found Between Areas of Brain Responsible for Voice and Face Recognition. Science Daily (Sep. 12, 2011)

• New Target for Treating Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. A scientist has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This discovery offers new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating neurodegenerative disease. Science Daily (Sep. 11, 2011)
• Newly Identified Gene Mutation Linked to Parkinson’s. A large team of international researchers have identified a new genetic cause of inherited Parkinson’s disease that they say may be related to the inability of brain cells to handle biological stress–ScienceDaily (Sep. 9, 2011)
• Alzheimer disease: Transport protein ABCC1 plays key role in clearing beta-amyloid from brains of mice.
  Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia among older people. One of the main features of AD is the presence in the brain of abnormal clumps of the protein fragment beta-amyloid. Researchers have now identified a way to reduce the amount of beta-amyloid in the brains of mice with a disease that models AD, providing hope that a similar approach could benefit patients with this devastating condition. Science Daily. (Sept. 2, 2011)
  
• Signs of aging may be linked to undetected blocked brain blood vessels.  Tiny blocked brain vessels may be the cause of many common signs associated with older age, according to new research. Brain autopsies showed more lesions in those with the most pronounced difficulty walking. Thirty percent of small brain lesions could only be seen under a microscope after study participants died. The lesions couldn’t be detected by current scans. Science Daily. (Sep. 1, 2011)
  
• Researchers learn why nerve cell communication is disrupted in Alzheimer’s Disease: chemical modification of a brain enzyme. This discovery could help scientists  develop  new Alzheimer’s disease therapies. Science Daily (Aug. 16, 2011)
  
• New culprit in Alzheimer’s disease: Too many blood vessels.  Scientists may have uncovered a new explanation for how Alzheimer’s disease destroys the brain — a profusion of blood vessels. They suggest that the growth of capillaries leads to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, allowing amyloid beta, the hallmark of the neurodegenerative disease, to be deposited in the brain tissue. Science Daily. (Aug. 31, 2011)
• Choice of seizure drug for brain tumor patients may affect survival.  New research suggests brain tumor patients who take the seizure drug valproic acid on top of standard treatment may live longer than people who take other kinds of epilepsy medications to control seizures. Science Daily.  Aug 31. 2011
• Neuroscientists identify how the brain remembers what happens and when. Neuroscientists have identified the parts of the brain we use to remember the timing of events within an episode. The study enhances our understanding of how memories are processed and provides a potential roadmap for addressing memory-related afflictions – Science Daily (Aug 4, 2011)
• How Memory Is Lost: Loss of Memory Due to Aging May Be Reversible. A new study published July 27 in the journal Nature shows the neural networks in the brains of the middle-aged and elderly have weaker connections and fire less robustly than in youthful ones.Science Daily (July 28, 2011)
• A Supplement That Works for Alzheimer’s Disease? New study suggests that the natural supplement Huperzine A (a AChE inhibitor) may have some promise in treating Alzheimer’s Disease but more study is needed – Journal Watch Psychiatry (May 23, 2011)
• Senior Moments: A Sign Of Worse To Come? – NPR.org (Apr 28, 2011)
• National Institute on Aging: Tips for Caregivers and Cargiver Guide – National Institute on Aging
• Autoantibodies, the cause of autoimmune diseases, are being studied by Alzheimer’s disease researchers for possible links and therapeutic value – Business Wire (March 31, 2011)