BrainBlog

Here are some relevant highlights from this week’s major scientific and medical weeklies: New England Journal of Medicine 28 October 2004 This week’s issue includes several papers of interest, two on the topic on bacterial meningitis and the third is a case study of a patient with a frontal lobe lesion: Bacterial Meningitis — A View of the Past 90 Years by M. N. Swartz; Clinical Features and Prognostic Factors in Adults with Bacterial Meningitis by D. van de Beek and colleagues; and Case 33-2004 — A 34-Year-Old Man with a Seizure and a Frontal-Lobe Brain Lesion by E. N. Eskandar and colleagues. Science 29 October 2004 This week’s issue includes a research study that has been reported in quite a few public media outlets over the past few days in terms of the relation between stress and forgetfulness. Here is the abstract: Birnbaum SG, Yuan PX, Wang M, Vijayraghavan S, Bloom AK, Davis DJ, Gobeske KT, Sweatt JD, Manji HK, Arnsten AF. Protein kinase C overactivity impai...

A press release from Vanderbilt University discusses research seeking to develop more precise ways to stimulate individual neurons through the use of laser light: Stimulating Nerve Cells with Laser Precision Newswise — Biomedical engineers and physicians at Vanderbilt University have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer by discovering a method that uses laser light, rather than electricity, to stimulate and control nerve cells. The researchers have discovered that low-intensity infrared laser light can spark specific nerves to life, exciting a leg or even individual toes without actually touching the nerve cells. “This technique brings nerve stimulation out of the Dark Ages,” said Vanderbilt Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery Anita Mahadevan-Jansen . “Much work is going on around the world trying to make electric nerve stimulation better, but the technique is inherently li...

Gorno-Tempini ML, Rankin KP, Woolley JD, Rosen HJ, Phengrasamy L, Miller BL. Cognitive and behavioral profile in a case of right anterior temporal lobe neurodegeneration. Cortex. 2004 Sep-Dec; 40(4-5): 631-44. University of California San Francisco Department of Neurology, San Francisco, CA, USA. Semantic dementia (SD) is a clinical variant of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) characterized by progressive deterioration of semantic memory with relative sparing of other cognitive functions. It is associated with mainly left anterior temporal atrophy, and is also referred to as "left-temporal lobe variant" of FTLD. Recently, patients with mainly right-sided atrophy, or "right-temporal lobe variant"(RTLV), have been described. While some authors have reported that the initial and most significant deficit in these right-sided cases is a difficulty in recognizing famous people, others have observed that major behavioral abnormalities are the presenting symp...

From the New York Times website: Lilly to Buy Insomnia Compound By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 28, 2004 Filed at 11:21 a.m. ET INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Eli Lilly and Co. will pay a German pharmaceutical company $29 million for the rights to an experimental compound the Indianapolis-based drug maker hopes can become its first product to treat insomnia. The compound, discovered by Merck KGaA, has the potential to be a new way to treat sleep disorder, without being addictive or causing unwelcome side effects, said Darryle D. Schoepp, vice president of neuroscience discovery research at Lilly. "This could be really a very important medical advance in the treatment of sleep disorders,'" he said Wednesday. In addition to purchasing the compound, Lilly will make milestone payments to Merck as the drug moves through testing, plus pay royalties on any sales. Merck keeps rights to co-promote the compound in certain countries. Called EMD 281014,...

The CBS show "60 Minutes Wednesday" aired a piece last evening, A Hole in His Head , which accounts the story of one person's pallidotomy in 1995 and visits with him again in 2004. From CBS: Parkinson's disease is a heartbreaking illness that causes frozen, stone-faced stillness in those afflicted. Correspondent Morley Safer reports on the story of one man, Fred Amphlett of Bristol, England, who had been a prisoner of Parkinson's for years. When Safer first met him in 1995, he was about to undergo an operation called a pallidotomy, once used by doctors to ease the agonies of Parkinson's. It was not a cure, nor was it for everyone. But for Amphlett, it was his last hope. [ ... Read the full transcript ... ]

From Wired News, another presentation from Neuroscience 2004 : Advent of the Robotic Monkeys By David Cohn 01:00 PM Oct. 26, 2004 PT Wired News If a monkey is hungry but has his arms pinned, there's not much he can do about it. Unless that monkey can control a nearby robotic arm with his brain. And that's exactly what the monkey in Andrew Schwartz 's neurobiology lab at the University of Pittsburgh can do, feeding himself using a prosthetic arm controlled solely by his thoughts. If mastered, the technology could be used to help spinal cord injuries, amputees or stroke victims. "I still think prosthetics is at an early stage ... but this is a big step in the right direction," said Chance Spalding, a bioengineering graduate student who worked on the project. [snip] The unique aspect of Schwartz's research is that he conducted what is known as "closed loop" brain experiments. In a "closed loop" experiment, the monkey is c...

A company press release concerning a presentation at Neuroscience 2004 : Vasogen's VP025 Provides a Neuroprotective Effect in Preclinical Model of Parkinson's Disease TORONTO, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Vasogen Inc. (NASDAQ:VSGN; TSX:VAS), a researcher and developer of immune modulation therapies targeting chronic inflammation, today announced the presentation of preclinical research demonstrating the ability of VP025 to provide a significant neuroprotective effect in a model of Parkinson's disease. The research, carried out by the Department of Anatomy/Neuroscience, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Ireland, was presented at Neuroscience 2004 , the Society for Neuroscience's 34th Annual Meeting in San Diego. "The ability of VP025 to offer a protective effect in the brain and reduce neuron death in this preclinical model suggests that this drug may have potential in the treatment of Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Aideen Sullivan,...

A number of news reports are beginning to be published from presentations at Neuroscience 2004 , the ongoing conference of the Society for Neuroscience . Here is one press release from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions concerning a presentation about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Olfactory Bulb Stem Cells and Lou Gehrig's Disease Johns Hopkins researchers have found that transplants of mouse stem cells taken from the adult brain's olfactory bulb can delay symptoms and death in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Read the abstract for Transplantation of Adult Olfactory Bulb Neural Stem Cells Delays Disease Onset and Prolongs Survival in a Mouse ALS Model by L.J. Martin and Z. Liu. [ ... Read the full press release ... ]

Here are some relevant highlights from this week’s major scientific and medical weeklies: Journal of the American Medical Association 20 October 2004 This week’s JAMA has a number of contributions on the subject of the diagnosis and treatment of strokes. New England Journal of Medicine 21 October 2004 This week’s issue contains a research paper and an editorial on the topic of Tuberculous meningitis: Abstract for Dexamethasone for the Treatment of Tuberculous Meningitis in Adolescents and Adults by Thwaites and colleagues and an extract of the editorial, Adjunctive Steroids for Tuberculous Meningitis - More Evidence, More Questions by Quagliarello. Lancet 23 October 2004 The current issue includes the paper, Interferon beta-1a for brain tissue loss in patients at presentation with syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial by Filippi and colleagues. Science 22 October 2004 This week’s issue has a speci...

Neuroscience 2004, the Society For Neuroscience's 34th Annual Meeting, begins in San Diego tomorrow and continues until Wednesday, the 27th. To read more about the conference and the Society, click here .

This week's free access full-text paper in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association addresses the relative value of CT vs. MRI imaging in the initial evaluation of acute CVA symptoms. Click here for the full paper; the abstract follows: Chelsea S. Kidwell, MD; Julio A. Chalela, MD; Jeffrey L. Saver, MD; Sidney Starkman, MD; Michael D. Hill, MD; et al. Comparison of MRI and CT for Detection of Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage . JAMA.  2004; 292: 1823-1830. ABSTRACT Context.  Noncontrast computed tomography (CT) is the standard brain imaging study for the initial evaluation of patients with acute stroke symptoms. Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as an alternative to CT in the emergency stroke setting. However, the accuracy of MRI relative to CT for the detection of hyperacute intracerebral hemorrhage has not been demonstrated. Objective.  To compare the accuracy of MRI and CT for detection of acute intracerebral...

Anyone who's seen the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , has thought about the question. Many may be surprised that a number of neuroscientists and drug developers have been asking the same question. The issue comes up when thinking of the topic of so-called "cosmetic neurology," but also arises when considering very serious acute mental trauma. Today's Washington Post includes an article exploring this question: Is Every Memory Worth Keeping? Controversy Over Pills to Reduce Mental Trauma By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page A01 [snip] Proponents say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat PTSD in soldiers coping with the horrors of battle, torture victims recovering from brutalization, survivors who fled the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and other victims of severe, psychologically devastating experiences. "Some memories can be very disruptive. They come back to you when you...

Last week's news had several reports about a new functional MRI study looking at taste preferences and brand loyalty. Here is the abstract of that study: McClure SM, Li J, Tomlin D, Cypert KS, Montague LM, Montague PR. Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron. 2004 Oct 14; 44(2): 379-87. Department of Neuroscience, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, 1 Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030 USA. Coca-Cola((R)) (Coke((R))) and Pepsi((R)) are nearly identical in chemical composition, yet humans routinely display strong subjective preferences for one or the other. This simple observation raises the important question of how cultural messages combine with content to shape our perceptions; even to the point of modifying behavioral preferences for a primary reward like a sugared drink. We delivered Coke and Pepsi to human subjects in behavioral taste tests and also in passive experiments carrie...

Today's Yale Daily News includes an article about last week's announcement about the initiative to examine imaging technologies in the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. The article is interesting to read of itself, but also because it touches briefly upon the concern of the neuropsychological community about the important role of neuropsychological assessment in the assessment of the cognitive changes that are diagnostically relevant: Scientists seek earlier Alzheimer's diagnoses BY ALBERTO MASLIAH Contributing Reporter Yale Daily News Published Monday, October 18, 2004 [snip] Currently, neuropsychological assessment is the most widely used instrument for neurocognitive ability and its deterioration. The introduction of imaging analysis used to differentiate which patients with mild cognitive impairment will progress to Alzheimer's and how far an Alzheimer's patient has progressed is relatively new. Within the ...

Tomorrow's New York Times Sunday Magazine has a short piece written by someone who lost her sense of smell and her effort to try to find it once again: Something's Off By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG 17 October 2004 The New York Times [Snip] Smell is the stepchild of the senses, the one that many think they could do without. But when I couldn't smell things, I couldn't fully inhabit the world, and my movements in it were somehow, almost imperceptibly, more clumsy. This month, when the Nobel Prize was awarded to two researchers for investigating the science of smell, it brought back my mixed feelings about my own sense of smell's protracted disappearance. It vanished in 2002, a result of a bad fall. As my neurosurgeon explained, when my head hit the ground, my brain sloshed around, which smashed delicate nerve endings in my olfactory system. Maybe they'll repair themselves, she said (in what struck me as much too casual a tone), and maybe they won't...

Host G. [Prosopagnosia--incapacity to recognize faces] Lakartidningen. 2004 Aug 26;101(35):2661-2. Swedish. No abstract available. PMID: 15458222 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Duchaine BC, Dingle K, Butterworth E, Nakayama K. Normal greeble learning in a severe case of developmental prosopagnosia. Neuron. 2004 Aug 19;43(4):469-73. PMID: 15312646 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Hadjikhani N, Joseph RM, Snyder J, Chabris CF, Clark J, Steele S, McGrath L, Vangel M, Aharon I, Feczko E, Harris GJ, Tager-Flusberg H. Activation of the fusiform gyrus when individuals with autism spectrum disorder view faces. Neuroimage. 2004 Jul;22(3):1141-50. PMID: 15219586 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Larner AJ. Lewis Carroll's Humpty Dumpty: an early report of prosopagnosia? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2004 Jul;75(7):1063. No abstract available. PMID: 15201376 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Yamasaki T, Taniwaki T, Tobimatsu S, Arakawa K, Kuba H, Maeda Y, Kuwabara Y, Shida K, ...

From a press release by the National Institute on Aging : National Institute on Aging, Industry Launch Partnership, 60 Million Dollar Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative    Wednesday, October 13, 2004, 10 a.m. ET Contact:   Vicky Cahan                Doug Dollemore                (301) 496-1752 The National Institute on Aging (NIA) in conjunction with other Federal agencies, private companies and organizations today launched a $60 million, 5-year public-private partnership—the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative—to test whether serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), other biological markers, and clinical and neuropsychological assessment can be combined to measure the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study could help researchers and clinicians develop new treatments and monitor their effectiveness as well as lessen the time and cost of clinical trials. The...

The New York Times provides an interesting feature piece in its Circuits section tomorrow about the use of the Segway Human Transporter by individuals with various disabilities. It should also be noted that the creator of the Segway has developed a less-well-known wheelchair that can raise a person closer to eye level than a standard wheelchair and that can climb stairs. Oft-Scorned Segway Finds Friends Among the Disabled By RACHEL METZ Published: October 14, 2004 WHIRRING quietly down the sidewalk on East 42nd Street and into a Starbucks one recent afternoon, Chandler Hovey drew looks and comments from passers-by. What was most eye-catching was his means of transport: the Segway Human Transporter , a two-wheeled, gyroscopically balanced electric scooter. What was less evident, except to those close enough to spot the blue handicapped symbol on his scooter, was that he is disabled. Mr. Hovey, 63, a money manager, has multiple sclerosis. For almost 18 months, his ...

Usually, the weekly online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association includes the full text of one of its articles available on a free-access basis. Today's new issue has as its "free access" choice a report on trends in rehabilitation care: [ access the article here ]. A .pdf version is also available at the access page. Here is the paper's abstract: Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, PhD, OTR; Pam M. Smith, DNS, RN; Sandra B. Illig, MS, RN; Richard T. Linn, PhD; Glenn V. Ostir, PhD; Carl V. Granger, MD. Trends in Length of Stay, Living Setting, Functional Outcome, and Mortality Following Medical Rehabilitation. JAMA.  2004; 292: 1687-1695. Context.  Changes in reimbursement have reduced length of stay (LOS) for patients receiving inpatient medical rehabilitation. The impact of decreased LOS on functional status, living setting, and mortality is not known. Objective.  To examine changes in LOS, functional status, living setting, and mortality ...

The Washington Post reports on the approval by the FDA of the use of implantable radio-frequency microchips for medical information applications. As the article suggests, some neurological patients may fall within the targeted applications of this product. FDA Approves Implantable Chip for Medical Records By Diedtra Henderson AP Science Writer Wednesday, October 13, 2004; 2:05 PM WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an implantable computer chip that can pass a patient's medical details to doctors, speeding care. VeriChips, radio frequency microchips the size of a grain of rice, have already been used to identify wayward pets and livestock. And nearly 200 people working in Mexico's attorney general's office have been implanted with chips to access secure areas containing sensitive documents. Delray Beach, Fla.-based Applied Digital Solutions said it would give away $650 scanners to roughly 200 trauma centers around...

A new study about the relation between the brain and bilinualism, as presented in a Reuters news report : Learning 2nd Language Changes Brain Anatomy - Study Wed 13 October, 2004 19:18 By Patricia Reaney LONDON (Reuters) - Being bilingual produces changes in the anatomy of the brain, scientists said on Wednesday in finding that could explain why children are so much better than adults at mastering a second language. They found that people who speak two languages have more gray matter in the language region of the brain. The earlier they learned the language, the larger the gray area. "The gray matter in this region increases in bilinguals relative to monolinguals -- this is particularly true in early bilinguals who learned a second language early in life," said Andrea Mechelli, a neuroscientist at University College London. "The degree is correlated with the proficiency achieved." Learning another language after 35 years old also alters...

Over the past few months, there have been a number of stories in the media about the topic of deep brain stimulation and its possible applications in the near future. The following article comes from Canada’s Globe and Mail : Surgery helps short-circuit Tourette's syndrome By PAUL TAYLOR From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Jeff Matovic used to eat with a plastic spoon to prevent himself from accidentally gouging out one of his eyes.The 31-year-old has Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary muscle movements. Mr. Matovic, who developed symptoms at age 3, could not sit, walk or even sleep without his body exploding in an endless series of jerking motions and verbal outbursts. He has broken glasses in his bare hands and dented walls with his head because of sudden muscle contractions. Things got so bad, Mr. Matovic sought out doctors who would implant electrodes in his brain to quiet his restless body, after hearing about another patien...

A press release from the American Academy of Neurology about a research paper published in the new issue of Neurology : Blood Pressure Drugs May Slow Deterioration of Alzheimer’s 11 October 2004 Newswise — Certain blood pressure drugs may slow the deterioration of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published in the October 12 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Called angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, or ACE inhibitors, the drugs are used to treat high blood pressure. Only ACE inhibitors that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier were shown to have the effect on Alzheimer’s. The blood-brain barrier is a natural protective mechanism that shields the brain from foreign substances. The study involved 162 people in Japan living in long-term care facilities with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and high blood pressure. The participants were divided into three groups. For one year, each group received either a brain...

A symposium in the field of study for which two researchers (Drs. Richard Axel and Linda Buck) were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine last week will be held on the 8th of November in Philadelphia. The symposium is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center , which was the first specialty academic center established for the study of clinical smell and taste disorders, directed by Richard Doty, Ph.D. THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ANOSMIA SYMPOSIUM   Sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Smell and Taste Center & Department of Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery*   Monday, November 8, 2004   Surgical Seminar Room, White Building 1 (near front entrance of hospital), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104  *Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., Phoenix, AZ  ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM  Anosmia is not inconsequential, dramatically altering ...

The Annual Tulane University Health Sciences Center (TUHSC) Brain & Behavior Symposium will be held in New Orleans, LA on the 10th and 11th of December 2004. The topic of this year's event is "Traumatic Brain Injury Revisited." The symposium will be held at the Hotel Intercontinental. The Symposium will include both presentations and small group workshops relating to the above topics. CE credits for psychologists, physicians, and allied health professionals will be provided. For further information, contact the Center for Continuing Education at TUHSC (cme@tulane.edu). Information supplied by Dr. F. William Black of TUHSC

Here are some relevant highlights from this week’s major scientific and medical weeklies: New England Journal of Medicine 07 October 2004 This week’s issue includes the research report , Protected Carotid-Artery Stenting versus Endarterectomy in High-Risk Patients by Yadav and colleagues. Here is the abstract: Background. Carotid endarterectomy is more effective than medical management in the prevention of stroke in patients with severe symptomatic or asymptomatic atherosclerotic carotid-artery stenosis. Stenting with the use of an emboli-protection device is a less invasive revascularization strategy than endarterectomy in carotid-artery disease. Methods. We conducted a randomized trial comparing carotid-artery stenting with the use of an emboli-protection device to endarterectomy in 334 patients with coexisting conditions that potentially increased the risk posed by endarterectomy and who had either a symptomatic carotid-artery stenosis of at least 50 percent of the lumi...

Research reported in the new issue of Lancet about steroid treatment in the acute management of brain injury is being reported in a number of newspapers. Here is the report in Newsday : Study: Steroids Useless for Head Trauma By EMMA ROSS AP Medical Writer October 7, 2004, 8:51 PM EDT LONDON -- Doctors have been giving steroids to head trauma patients for more than 30 years, but the first major study of the practice has shown they are useless and may even have killed thousands of people. Experts said the findings, published this week in The Lancet medical journal, are "a complete and alarming surprise for all." Head trauma, usually from car crashes, violence or falls, is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults in the developed world, and globally second only to HIV in causing the death of people under 40. About 3 million people die each year from head trauma. Ste...

Fastenau PS, Shen J, Dunn DW, Perkins SM, Hermann BP, Austin JK. Neuropsychological predictors of academic underachievement in pediatric epilepsy: Moderating roles of demographic, seizure, and psychosocial variables. Epilepsia. 2004 Oct; 45(10): 1261-72. Department of Psychology, Purdue School of Science, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. Summary: Purpose: Academic underachievement is common in pediatric epilepsy. Attempts to identify seizure and psychosocial risk factors for underachievement have yielded inconsistent findings, raising the possibility that seizure and psychosocial variables play a complex role in combination with other variables such as neuropsychological functioning. This study cross-validated a neuropsychological measurement model for childhood epilepsy, examined the relation between neuropsychological functioning and academic achievement, and tested the degree to which demographic, seizure, and psychosoc...

Last night, ABC's Nightline presented a report about head wounds in warfare: Transcript of report.

This press release from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute discusses a newly published paper on memory formation in the brain: Brain Circuit May Permit Scientists to Eavesdrop on Memory Formation 07 Oct 2004    Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a circuit in the brain that appears crucial in converting short-term memories into long-term memories. The circuit links the major learning-related area of the brain to another region that governs the brain's higher functions. The studies open the way for eavesdropping on one of the central processes in learning and memory, says HHMI investigator Erin M. Schuman. She and graduate student Miguel Remondes of the California Institute of Technology published their findings in the October 7, 2004, issue of the journal Nature. According to Schuman, the finding sheds light on a central question in learning and memory research that concerns the roles of two brain structures, the hippocampus, which is invol...

This article from The Guardian is representative of several published today about an historical discovery being reported in the U.K: Skull found at Anglo-Saxon site shows evidence of surgery Martin Wainwright Wednesday October 6, 2004 The Guardian The history of brain surgery is being rewritten after the discovery of a skull which shows that complex operations were performed in Anglo-Saxon England. A century before the Norman invasion of 1066, a doctor or itinerant healer was delicately removing scraps of skull from a 40-year-old Yorkshire peasant who had been whacked on the head. It was such a skilful operation that a large depression on the man's brain was relieved and fractures in the bone healed. According to English Heritage archaeologists, the patient lived for many years after the operation, finally dying of unrelated causes. His treatment, which also involved lifting a large patch of scalp measuring 10cm by 9cm (4i...

The following article appeared in the The Straits Times of Signapore today: Bilingual skill 'linked to brain activity' By Chang Ai-Lien NOT all bilinguals are created equal. New research here has uncovered differences in brain activity which separate people who have a knack for picking up a second language and others who have more of a struggle doing so. 'It's as though one group can engage their brain to help them do so more efficiently, while the other group cannot,' said Dr Michael Chee, the main researcher in the study. 'There appears to be some biological underpinning in being able to pick up a second language.' The work - which has been published in the world-renowned Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - could also help point the way towards how best to teach the language laggards. Dr Chee and colleagues from S...

This year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been announced: Press release and Nobel website page . Richard Axel and Linda Buck have been awarded the prize "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system." Here is a snip from the Associated Press report , as published on the New York Times website: Two Americans Win Nobel Prize in Medicine By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- American researchers Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday for their work on the sense of smell -- showing how, for example, a person can smell a lilac in the spring and recall it in the winter. They discovered genes that give rise to a huge variety of "receptor" proteins that sense particular odors. These proteins are found in cells in the nose, which communicate with the brain. Axel, 58, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Columbia University in New York, shared the...

National Public Radio's All Things Considered aired a story yesterday on the topic of cognitive-enhancing medications which, along with the earlier Wall Street Journal report, was generated by a commentary in the current issue of Neurology . Drug Sparks Memory-Enhancement Debate All Things Considered, October 1, 2004 Drugs being developed to aid Alzheimer's disease sufferers promise improved memory function. But the drugs are also reported to aid the memory of healthy people. An article in the journal Neurology suggests that we may be entering an era of cosmetic neurology, when a "brain-lift" is possible. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports. The NPR story is available in an online audio stream available here: audio stream page .

Writer Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point ) gave a presentation today at The New Yorker Festival about his forthcoming release, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking , published by Little, Brown with a January 2005 release date. The premise of his new book overlaps with neuroscience, psychology, and social psychology. What happens to our thinking and decision-making skills when an acute event locks us into an immediate choice? Using circumstances from notable police events (e.g., the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo or the beating of Rodney King), Gladwell describes how acute physiological reactivity (e.g., resulting in the senses of tunnel vision, reduced auditory processing, and subjective time slowing) and the immediacy of time demands (one second, two seconds) results in the acute loss of social context and in the ability to engage in so-called "mind reading" of the other person --- "...social blunders with guns..." and "instantaneous m...

A Wall Street Journal writer's report , published online at sfgate.com, concerning the use of cognitively enhancing medications: Memory drugs create new ethical minefield SHARON BEGLEY, The Wall Street Journal (10-01) 06:52 PDT (AP) -- Move over, botox. Although injections of the most potent natural toxin known to science are marketed as knife-free plastic surgery to reduce wrinkles, Botox treatment is actually a neurological intervention. The toxin blocks the release of a neurochemical, acetylcholine, from neurons. That makes it the opening act in what promises -- or threatens -- to be a significant new drama. Welcome to "cosmetic neurology." [snip] Compounds called cholinesterase inhibitors boost levels of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which lets neurons communicate with each other. One, donepezil (sold as Aricept), is approved for Alzheimer's disease. But that may be only one of its talents. In a 2002 study, scientists gave donepezil to one group o...

The new October issue of the American Psychological Association's Monitor on Psychology includes several short articles of interest to neuroscience readers. One of these articles is about one researcher's career of researching memory systems. Here is a snip from the full article , "Memory Divided" by Deborah Smith Bailey: Past research has shown that largely separate memory systems are involved in learning different kinds of tasks, Packard said. For example, the hippocampus is key to cognitive learning, such as spatial mapping--useful for rats remembering where to find food in a maze when they are released from a new starting point--while the caudate nucleus mediates stimulus-response or habit learning--such as simply learning to turn left in a maze to find food, regardless of the starting point. Damaging one of these respective brain areas wipes out an animal's ability to learn specific tasks. For example, hippocampal system lesions impair spatial lea...

Here are some relevant highlights from this week’s major scientific and medical weeklies: New England Journal of Medicine 30 September 2004 The Images in Clinical Medicine section this week includes a piece about Communicating Hydrocephalus by Newman and Segal, which includes a free PowerPoint download of the image for teaching use. Lancet 02 October 2004 This week’s issue includes a Talking Points piece about variant CJD and one about dementia-related clinical drug trials. It also includes the commentary, Testing for prions: A novel protocol for vCJD prevalence studies , by Glatzel. Nature 30 September 2004 This week’s issue includes a letter on the topic of Small modulation of ongoing cortical dynamics by sensory input during natural vision by Fiser.