Often, surgical patients are beset by postoperative delirium—delusions, confusion, and hallucinations—but that usually fades quickly. Other people develop what has been dubbed postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), suffering problems with memory, attention, and concentration that can last months or even a lifetime. POCD not only disrupts patients’ lives, but may also augur worse to come. (May […]
May 2017
Medical Daily: How brain’s grey matter, linked with intelligence, changes depending on your age and sex
A new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience claims to have overturned an old belief regarding how our brains change as we develop, and may have solved the question of why female brains work just as well as male brains despite being smaller in size. Grey matter density in the brain increases during adolescence, […]
Medical Xpress: Researchers discover new ‘GPS’ neuron
An international research team led by the University of Amsterdam researchers Jeroen Bos, Martin Vinck and Cyriel Pennartz has identified a new type of neuron which might play a vital role in humans’ ability to navigate their environments. The discovery is an important step towards understanding how the brain codes navigation behaviour at larger scales […]
Huffington Post: How having a creased earlobe could predict your stroke risk
People with a diagonal crease in their earlobes could be more at risk of stroke, a study has suggested. The mark, known as Frank’s sign, was first described in 1973 by American physician Dr Sanders T. Frank, who thought it might be a predictor for future heart problems in patients. (May 30, 2017) Read the […]
Women’s Health: How to tell the difference between an aneurysm and a bad headache
A brain (or cerebral) aneurysm is a weakness in the wall of one of your brain’s blood vessels, says Howard Riina, M.D., a neurosurgeon with New York University’s Langone Medical Center. As blood rushes through your brain, that weak point bulges and fills with blood. If it ruptures (“like a blow out on a tire,” […]
Washington Post: More than a third of teenage girls experience depression, new study says
A large new study out this week contains some alarming data about the state of children’s mental health in the United States, finding that depression in many children appears to start as early as age 11. By the time they hit age 17, the analysis found, 13.6 percent of boys and a staggering 36.1 percent […]
Good Sports: How to talk to kids about concussions (without scaring them)
Parents are prepared for kids to bring home sports-related injuries, such as cuts, bruises, and scrapes—but not a concussion. Most parents don’t know the symptoms or the treatment guidelines for a brain injury. And unlike a bruise or a broken bone, children can’t see a concussion, leaving them just as confused about the injury and […]
Inc.: For a more creative brain, take breaks
A growing body of evidence shows that taking regular breaks from mental tasks improves creativity and that skipping breaks can lead to stress, exhaustion, and creative block. The ideas you have while commuting, or in the shower are not coincidental. They’re a result of you taking a step back, whether you’re aware of it or […]
News-Medical: New research recasts timeline for development of the brain’s vision-processing center
The visual cortex, the human brain’s vision-processing center that was previously thought to mature and stabilize in the first few years of life, actually continues to develop until sometime in the late 30s or early 40s, a McMaster neuroscientist and her colleagues have found. Kathryn Murphy, a professor in McMaster’s department of Psychology, Neuroscience and […]
New York Times: The earliest signs of brain damage in athletes? Listen for them
Evidence continues to mount that professional athletes in a number of contact sports are suffering brain damage as a result of head impacts. But there is no reliable test to detect the injury, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in its earliest stages. Even if a doctor strongly suspects that an athlete’s confusion or memory loss is […]
