Published: March 17, 2008
Most people occasionally worry about germs, strange noises in the night, or whether they forgot to turn off the oven before leaving on vacation. But for as many as 5 million Americans with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), such anxieties are constant – and can almost literally take over their lives.
Now two expert clinical psychologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will, for the first time, use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat couples in which one partner has OCD. The therapy has been effective in treating individuals who have OCD, and in treating couples where one partner suffers from another health problem. This is the first time the therapy will be used in couples involving a partner with OCD. [continue reading…]
Published: March 17, 2008
A relationship has been observed between deep sleep and the ability of the brain to learn specific tasks. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have now shown that the processes that regulate deep sleep may affect visual learning. These results are published in the March 12, 2008 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.“These findings show that deep sleep is important for visual learning and possibly the ability of the brain to learn new tasks,” said Daniel Aeschbach, researcher in the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH and lead author of the study. [continue reading…]
Published: March 17, 2008
For years, neuroscientists have known that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is nearly doubled among people who have had a stroke. Now researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have found a process in the brain that may help explain the link between Alzheimer’s and stroke. Findings are published in the March 13, 2008 issue of Neuron.
After a stroke, it is known that there is an increase in the production of the toxic amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides that are believed to cause Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, results showed that Aβ production rises when there is an increase in production of a peptide called p25, which is known to occur, both in rodent models and in human post-mortem tissue, following a stroke. Columbia researchers and their colleagues identified a pathway, known as p25/cdk5, whereby higher levels of p25 led to enhanced activity of a molecule called cdk5, which in turn led to a rise in the production of Aβ.
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Published: March 13, 2008
A test that profiles molecular biomarkers in blood could become the first accurate diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease, new research shows.
The screen relies on changes in dozens of small molecules in serum. These “metabolomic” alterations form a unique pattern in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a team led by researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.
They published their findings in the journal Brain.
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