New evidence reported in the August issue of Cell Stem Cell, a publication of Cell Press, offers a novel perspective on how the HIV/AIDS virus leads to learning and memory deficits, a condition known as HIV-associated dementia.

A newly developed DNA vaccine appears safe and may produce beneficial changes in the brains and immune systems of individuals with multiple sclerosis, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the October 2007 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Scientists are trying a plumber’s approach to rid the brain of the amyloid buildup that plagues Alzheimer’s patients: Simply drain the toxic protein away.

In a study published in the August issue of Nature Neuroscience, researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland found that there are separate adaptable networks controlling each leg and there are also separate networks controlling leg movements, e.g., forward or backward walking.

Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography is highly accurate in depicting intracranial aneurysms, according to a study published in the August issue of Radiology. In addition, MDCT angiography can be used to quickly determine the possibility of using minimally invasive treatment rather than open surgery.

Alcoholism has traditionally been considered a male disease because there are many more alcoholic males than females.

Neuroscientists are attempting to understand if structural changes in the brain are related to sensory experience or the performance of learned behavior, and now University of Washington researchers have found evidence that one species of songbird apparently has something in common with a few baseball sluggers.

Scientists at Children’s National Medical Center have demonstrated conclusively that a specific protein and its signaling activity are instrumental in myelination and remyelination, processes essential to the creation and repair of the brain’s white matter.

Research into the effects of strokes has furthered our understanding of the different roles of the left and right sides of our brains. A study led by the University of Exeter has highlighted differences in the ability of people to perform basic tasks, depending on whether the left or right sides of their brains have been damaged by a stroke. The research identified the role of the right side of the brain in noticing and correcting errors.

The peculiar pose of many fossilized dinosaurs, with wide-open mouth, head thrown back and recurved tail, likely results from the agonized death throes typical of brain damage and asphyxiation, according to two paleontologists.

The research, by QBI neuroscientist Professor Jason Mattingley and colleagues at the University of Melbourne and University College London, has implications for understanding "spatial neglect", a disorder associated with damage to the brain's parietal lobe - an area that plays an important role in integrating sensory information from various parts of the body, and in planning eye- and limb-movements.

Even low doses of Ecstasy may be associated with a decline in language-related memory, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.