Study: Concussions May Lead to Alzheimer’s Brain Plaques

People who suffer concussions may be at a higher risk of developing plaques on the brain found in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study featured in the journal Neurology.

The new research released today examines the relationship between concussions and amyloid beta plaques in the brain. While the study couldn’t prove causation, it helps shed light into the possible long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries.

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The Smokefree Health Harms, launched by Public Health England, will warn smokers the chemicals they inhale move through the heart, the lungs and into the bloodstream, finally damaging cells in the brain.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said: “We know about the serious effect smoking has on the heart and lungs but smokers need to be aware of how much potential damage is being done to the brain and other vital organs through toxins in cigarettes entering the blood.

“Smoking is the major cause of premature death, with one in two […]

Many people in New Haven County, Connecticut, have had the experience of being hurt and not knowing initially whether the injury was severe. This can especially be a danger for people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury, which is often a difficult injury to detect.

The effects of a TBI can be devastating, and in some cases late detection can lead to even more severe effects. Now, a new and more effective means of detecting TBI may be able to help future victims of the condition.

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Researchers discovered that brain injured patients recalled a similar number of memories when played a song as those without a brain injury.

The study, by Dr Amee Baird and Dr Séverine Samson, was the first to investigate the power of music in evoking memories in people with brain injuries, rather than in those who are healthy or who have dementia.

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As a result, women are disproportionately affected by many of the health issues associated with brain aging. Yet studies exploring brain diseases like Alzheimer’s have focused largely on men, argues Lynn Posluns, founder of the Canada-based Women’s Brain Health Initiative, a nonprofit that raises money to address that research gap.

As researchers begin to tackle questions about how aging influences women’s brains, they’re learning more about what women can do to stay “brain healthy longer,” Posluns said. […]

Hearing
During our formative memory making years (about ages 16 – 21), it is common for many people to spend some amount of time near the ocean, forming memories in their hyper-relaxed state, according to […]

It uses a see-through version of the same material used for hip implants.

The team at University of California, Riverside, say it could allow lasers to be fired into the brain to treat neurological disorders.

The implant was reported in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.

The researchers say emerging laser-treatments in stroke and cancer care and brain imaging require access to the brain.

However, they are limited as a part of the skull needs to be removed and replaced each time a treatment is performed.

Instead the team of scientists have devised a transparent implant that […]

For all its flaws, class-action litigation sometimes works. Yes, yes, already-wealthy plaintiffs’ lawyers are going to reap an as-yet unspecified windfall, probably tens of millions of dollars. And down the line there will be ugly disputes over which brain-damaged victims get precisely how much money. Still, the proposed settlement shows how grouping hundreds of lawsuits can force a deep-pocketed corporate defendant to realize that doing the right thing is the financially smart thing, as well.

Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at theUniversity of Oregon, […]

The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.

The study, published in the journal Nature, has already been used to gain insight into rare diseases.

Neuroscientists have described the findings as astounding and fascinating.

The human brain is one of the most complicated structures in the universe.

Scientists at Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences have now reproduced some of the earliest stages of the organ’s development in the laboratory.

Brain bath

They used either embryonic stem cells or adult skin cells to produce the part of an […]

New research suggests concussion effects may linger weeks after symptoms of dizziness and headaches have disappeared. School-safety experts are focusing attention on the impact of concussions on classroom performance. A small study of 28 patients by New York University researchers published earlier this year in the journal Radiology found that brain changes could be detected up to a year after even one mild concussion.

Brain-injury specialists say the mental exertion of normal classwork could even worsen the effects of a concussion. The harder students recovering from a concussion […]

“It’s not a piece of patronising cuddly, disability art.”

That’s how artistic director Richard Bladel describes the Angels of Our Better Nature art project.

Look through the eyes of a two-metre tall stainless steel head and you’ll see an expression in video of artists’ lives since acquiring a brain injury.

“It’s the voice and the imagination and life experience of a whole lot of extraordinary human beings who’ve been through great trauma and suffering in their lives, and through that trauma and suffering, they’ve learnt an extraordinary amount about what it is to be human” Mr Bladel said.

It is the second collaboration […]

Speaking to the annual conference of Disabled American Veterans, which represents 1.2 million people nationwide, Obama announced a $100 million grant to research centers, led by the University of Texas at San Antonio and Virginia Commonwealth University, dedicated to treating brain injuries and mental-health issues, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder.

He also said his administration would launch an effort to share research among the numerous federal agencies studying and providing treatment to veterans with neurological problems.

Brain injury and disease are among the enduring […]

Brain injury specialist Dr Willie Stewart told BBC Radio Scotland on Sunday the brains of head-injury victims looked similar through a microscope to people with dementia.

The neuropathologist examined the brain tissue of a former rugby player for abnormal proteins associated with head injuries and dementia, confirming what he believed to be the first confirmed case of early-onset dementia caused by playing rugby.

Dr Stewart said sports such as rugby and American football were beginning to lead to problems later in life normally suffered by former boxers.

Dementia pugilistica, also known as […]

Using the Canadian Light Source located at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and the Synchrotron Radiation Centre in Wisconsin, scientists have uncovered a new method for better understanding how stroke damages the brain.

“I am fascinated by the chemical reasons behind how we think and how that information could be applied to help stroke victims,” said Dr. Mark Hackett, who led the team conducting the research.

Hackett said a stroke is like lighting the fuse on a bomb as it activates pathways in the brain that may later cause severe damage.

The research validated the use of a new imaging approach to study the chemical pathways in […]

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over 1.7 million Americans suffer brain injuries every year, many caused by bicycle accidents, bringing billions in unnecessary medical bills and unquantifiable emotional pain. I am one of the victims of this oversight by our municipal governments. My mother spent […]

Such simultaneous sense experiences are an everyday reality for people born with synesthesia. But for a Toronto man, the intriguing neurological condition developed months after he suffered a stroke — and it has changed the way he sees the world.

George, who asked that his real name not be used, is believed to be only the second person worldwide to have acquired synesthesia as a result of brain damage, say neurologists at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital involved in his […]

The non-invasive technique was used to temporarily shut down properly functioning parts of the brain so that the side which had been damaged by the stroke could relearn language.

Brain stimulation should be offered within five weeks of a patient suffering a stroke because genes which allow the brain to recover are most active early on, researchers said.

The therapy is aimed at patients with aphasia, a disorder which affects two or three in every 10 stroke sufferers and lowers their ability to understand and use language.

Until now speech and language therapy has been the only form […]

Reading aloud a simple children’s book is another story.

“Five little ducks went out one day. Over the hills and far away. The woman duck said quack, quack, quack,” he says.

Read it again, his instructor prompts. “The mother duck said quack, quack, quack,” he reads this time.

TC’s wife, Abby, beams. “Your quacking sound is awesome!”

He reads another sentence with no mistakes. “Oh my goodness,” he exclaims, laughing.

TC’s aphasia — his struggle to speak — resulted from a brutal assault on Capitol Hill last August. His intellect is largely intact. But his brain labors to command his mouth to say what he wants […]

The study, conducted by researchers from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, comes amid a debate over how much practice is needed to prepare young players to protect themselves during games and to block and tackle in a safe way.

The study’s conclusion — that the amount of practice does not influence the number of head hits absorbed during games — may bolster calls to reduce the frequency of contact drills in youth football leagues. N.F.L., college and high school […]