The search for happiness

Using MRI to find where happiness happens

24-Nov-2015 - Exercising, meditating, scouring self-help books... we go out of our way to be happy, but do we really know what happiness is? Wataru Sato and his team at Kyoto University have found an answer from a neurological perspective. Overall happiness, according to their study, is a combination of happy ...

Master switch for brain development

20-Nov-2015 - Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz have unraveled a complex regulatory mechanism that explains how a single gene can drive the formation of brain cells. The research is an important step towards a better understanding of how the brain develops. It also harbors ...

Common pigeon: Not just a bird brain, but a brainy bird

20-Nov-2015 - If pigeons went to medical school and specialized in pathology or radiology, they'd be pretty good at distinguishing digitized microscope slides and mammograms of normal vs. cancerous breast tissue, a new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis and The University of Iowa has ...

Improving diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease

17-Nov-2015 - A group of experts working under the umbrella of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), have developed a new tool for healthcare professionals that they hope will mark a significant advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease, especially in its ...

One-step test for hepatitis C virus infection developed

17-Nov-2015 - UC Irvine Health researchers have developed a cost-effective one-step test that screens, detects and confirms hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Current blood-based HCV testing requires two steps and can be expensive, inconvenient and is not widely available or affordable globally. "Our novel ...

Men with Alzheimer's gene at risk of brain bleeding

13-Nov-2015 - A common genetic variation, ApoE4, linked to Alzheimer's disease greatly raises the likelihood of tiny brain bleeds in some men, scientists have found. Such hemorrhages in brain tissue - microbleeds - leave small points of damage throughout the brain and contribute to memory loss. The study led ...

Collaboration on diagnostic test to improve prostate cancer screening

Thermo Fisher Scientific and Karolinska Institute reduce need for biopsies

11-Nov-2015 - Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced the results of its collaboration with the Karolinska Institute on a groundbreaking clinical study, called Stockholm 3 (STHLM3), aimed at developing a more effective test for prostate cancer than using the ...

Strangled cells condense their DNA

11-Nov-2015 - Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) have been able to see, for the first time, the dramatic changes that occur in the DNA of cells that are starved of oxygen and nutrients. This starved state is typical in some of today’s most common diseases, particularly heart attacks, stroke ...

Study reveals structure of tuberculosis enzyme, could offer drug target

04-Nov-2015 - A team of scientists, including several from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, have determined the structures of several important tuberculosis enzymes, which could lead to new drugs for the disease. Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, has ...

Skin cancer-causing fusion gene identified

03-Nov-2015 - Angiosarcoma is a malignant cancer of the endothelial cells of blood or lymphatic vessels. Cutaneous angiosarcoma, a form of skin cancer, commonly occurs on the scalp of elderly people and can rapidly metastasize to the liver, lungs or lymph nodes. Its five-year survival rate is famously poor at ...