Light therapy is a promising new technique that could improve the quality of cochlear implants for deaf people. The technology delivers a stimulus to the auditory nerve inside the inner ear, the cochlea. There is some evidence from studies in rodents that light can be heard.
Some brain areas operate using a specifically structured network of connections between neurons, which support particular functions. Yet in other areas, connections and activities between brain cells seem to be random.
How the gut-brain connection influences obesity and eating disorders
Many factors affect our eating behaviour. Whether we feel hungry or satiated is regulated by a
complex interplay between gut and brain, involving food stimuli, as well as signals from
hormones and neurotransmitters in our bodies. The brain regulates this information flow,
increasing or decreasing one’s appetite, ensuring the body can safely process food to provide
and store energy. But in recent decades, obesity and related disorders have increased
dramatically.
Sleep improves adults' juggling skills, but not adolescents'
Many research studies have shown the role of sleep in consolidating memories and processing information, and some scientists also believe sleep is also important in reinforcing motor skills. Dr Kerstin Hoedlmoser from the University of Salzburg, Austria, has been investigating whether sleep improves the ability of adolescents and young adults to juggle. She was surprised to find that age makes a significant difference.
For the full PDF, please click here: 
Hoedlmoser pr rls (2).pdf
Can reading reconstruct memories of intimate partner violence?
Gender violence amongst youth is an increasing phenomenon thought to be partly caused by
‘learned attraction.’ New research in Spain1 and the UK2 finds that the simple experience of
reading specific texts designed to dismantle attraction toward a type of masculinity
characterised by aggressiveness and disdain, can significantly reconstruct a victim’s memory of
relationship violence.
Visual part of brain important for working memory
Working memory is the process by which our brains actively store and process information over brief time periods, before integrating into long-term memory. The brain’s prefrontal cortex (PFC) is known to play a major role. But how is working memory information actively maintained in the brain?
For the full PDF, please click here: Sreenivasan pr rls.pdf
Danish database should prevent research waste and save billions of dollars
Every year, thousands of biomedical research projects are discarded because the scientists have the wrong antibodies in the laboratory. A research group is leading an initiative that should help scientists navigate a complicated market.
For the full PSF, please click here: Glerup pr rls-DANISH.pdf
Testing for Alzheimer's before the disease sets in
New research lead by a Danish professor suggests that a diagnostic test will be able to identify who is at risk of being hit by Alzheimer’s disease in later life. People who suffer from the incurable brain disease show signs of the disease a long time before they get sick.
People with Schizophrenia are more prone to severe infections
A Danish study is currently investigating the link between schizophrenia and the development of infections like blood poisoning and pneumonia. The aim is to be able to help mentally ill patients lead a life with less physical discomfort.
For the full PDF, please click here: Pankiewicz-Dulacz pr rls DANISH.pdf
More than cholesterol treatment: statins for drug addiction
Statins are drugs used for decades in humans to treat hypercholesterolemia, or very high
cholesterol levels. But new research in France indicates that statins may also be useful in
preventing drug addiction relapse.
Blindness disrupts body clocks
People who are blind often do not get a good night’s sleep because the synchrony of their biological day-night cycle to the environmental light-dark rhythm is disrupted. This is, in part, the result of the role of light, particularly blue light, on the timing of our internal body clock, including the release of melatonin, a ‘night-time’ hormone.
For the full PDF, please click here: Aubin pr rls.pdf
Outreach champions awarded at the FENS Forum 2016
Talking to the public about brain research is both important and stimulating. To celebrate neuroscientists’ commitment to outreach, prizes are awarded at the FENS Forum 2016, Europe’s pre-eminent neuroscience meeting, today (4 July) in Copenhagen.
For the full PDF, please click here: EDAB-FENS awards pr rls (1).pdf
New use for an old drug: an antibiotic may help Parkinson's dementia
Parkinson's disease is associated mainly with movement disorders. But many patients also develop emotional and cognitive conditions, including dementia. Currently, there is no medication that prevents or cures Parkinson’s disease dementia. But scientists in Taiwan have found a specific antibiotic that may shed light on treatment of this neurodegenerative dementia.
For te full PDF, please click here: Ho pr rls.pdf
Sexual behaviour in sleep linked to psychological disorders
Sexual behaviour in sleep may sound funny to some, or intimate to others but it can be a source of huge embarrassment to sufferers. It may even have legal implications and has been suggested as a defence in cases of rape. A team of Edinburgh researchers studying the complex sleep behaviour said today (5 July) that SBS can originate from childhood and is linked to other underlying psychiatric and psychological disorders.
For the full PDF, please click here: Maschauer pr rls.pdf
While we sleep our brains stay busy
While we sleep, our brains stay busy, managing our memories and processing information.Scientists in Germany have recorded sleep spindles, electrical activity in the brain during the night. Their findings suggest that sleep boosts intelligence in women but not in men.
For the full PDF, please click here: Dresler and Genzel pr rls (1).pdf
