PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Magnetic test reveals hyperactive brain network responsible for involuntary flashbacks

2010-10-28
(Press-News.org) US scientists have found a correlation between increased circuit activity in the right side of the brain and the suffering of involuntary flashbacks by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers.

Using a technique called Magnetoencephalography (MEG), which involves analysing the occurrence of magnetic charges given off when neuronal populations in our brain connect and communicate, the researchers have undertaken clinical trials to try and find differences between brain activity of PTSD sufferers and those with a clean bill of mental health.

The findings, published today, Thursday 28 October, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Neural Engineering, reveal a clear difference between the communication circuitry of sufferers and the healthy.

The trials involved 80 subjects with confirmed PTSD, many of whom suffer the affliction following military service in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, 18 subjects in PTSD remission, and 284 healthy subjects.

All participants were required to wear the MEG helmet while fixating on a spot 65 cm in front of them for 60 seconds.

The researchers from the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Minnesota, led by Apostolos P Georgopoulos and Brian Engdahl, found a difference between communication in the temporal and parieto-occipital right hemispheric areas of the brain. The temporal cortex, in accordance with earlier findings on the effects of its electrical stimulation during brain surgery, is thought to be responsible for the re-living of past experiences.

Of particular interest to the scientists however is that the brains of the sufferers were in this hyperactive state despite no immediate external stimulation, as the trial subjects were purposefully put into a 'task-free state'.

The researchers write, "Remarkably, the differences we found between the PTSD and the control groups were documented in a task-free state. Without evoking traumatic experiences, and, therefore, reflects the status of steady-state neuronal interactions."

The research is one further step in the attempt to 'biomark' PTSD, particularly as the results gathered from subjects in remission followed a similar but less pronounced pattern to those with PTSD confirmed as their primary diagnosis, in contrast to the healthy subjects.

###

This latest research was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

From Thursday 28 October, the journal paper will be freely available to download from http://iopscience.iop.org/1741-2552/7/6/066005.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New targeted lung cancer drug produces 'dramatic' symptom improvement

2010-10-28
A clinical trial of a potential new targeted treatment drug has provided powerful evidence that it can halt or reverse the growth of lung tumors characterized by a specific genetic abnormality. In their report in the October 28 New England Journal of Medicine, a multi-institutional research team reports that daily doses of the investigational drug crizotinib shrank the tumors of more than half of a group patients whose tumors were driven by alterations in the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. In another one-third of study participants, crizotinib treatment suppressed ...

Into Africa? Fossils suggest earliest anthropoids colonized Africa

Into Africa? Fossils suggest earliest anthropoids colonized Africa
2010-10-28
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…Today in the journal Nature, a new discovery described by a team of international scientists, including Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Christopher Beard, suggests that anthropoids—the primate group that includes humans, apes, and monkeys—"colonized" Africa, rather than originally evolving in Africa as has been widely accepted. According to this paper, what is exceptional about these new fossils—discovered at the Dur At-Talah escarpment in central Libya—is the diversity of species present: the site includes three distinct families ...

Astronomers discover most massive neutron star yet known

2010-10-28
Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have discovered the most massive neutron star yet found, a discovery with strong and wide-ranging impacts across several fields of physics and astrophysics. "This neutron star is twice as massive as our Sun. This is surprising, and that much mass means that several theoretical models for the internal composition of neutron stars now are ruled out," said Paul Demorest, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). "This mass measurement also has implications for our understanding of all ...

New evidence supports 'Snowball Earth' as trigger for early animal evolution

New evidence supports Snowball Earth as trigger for early animal evolution
2010-10-28
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A team of scientists, led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside, has found new evidence linking "Snowball Earth" glacial events to the rise of early animals. The controversial Snowball Earth hypothesis posits that the Earth was covered from pole to pole by a thick sheet of ice lasting, on several occasions, for millions of years. These glaciations, the most severe in Earth history, occurred from 750 to 580 million years ago. The researchers argue that the oceans in the aftermath of these events were rich in phosphorus, a nutrient ...

Sodas, other sugary beverages linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome

2010-10-28
Boston, MA—A new study has found that regular consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a clear and consistently greater risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. According to the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, the study provides empirical evidence that intake of sugary beverages should be limited to reduce risk of these conditions. The study appears online October 27, 2010, in the journal Diabetes Care and will appear in the November print edition. "Many previous studies have examined the relationship between ...

Surprise finding: Pancreatic cancers progress to lethal stage slowly

2010-10-28
Pancreatic cancer develops and spreads much more slowly than scientists have thought, according to new research from Johns Hopkins investigators. The finding indicates that there is a potentially broad window for diagnosis and prevention of the disease. "For the first time, we have a quantifiable estimate of the development of pancreatic cancer, and when it would be best to intervene," according to Christine Iacobuzio-Donahue, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology and oncology at Hopkins' Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, "so there is potentially ...

A speed gun for the Earth's insides

2010-10-28
Researchers at the University of Bristol reveal today in the journal Nature that they have developed a seismological 'speed gun' for the inside of the Earth. Using this technique they will be able to measure the way the Earth's deep interior slowly moves around. This mantle motion is what controls the location of our continents and oceans, and where the tectonic plates collide to shake the surface we live on. For 2,900 km (1800 miles) beneath our feet, the Earth is made of the rocky mantle. Although solid, it is so hot that it can flow like putty over millions of years. ...

Research rejects green tea for breast cancer prevention

2010-10-28
Green tea does not protect against breast cancer. A study of data from approximately 54,000 women, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research, found no association between drinking green tea and breast cancer risk. Motoki Iwasaki, from the National Cancer Center, Tokyo, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study. He said, "Although in vitro and animal-based studies have suggested that green tea may have beneficial protective effects against breast cancer, results from human studies have been inconclusive. Our large-scale, population-based ...

Forces for cancer spread: Genomic instability and evolutionary selection

2010-10-28
In new research published today, researchers uncover evolution in action in cancer cells. They show the forces of evolution in pancreatic tumours mean that not only is cancer genetically different between different patients, but each new focus of cancer spread within a patient has acquired distinct mutations. Effectively, ten different foci of cancer spread are ten different, but related, tumours. The complexity of pancreatic cancer genetics uncovered in this work helps to explain the difficulty of treating the disease but also strengthens the need for improved methods ...

60 Utahns are among landmark large-scale genome sequencing study

2010-10-28
(SALT LAKE CITY)—Just seven months after University of Utah geneticists took part in a landmark study that sequenced for the first time the genome of an entire Utah family, U of U researchers have taken part in another historic study that is the first large-scale genome sequencing project – 179 people representing three continents – and 60 Utahns played a major role in this study, too. Published Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, in Nature, the study demonstrates how quickly the science of genome sequencing is expanding – first from individuals, then to families, and now to large ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Two-way water transfers can ensure reliability, save money for urban and agricultural users during drought in Western U.S., new study shows

New issue of advances in dental research explores the role of women in dental, clinical, and translational research

Team unlocks new insights on pulsar signals

Great apes visually track subject-object relationships like humans do

Recovery of testing for heart disease risk factors post-COVID remains patchy

Final data and undiscovered images from NASA’s NEOWISE

Nucleoporin93: A silent protector in vascular health

Can we avert the looming food crisis of climate change?

Alcohol use and antiobesity medication treatment

Study reveals cause of common cancer immunotherapy side effect

New era in amphibian biology

Harbor service, VAST Data provide boost for NCSA systems

New prognostic model enhances survival prediction in liver failure

China focuses on improving air quality via the coordinated control of fine particles and ozone

Machine learning reveals behaviors linked with early Alzheimer’s, points to new treatments

Novel gene therapy trial for sickle cell disease launches

Engineering hypoallergenic cats

Microwave-induced pyrolysis: A promising solution for recycling electric cables

Cooling with light: Exploring optical cooling in semiconductor quantum dots

Breakthrough in clean energy: Scientists pioneer novel heat-to-electricity conversion

Study finds opposing effects of short-term and continuous noise on western bluebird parental care

Quantifying disease impact and overcoming practical treatment barriers for primary progressive aphasia

Sports betting and financial market data show how people misinterpret new information in predictable ways

Long COVID brain fog linked to lung function

Concussions slow brain activity of high school football players

Study details how cancer cells fend off starvation and death from chemotherapy

Transformation of UN SDGs only way forward for sustainable development 

New study reveals genetic drivers of early onset type 2 diabetes in South Asians 

Delay and pay: Tipping point costs quadruple after waiting

Magnetic tornado is stirring up the haze at Jupiter's poles

[Press-News.org] Magnetic test reveals hyperactive brain network responsible for involuntary flashbacks