It is relatively common for doctors to diagnose someone with multiple sclerosis when the patient doesn’t have the disease a misdiagnosis that not only causes patients potential harm but costs the U.S. health care system untold millions of dollars a year, according to a study published online today in the journal Neurology.
Month: May 2012
Chronic cocaine use triggers changes in brain’s neuron structure
Chronic exposure to cocaine reduces the expression of a protein known to regulate brain plasticity, according to new, in vivo research on the molecular basis of cocaine addiction. That reduction drives structural changes in the brain, which produce greater sensitivity to the rewarding effects of cocaine.
Scientists identify neurotranmitters that lead to forgetting
While we often think of memory as a way of preserving the essential idea of who we are, little thought is given to the importance of forgetting to our wellbeing, whether what we forget belongs in the “horrible memories department” or just reflects the minutia of day-to-day living.
Response to first drug treatment may signal likelihood of future seizures in people with epilepsy
How well people with newly diagnosed epilepsy respond to their first drug treatment may signal the likelihood that they will continue to have more seizures, according to a study published in the May 9, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The music of the (hemi)spheres sheds new light on schizophrenia
In 1619, the pioneering astronomer Johannes Kepler published Harmonices Mundi in which he analyzed data on the movement of planets and asserted that the laws of nature governing the movements of planets show features of harmonic relationships in music. In so doing, Kepler provided important support for the, then controversial, model of the universe proposed by Copernicus.