Warm weather may hinder cognitive performance in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results of a Kessler Foundation study e-published online ahead of print by Neurology. An accompanying editorial by Meier & Christodoulou, MS and heat: The smoke and the fire, details the study’s unique aspects, ie, longitudinal followup in a cohort with apparently quiescent disease.
Education
Self-centered kids? Blame their immature brains
A new study suggests that age-associated improvements in the ability to consider the preferences of others are linked with maturation of a brain region involved in self control. The findings, published by Cell Press in the March 8 issue of the journal Neuron, may help to explain why young children often struggle to control selfish impulses, even when they know better, and could impact educational strategies designed to promote successful social behavior.
Study looks at patients’ decision-making in asymptomatic carotid stenosis
A paper from Rhode Island Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit examines whether different presentation formats, presenter characteristics, and patient characteristics affect decision-making for patients requiring treatment for asymptomatic carotid stenosis. Based on the study, the researchers concluded that how the treatment options are presented to a patient strongly impacts patients’ decision-making, while the patient’s age, gender, and education level may also influence the decision. The study was recently published in the journal Neurology.
Being born in another country may protect against stroke for US Hispanics
New research finds foreign-born Hispanics now living in the United States appear to be less likely to have a stroke compared to non-Hispanic white people. The research was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. The research is also being simultaneously published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Gaming to improve eyesight and ‘hearing’ colors
How we perceive the world tells us a lot about how the brain processes sensory information.