A new study suggests that head impacts experienced during contact sports such as football and hockey may worsen some college athletes’ ability to acquire new information. The research is published in the May 16, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
General
Sleepwalking more prevalent among US adults than previously suspected
What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That’s according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults are prone to sleepwalking. The work also showed an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Smoked cannabis can help relieve muscle tightness and pain in people with multiple sclerosis
People with multiple sclerosis may find that smoked cannabis provides relief from muscle tightness spasticity and pain, although the benefits come with adverse cognitive effects, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Researchers identify genetic mutation causing rare form of spinal muscular atrophy
Scientists have confirmed that mutations of a gene are responsible for some cases of a rare, inherited disease that causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness: spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance, also known as SMA-LED.
Why do people choke when the stakes are high?
In sports, on a game show, or just on the job, what causes people to choke when the stakes are high? A new study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggests that when there are high financial incentives to succeed, people can become so afraid of losing their potentially lucrative reward that their performance suffers.