Health Research: High-fructose diet slows recovery from brain injury ♦ Tallness linked to increased risk of premature death for patients on dialysis ♦ Washing dishes decreases stress

High-fructose diet slows recovery from brain injury A diet high in processed fructose sabotages rat brains’ ability to heal after head trauma, neuroscience report. Revealing a link between nutrition and brain health, the finding offers implications for the 5.3 million Americans living with a traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

Exercise is good for everyone, but some struggle more than others People with increased risk of type 2 diabetes need to exercise more than others to achieve the same results, according to new research.

Researchers identify cause of inherited form of extreme nearsightedness 'Why, Grandma, what big eyes you have!' Though similar in appearance, the hidden cause of those big eyes Little Red Riding Hood notices in Grimms' fairy tale has nothing to do with the hidden cause of enlarged eyeballs in buphthalmia, a genetic mechanism causing this devastating eye disease which has now been uncovered by researchers. Patients afflicted are severely myopic, or nearsighted.

Tallness linked to increased risk of premature death for patients on dialysis Tallness has been associated with higher premature mortality risk and shorter life spans in patients on dialysis. The association was observed in white, Asian, and American Indian/Alaskan native patients, but not in black patients. The overall paradoxical relationship between height and premature death was not explained by concurrent illness, socioeconomic status, or differences in care

Chore or stress reliever: Study suggests that washing dishes decreases stress

Mindfully washing dishes calms the mind and decreases stress, a new study shows. The study looked at whether washing dishes could be used as an informal contemplative practice that promotes a positive state of mindfulness -- a meditative method of focusing attention on the emotions and thoughts of the present moment.

Brain Research: Common medications could delay brain injury recovery ♦ Could body posture during sleep affect how your brain clears waste

Could body posture during sleep affect how your brain clears waste? Sleeping in the side position, as compared to on one’s back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste and prove to be an important practice to help reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

Brain's ability to dispose of key Alzheimer's protein drops dramatically with age Some of the key changes in the aging brain that lead to increased risk of Alzheimer's Disease have now been identified.

Kidney impairment decreases blood flow to the brain, boosting risk of brain disorders Poor kidney function was strongly related to decreased blood flow to the brain, report researchers following a population-based study. Poor kidney function was linked to stroke and dementia most strongly in participants with decreased blood flow to the brain.

Common medications could delay brain injury recovery Drugs used to treat common complaints could delay the recovery of brain injury patients

Scientists report explanation for protein clumps in brain cells of patients with ALS Autopsies of nearly every patient with the lethal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and many with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), show pathologists telltale clumps of a protein called TDP-43. Now, working with mouse and human cells, researchers report they have discovered the normal role of TDP-43 in cells and why its abnormal accumulation may cause disease.

Brain Research: Special fats proven essential for brain growth ♦ Breakthrough measures Parkinson's progression in brain ♦ Genetic variants with cognitive impairment

Patterns of brain activity reorganize visual perception during eye movements Oscillations of activity observed in the brain could have a role in resetting the sensitivity of neurons after eye movements. Further results suggest these waves could also have a role in supporting the brain's representation of space.

Special fats proven essential for brain growth Certain special fats found in blood are essential for human brain growth and function. New published studies show that mutations in the protein Mfsd2a causes impaired brain development in humans. Mfsd2a is the transporter in the brain for a special type of fat called lysophosphatidyl cholines (LPCs) -- composed of essential fatty acids like omega-3.

Rates of rehospitalization for patients with traumatic brain injury higher than previously reported A new, study shows that rates of hospital readmission following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are greater than other chronic diseases and injuries and are higher than previously reported.

Breakthrough measures Parkinson's progression in brain A biomarker that shows the progression of Parkinson's disease in the brain has been identified by researchers, opening the door to better diagnosis and treatment of the degenerative disease.

Study examines association of genetic variants with cognitive impairment Individually rare but collectively common, intermediate-size copy number variations may be negatively associated with educational attainment. Copy number variations (CNVs) are regions of the genome that differ in the number of segments of DNA.

Brain Research: Potential cause of schizophrenic symptoms ♦ Tracking defects caused by brain tumor mutation ♦ Locating the brain's SAD center

Potential cause of schizophrenic symptoms identified Researchers believe they have discovered an abnormality in the schizophrenic brain that could be responsible for many of the disease's symptoms and could provide a drug target for therapeutic treatments.

Tracking defects caused by brain tumor mutation yields insight to advance targeted therapy Scientists have gained ground toward developing more targeted therapies for the most common childhood brain tumor. The findings involve the DDX3X gene. In 2012, other work highlighted DDX3X as a promising focus for efforts to develop targeted therapies against medulloblastoma. Such treatments target the genetic mistakes that give rise to the brain tumor’s four subtypes.

It doesn't take a brain injury to have headache, dizziness and cognitive impairment

Researchers have provided an explanation for why many people with even very trivial head injuries, or even injuries to other parts of their bodies, experience incapacitating post-concussion like syndromes.

Locating the brain's SAD center Biologists have known that variations in the amount of sunlight a person receives and her or his circadian clock play a role in the disorder. They have also proposed that the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin may be involved. However, they have not yet identified the underlying neurobiological mechanisms responsible. Biologists have now localized the seasonal light cycle effects that drive seasonal affective disorder to a small region of the brain called the dorsal raphe nucleus.