Tag: brain

Australian doctors find live parasitic worm in woman’s brain

SYDNEY, Aug 29, 2023 (AFP) – A parasitic roundworm typically found in snakes was pulled “alive and wriggling” from a woman’s brain in a stomach-churning medical first, Australian doctors said Tuesday. Baffled doctors performed an MRI scan on the 64-year-old Australian woman after she began suffering memory lapses, noticing an “atypical lesion” at the front of her brain. It was an eight-centimetre (three-inch) roundworm, called Ophidascaris robertsi, which researchers said was a common parasite in […]

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It’s official: Science says grannies are good for you

by Issam AHMED Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Scientists say they have proven what many people fortunate enough to grow up with theirs have known all along: Grandmothers have strong nurturing instincts and are hard-wired to care deeply about their grandchildren. A new study published in the Royal Society B on Tuesday is the first to provide a neural snapshot of the cherished intergenerational bond. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers […]

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Mind over matter: brain chip allows paralyzed man to write

  by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Paralyzed from the neck down, the man stares intently at a screen. As he imagines handwriting letters, they appear before him as typed text thanks to a new brain implant. The 65-year-old is “typing” at a speed similar to his peers tapping on a smartphone, using a device that could one day help paralyzed people communicate quickly and easily. The research could benefit people […]

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Confusion, seizure, strokes: How COVID-19 may affect the brain

  by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A pattern is emerging among COVID-19 patients arriving at hospitals in New York: Beyond fever, cough and shortness of breath, some are deeply disoriented to the point of not knowing where they are or what year it is. At times this is linked to low oxygen levels in their blood, but in certain patients the confusion appears disproportionate to how their lungs are […]

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Texas hospital livestreams brain surgery on Facebook

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A young woman in Texas who remained awake for her brain surgery was able to speak to doctors during the procedure — and viewers form around the world looked on, as part of the operation was livestreamed on Facebook. By Wednesday, nearly 100,000 people had watched doctors removed a mass from Jenna Schardt’s brain during a 40-minute video of the operation that was livestreamed Tuesday morning. In the video, […]

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Paralyzed man walks again with brain-controlled exoskeleton

  by Amélie BAUBEAU / Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A French man paralyzed in a night club accident can walk again thanks to a brain-controlled exoskeleton in what scientists say is a breakthrough providing hope to tetraplegics seeking to regain movement. The patient trained for months, harnessing his brain signals to control a computer-simulated avatar to perform basic movements before using the robot device to walk. Doctors who conducted the […]

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Women’s brains appear ‘years younger’ than men’s: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Women tend to outlive men and stay mentally sharp longer, and a new study out Monday could explain why: female brains appear on average about three years younger. The study enrolled 121 women and 84 men, who underwent PET scans to measure brain metabolism or the flow of oxygen and glucose in their brains. Like other organs in the body, the brain uses sugar as fuel. But just how it […]

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Heavy screen time appears to impact childrens’ brains: study

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Researchers have found “different patterns” in brain scans among children who record heavy smart device and video game use, according to initial data from a major ongoing US study. The first wave of information from the $300 million National Institute of Health (NIH) study is showing that those nine and 10-year-old kids spending more than seven hours a day using such devices show signs of premature thinning of the cortex, […]

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Wearable brain scanner is gamechanger for neural care

by Patrick Galey Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — British scientists on Wednesday unveiled a next-generation wearable brain scanner that can be donned like a helmet and allows patients to move freely while being scanned, potentially revolutionizing neural care for children and the elderly. Researchers hailed the “transformative” imaging set-up, which for the first time gave them access to brain activity while patients make natural movements, including nodding, stretching and even playing ping pong. […]

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Brain activity shows dogs learn in their sleep, say Hungarian scientists

BUDAPEST, Hungary (Reuters) — Scientists in Hungary say they have measured brain activity in dogs which shows they learn during their sleep. The Senior Family Dog Research team at the Ethology Department of Budapest’s ELTE university conducted electroencephalograms (EEGs) on sleeping dogs, using electrodes placed on the head to record electrical activity in the brain. Fifteen family dogs were taught commands in English instead of Hungarian, before being left to sleep in a darkened room […]

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California doctors hope to ‘rewire’ the brains of people with depression

LOS ANGELES, United States (Reuters) — Doctors in California say transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can help ‘rewire’ the brains of people with depression, offering hope for patients whose condition is not helped by medication or therapy. Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness, affecting more than 350 million people worldwide. It is ranked by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of disability globally. Treatment usually involves either medication, some […]

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Neuroscientists predict ‘brain age’

LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — British researchers say their newly revealed method of predicting people’s ‘brain age’ could act as a wake-up call to those deemed at increased risk of poor health and early death. Dr James Cole, research associate at Imperial College London’s Department of Medicine, led the study which combined the publicly available data sets of at least 2,000 magnetic resonance imaging scans with machine learning algorithms. The technique helped Cole’s team provide […]

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