Geneva, Switzerland: Mathematical prediction models are better than doctors at predicting the outcomes and responses of lung cancer patients to treatment, according to new research presented at the 2nd Forum of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). These differences apply even after the doctor has seen the patient, which can provide extra information, […]
2013
Use and misuse of neuroscience in the development and deployment of chemical and biochemical weapons: action required at national and international level
London, UK: As the third review conference of the State Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention meets in The Hague this week, the expert who chaired the Royal Society 2012 report on “Neuroscience, conflict and security” is calling on CWC members to re-assess the definition and status of incapacitating agents. [1] Professor Rod Flower told […]
How ‘free will’ is implemented in the brain and is it possible to intervene in the process?
London, UK: Researchers have been able to identify the precise moment when a network of nerve cells (neurons) in the brain creates the signal to perform an action, before a person is even aware of deciding to take that action. Now they are building on this work to make initial attempts to interfere with consciously […]
Legal ‘high’ Benzo Fury may be dangerous due to stimulant and hallucinogenic effects
London, UK: The legal “high” known as “Benzo Fury” may have stimulant as well as hallucinogenic effects according to new research presented at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013). In a poster presentation at the meeting, Dr Jolanta Opacka-Juffry and Dr Colin Davidson report that one of the main ingredients of Benzo Fury […]
Distorted thinking in gambling addiction: what are the cognitive and neural mechanisms?
London, UK: Fascinating new studies into brain activity and behavioural responses have highlighted the overlap between pathological gambling and drug addiction. The research, which was presented at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013) has implications for both the treatment and prevention of problem gambling. Dr Luke Clark, a senior lecturer at the University […]
New research shows how our bodies interact with our minds in response to fear and other emotions
London, UK: New research has shown that the way our minds react to and process emotions such as fear can vary according to what is happening in other parts of our bodies. In two different presentations at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013) in London, researchers have shown for the first time that […]
Foetal exposure to excessive stress hormones in the womb linked to adult mood disorders
London, UK: Exposure of the developing foetus to excessive levels of stress hormones in the womb can cause mood disorders in later life and now, for the first time, researchers have found a mechanism that may underpin this process, according to research presented at the British Neuroscience Association Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2013) in London. The […]
First trial to investigate magic mushrooms as a treatment for depression delayed by UK and EU regulations
London, UK: The world’s first clinical trial to explore the use of the hallucinogenic ingredient in magic mushrooms to treat depression is being delayed due to the UK and EU rules on the use of illegal drugs in research. Professor David Nutt, president of the British Neuroscience Association and Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College […]
Fertility after ectopic pregnancy: first randomised trial finds reassuring evidence on the effect of different treatments
The first randomised trial to compare treatments for ectopic pregnancies has found no significant differences in subsequent fertility between medical treatment and conservative surgery on one hand, and conservative or radical surgery on the other. The study, which is published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1], compared three ways of treating an […]
Insomnia is linked to increased risk of heart failure
People who suffer from insomnia appear to have an increased risk of developing heart failure, according to the largest study to investigate the link. The study, which is published in the European Heart Journal [1], followed 54,279 people between the ages of 20-89 for an average of more than 11 years, and found that those […]