Category: Other

Aid agencies are failing patients with breast cancer in war zones meaning more will develop advanced disease

Lisbon, Portugal: Patients with breast cancer in conflict zones around the world are being “massively under-served” by governments, UN aid agencies and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Professor Richard Sullivan told the Advanced Breast Cancer Seventh International Consensus Conference (ABC 7) in a video presentation from the Rafah crossing where he is working with the United […]

The chatbot will see you now: use of automation in the informed consent process for genomics research studies leads to wider reach and better understanding

Glasgow, UK:  The informed consent process in biomedical research is biased towards people who can meet with clinical study staff during the working day. For those who have the availability to have a consent conversation, the time burden can be off-putting. Professor Eric Vilain, from the Department of Paediatrics, University of California, Irvine, USA, told […]

Paediatric surgeons urge parents not to buy toys containing magnets for Christmas

Paediatric surgeons are urging parents not to buy toys that include small, often brightly coloured magnets as Christmas presents, following a dramatic rise in the number of children needing operations after swallowing them. The Children’s Surgery Foundation issued the warning as research showed a five-fold increase in children swallowing magnets in the last five years. […]

Artificial intelligence solution to a 50-year-old science challenge could ‘revolutionise’ medical research

Inside every cell, thousands of different proteins form the machinery that keeps all living things – from humans and plants to microscopic bacteria – alive and well. Almost all diseases, including cancer, dementia and even infectious diseases such as COVID-19, are related to the way these proteins function. Because each protein’s function is directly related […]

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 […]

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 […]