Health News related to Music-Induced Emotions, Switching DNA Functions on And Off, Vaping Clouding Thoughts, Predicting PTSD After Brain Injury, Severe Virus Attacks on The Lungs, Sorting Out the Complexities of ADHD, Processing Speed in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury, Immunotherapy Effectiveness Against Breast Cancer
Note: I do not write/own any of the health news bits (and cover picture) given here. The links on each of the news bits will redirect to the news source. The content given under each headline is a basic gist and not the full story.
1. Music-Induced Emotions Can Be Predicted from Brain Scans
Source: University of Turku
28 Dec 2020
Researchers have discovered what type of neural mechanisms are the basis for emotional responses to music. Altogether 102 research subjects listened to music that evokes emotions while their brain function was scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
2. Switching DNA Functions on And Off by Means of Light
Source: University of Münster
28 Dec 2020
Biochemists have now developed a strategy for controlling the biological functions of DNA with the aid of light. This enables researchers to better understand and control the different processes which take place in the cell – for example, epigenetics, the key chemical change and regulatory lever in DNA.
3. Vaping Could Cloud Your Thoughts
Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
28 Dec 2020
Two new studies have uncovered an association between vaping and mental fog. Both adults and kids who vape were more likely to report difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions than their non-vaping, non-smoking peers. It also appeared that kids were more likely to experience mental fog if they started vaping before the age of 14.
Original written by: Susanne Pallo
4. Brain Imaging Predicts PTSD After Brain Injury
Source: Elsevier
29 Dec 2020
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex psychiatric disorder brought on by physical and/or psychological trauma. How its symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and cognitive disturbances arise remain incompletely understood and unpredictable. Treatments and outcomes could potentially be improved if doctors could better predict who would develop PTSD. Now, researchers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have found potential brain biomarkers of PTSD in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
5. New Research May Explain Severe Virus Attacks on The Lungs
Source: Karolinska Institutet
30 Dec 2020
In some cases, immune cells in the lungs can contribute to worsening a virus attack. In a new study, researchers describe how different kinds of immune cells, called macrophages, develop in the lungs and which of them may be behind severe lung diseases. The study may contribute to future treatments for COVID-19, among other diseases.
6. A Pursuit of Better Testing to Sort Out the Complexities of ADHD
Source: Ohio State University
30 Dec 2020
Researchers suggest that the introduction of computer simulation to the identification of symptoms in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has the potential to provide an additional objective tool to gauge the presence and severity of behavioral problems.
Original written by: Emily Caldwell
7. Scientists Explore Deficits in Processing Speed in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
Source: Kessler Foundation
30 Dec 2020
A team of rehabilitation researchers has studied processing speed deficits in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), comparing their brain activation patterns with those of healthy age-matched controls, and older healthy individuals. They found that the SCI group and older controls had similar activation patterns, but the SCI group differed significantly from their age-matched controls.
8. Way to Boosting Immunotherapy Effectiveness Against Breast Cancer and Other Solid Tumors
Source: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
31 Dec 2020
Boosting immune system T cells to effectively attack solid tumors, such as breast cancers, can be done by adding a small molecule to a treatment procedure called chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell therapy, according to a study. The boost helps recruit more immune cells into battle at the tumor site.
