Research Summary Archives

About 12,000 new spinal cord injuries occur every year in the U.S., often with crippling consequences. Most of the injuries occur in men as a result of automobile accidents, falls, violence and sports. Decompression surgery, rehabilitation therapy and pharmacologic agents may ease the damage, but...

The development and characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease have been extensively described, centered largely on the deposition of sheets of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides as extracellular plaques and the protein tau as intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (Figure 1). The disease increases the produc...

DHA is critical to the development of brain structure and function, neurotrophic factor expression, neurogenesis, neurite outgrowth, synaptogenesis and plasticity and other aspects of a healthy brain. Studies suggest that infants whose mothers have higher DHA status have improved cognition and at...

Some evidence suggests that depressive symptoms and lower cognition performance go hand in hand in older adults. A high rate of depressive episodes has been reported in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and it has been suggested that depressive symptoms may affect an individual’s perception of cogni...

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and debilitating form of dementia in which brain tissue is gradually destroyed (Figure). It occurs most frequently among older adults. In the U.S., 1 in 8 people aged 65 and older—about 5.4 million Americans of all ages—have the condition. With people living long...

DHA, one of the main long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in seafoods, is found in large quantities in brain where it affects the structure and function of neurons and the growth of new ones. It has been linked to cognitive function, attention, visual acuity, behavior and some psychiatric disorders. It al...

The benefits of fish consumption during pregnancy, which provides nutrients and long-chain omega-3 PUFAs (n-3 LC-PUFAs), consistently outweigh the potentially harmful effects related to the exposure of environmental contaminants, particularly methylmercury, in fish and shellfish. Not all women and h...

Several reports have documented the relationship between low intakes of fish or long-chain omega-3 PUFAs (n-3 LC-PUFAs) and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline. Some areas of the brain, such as the orbitofrontal cortex, may gradually lose DHA with age. In one stu...

Peripheral nerves—those in the trunk and limbs—connect the brain and spinal cord to all other parts of the body. They allow us to sense temperature, pressure, touch and so on. If disease or injury damages the peripheral nerves, communication between the affected area and the brain is disrupted and s...

Suicide is a global problem, prevalent among adolescents, the elderly and active-duty military personnel. Among US active-duty military, suicide is the second leading cause of death, whereas in the general adult population, it ranks ninth. What attracted popular attention to this high occurrence was...

Traumatic brain injury (Figure) results in about 53,000 deaths in the U.S. every year, with nearly twice that number suffering permanent disability, which sometimes includes diminished cognitive ability. Treatments with long-term benefits are few and of limited effectiveness. One potential treatment...

Suicide is a global problem that is more prevalent among adolescents, the elderly, war veterans and active-duty military personnel. The latter are of particular concern regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, among whom suicide is the second leading cause of death (13.1%) compared with the ninth ra...